The IFI Stranger Than Fiction Festival a huge success with box office income up 23% and Short Film Award Winners Announced

Last weekend saw the 9th IFI Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Film Festival once again inspire, inform and entertain Dublin filmgoers with a diverse programme of Irish and International documentaries. Many of the screenings were completely sold out and the IFI was buzzing all weekend with thousands of festival goers, and special guests that resulted in a massive 23% rise in box office income compared to 2009's festival.

Maya Derrington, director of Pyjama Girls which had its world premiere at the festival and sold out all three screenings, said this morning ‘IFI Stranger Than Fiction was a fantastic platform for the premiere of Pyjama Girls. Not only did we have three full houses but, by placing the film in the festival, it really got noticed by the media and people involved in the industry and that should give it a really good springboard for future festivals and hopefully a domestic cinema release.'

Three short films walked away with awards from the prestigious Short Film Programme. Two prizes were awarded by a jury of industry experts whilst the Audience award was chosen by the public. If These Walls Could Talk, a haunting documentary about Ireland's closed psychiatric institutions directed by Anna Rodgers, won the Best Irish Short Award. Boat Dreams, directed by Sasha Andrews, which looked at four DIY boat restorations won the prize Best International Short. The winner of the Audience Award was Bye Bye Now by Aideen O'Sullivan and Ross Whitaker which humorously and poignantly charts the decline of the Irish Phone Box.