Adam & Paul, the new debut feature film fromIrish commercials director Lenny Abrahamson, ran away with the Best FirstFeature Award at Sunday's closing event for the Galway Film Fleadh.

The Porridge Pictures film, which was produced by JonnySpeers and written by lead actor Mark O'Halloran, had its world premiere inGalway on Friday evening. Shown at the Fleadh without a sales agent attached,the darkly comic day in the life of two junkies searching for a fix had twointerested companies offering to pick it up following the screening.

Receiving his award Abrahamson made a plea for the retentionof the Irish Film Board's low budget initiative without which, he said, thefilm would not have been made.

Earlier in the week the Film Board's chairman, Ossie Kilkenny,had indicated the strength of his own liking for the film and commented on howit looked like Euros 5m on screen although it had been made for considerablyless.

The runner-up for the award was Ciaran O'Connor's CapitalLetters, a moving drama about a young immigrant in Dublin which wasproduced for New Decade Productions on a micro budget by O'Connor, NualaCunningham and Linda Cardiff, and is being given completion funding support bythe Film Board.


Galway Film Fleadh Winners

Best First Feature
Adam & Paul
Dir. Lenny Abrahamson, Prod. Jonny Speers

Best First Irish Short
Nostradamus & Me
Dir. Eilis Kirwan, Prod. Trinity Films/Samson Films

Best Irish Short
The Love Bite
Dir. Macdara Vallely, Prod. Ramon Wilson/Samuel Crow

Best Feature Documentary
Cinegael Paradiso
Dir. Robert Quinn, Prod. David McLoughlin/Claire Scully

Best Irish Short Documentary
Undressing My Mother
Dir. Ken Wardrop, Prod. Andrew Freedman

Best Irish Short Animation
Skeleton Woman
Dir. Edith Pieperhoff, Prod. Mary Morrison