Dundalk IT Film & TV Students Win Prestigious Royal Television Award
DKIT Student Documentary 'Walking the Labyrinth' Wins Prestigious RTS Award
A documentary film made last academic year by a group of DkIT 4th year students - Walking the Labyrinth - won the award for best long form factual documentary at the Royal Television Society Awards which took place in Dublin recently.
The Royal Television Society (RTS) hosts an annual event that celebrates the remarkable talent of student filmmakers and media creators. The 2024 RTS Ireland Student Awards took place in RTÉ’s Studio 4, located in Donnybrook, Dublin 41
The team of DkIT Students involved in the win consist of Kim Stewart, Jessica Doherty, Conor Farrelly, Sarah Olatunbosun and Megan Hughes.
Their award-winning documentary tentatively studies and challenges the history of the Irish government whilst following the story of a woman who was directly impacted by the Irish mother and baby homes and has now taken back control over her life.
This documentary details the personal story of Susan, who is one of nine thousand babies born and or raised in Bessborough mother and baby homes. She was adopted into a loving family when she was only two weeks old.
Susan uses her art to construct an identity for herself given that her other forms of identity have been constructed for her. Labyrinths are tools for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation.
For Susan, the labyrinth symbolizes a journey of self-discovery. The adoption system in Ireland is designed to remove all agency from the adopted person.
It was designed so Susan would never discover if she had other family members. This is the story of how an abstract methodology such as art shattered that and at the age of 44, Susan discovered she had a brother.