Cathal Gaffney' s Give Up Yer Aul Sins (pictured) from Brown Bag Films, took two of the major awards for short films at the close of the 46th Cork Film Festival last night (14 Oct).

The animated short won both the award for Best International Short Film, and the Jameson Short Film Award for Best Irish Short Film.

The international Jury cited the film's "perfect marriage between archive sound and animated footage. It's immensely strong Dublin identity, through one little girl's voice, is what gives this film have a universal appeal." The international award is worth Euros 4,000, two weeks of production facilities from Ardmore Studios, the Final Cut-Pro Editing software suite from Apple Computers and Euros 1,270 worth of production facilities from Anner International.

The Jameson Award, part of a pan-European scheme established by the ECFF (European Coordination of Film Festivals) and Jameson Irish Whiskey, includes a cash prize of Euros 10,000 from Jameson; 4,000 feet of 16mm film from Kodak Film; Euros 1,270 worth of production facilities from The Courtyard Studios and Euros 1,270 worth of production facilities from Anner International.

The other important award for Irish film makers is The Claire Lynch Award for Best First Short Film by an Irish Director. This award, presented in association with Lime Street Sound, went to Steven Benedict for his film Escape. It includes a cash award of Euros 1,500, Euros 7,620 in facilities from Lime Street Sound and Euros 1,270 worth of production facilities from Anner International.

The Cork festival is Ireland's premiere event for short films and the unveiling of new Irish writing and directing talent. Entry has become increasingly competitive - this year 150 new Irish shorts were submitted of which only 32 were screened.