Tom Sullivan-directed Irish-language film Arracht has gained major recognition at Glasgow Film Festival and Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, winning awards at both premieres. In Glasgow, the film won the coveted audience award and in Dublin, it was awarded Best Irish Film. Lead actor Dónal Ó Héalaí was also awarded Best Actor in the Aer Lingus Discovery Award, also in Dublin.

Arracht, set in Ireland in 1845, centres on Colmán Sharkey, a fisherman who takes in a stranger at the behest of a local priest. Patsy, a former soldier arrives just ahead of ‘the blight,’ a crop disease that caused the Great Plague, killing and displacing millions of Irish people.

The film will be released in Irish cinemas on April 3, though it originally premiered at Tallinn's Black Nights International Film in Estonia Festival last November.

It was created as part of the CINE4 initiative from TG4, Screen Ireland, and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). Cine4 is a new inititative to develop original feature films in the Irish language.

"Bringing Irish language content to all screens has been at the heart of TG4’s vision for audiences, and the Cine4 funding brings world class Irish language film to Cinemas," says Alan Esslemont, TG4's director general. "The Audience Award at its UK Premier screening recognises and showcase the talent and skills of the production team in a global audio-visual market."