Irish produced The Flats wins top prize at Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival

An Irish produced film, The Flats won the Dox:Award – the top prize at the CPH:DOX film festival at the Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen.

The award was presented to Italian director Alessandra Celesia.

It is the first time an Irish-produced film has won the main prize, or indeed any prize, at the prestigious festival, which is considered by industry professionals as one of the top documentary festivals in the world.

The Flats was co-produced by Irish producers  Jeremiah Cullinane of Planet Korda Pictures in Dublin, and Dumbworld in Belfast.

Production on the film was also carried out by their partners, Films de Force Majeure in Marseille, Thank You & Good Night Productions in Brussels.

The documentary was supported by Screen Ireland, by Eurimages, and by several other funding agencies in France, Belgium, and the UK. The film can be seen at the upcoming Galway Film Fleadh, in July, and at the IFI Doc Fest, in Dublin, in September, before going on general release.

The Flats is set in Ireland too, in New Lodge, Belfast.

The documentary tells the story of Joe, and his neighbours Jolene, Angie, and other residents of the tower blocks in the “difficult” Belfast neighbourhood of New Lodge, a nationalist hotspot during the Troubles.

In order to face up to the traumatic experiences dogging them, the protagonists engage in a process of revisiting the collective memories that shaped their lives and the district they live in.