The 12th Underground Cinema Awards
How it all Works
The Underground Cinema Short Film Awards are now going in to their 12th year. From January through to September 2021 Underground Cinema will once again begin screening on a monthly basis a selection of some of the best independent short films and music videos from filmmakers from around the globe.
For 11 years our screenings have been live events. With the Covid outbreak in 2020 our monthly screenings switched from live events to online events. The switch over has been enormously sucessful with incredible viewing figures recorded online. We also host Q&A sessions before the screenings with a lot of filmmakers from all over the world joining us via Google Meet.
Until it is safe to screen live again we will continue with our program of short films online during 2021. When we can eventually go back to live screenings we will be heading back to our resident venue, the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire. For our international friends, that's in County Dublin in Ireland.
At the end of our season in September we will be announcing the nominees for the 12th Underground Cinema Awards. The awards ceremony will be a live event which will be held in the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin in Ireland in early November 2021. The short film awards are the only awards ceremony in Ireland that recognise every aspect of the art of making short films.
How it all works:
Once you have submitted your film to us it will be viewed by a member of our judging panel. If your film has been selected by our screening judge, he/she will then be in touch to advise you that your film has been selected and you will be given an online screening date. Links will be sent to you for you to access the film online and should you wish to join a Q&A session online with our online audience we will forward to you a Google Meet link so you can join us.
Our panel of judges will be viewing the films selected throughout the year and they will advise by September the nominees for the 2021 Awards Ceremony
With regard to the awards themselves, the awards will be presented at our annual award giving ceremony in the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire in November 2021 which is a ticketed event. Tickets for the event go on sale as soon as the full list of nominees are announced. Tickets include a four course dinner, the awards ceremony and aftershow party. Nominees interested in attending must purchase their own tickets. if a nominee cannot attend and happens to win an award then we will ensure that the award gets to the winner shortly after the awards ceremony.
Awards over the Years | Check our Gallery
Filmfreeway Five Star Festival
Lovely festival, great communication from the start and really well organised.
They really care about the filmmakers and respect their projects.
Teresa Lavina
Documentary Maker
Great festival. Selected films are eligible for nomination at an annual awards event, which is going from strength to strength. Has become a major fixture on the Irish film calendar.
Amy Joyce Hastings
Actor
Fantastic film festival. A really special event. The monthly screening bring together loads of film makers and is a great chance to network. The awards night is just fantastic. Brilliantly ran.
Emmet Kelly
Writer & Director
They really support independent filmmakers and do this out of a genuine love for film and great stories. If you are looking for a festival to submit your work to, then this is a must!
Dave Thomas
Documentary Maker
Remarkable talent spotters, champions of raw ambition. this team is at the heart of a revolution. The revolution will not be televised but it will be screened at Underground Cinema.
Terry McMahon
Writer & Director