The winners of the 2022 Virgin Media Discovers & Screen Ireland Short Film Competition have been announced as Nell Hensey and Brigid Leahy Good Chips, Mary Kirwan and Zoë Brennan-Whitmore Unhinged, and Jamie O’Rourke Calf.

The emerging filmmakers will now receive €30,000 to bring their script to life on screen with the production of a 10-minute short film, along with mentorship, PR, advertising, and marketing support. The final production will be broadcast on Virgin Media Television, Virgin Media on Demand, and as part of the Dublin International Film Festival programme of events.

This year’s mentors include award-winning film maker Frank Berry, who will be mentoring the production of Calf, producer Liz Gill, who will be mentoring the production of Unhinged, and Oscar-nominated director Lenny Abrahamson, who will be mentoring the production of Good Chips.  

Good Chips takes the audience back to Dublin in 1989, as a family of Vietnamese immigrants struggle to keep their takeaway business afloat while their 12-year-old daughter befriends one of the customers, a local Irish boy. After he disappears, she finds him somewhere unexpected.

Comedy Unhinged follows a self-deprecating millennial who discovers the love of her life and colleague on Tinder and must find the confidence to swipe right before his leaving party, all while navigating a fatphobic workplace.

Calf tells the tale of a near fatal farm accident, which leaves teenager Cáit with a terrible decision to make in order to do what she must to protect her family.