Launched with a packed house for the Irish premiere ofDamien O'Donnell's Inside I'm Dancing,the 49th Cork Film Festival closed its doors after a week marked by manysimilarly packed houses, with audiences frequently surpassing the organisers'expectations.

No one would have forecast, for instance, that StacyPeralta's surfing documentary RidingGiants would have filled the 1,000-seat Cork Opera House on a bright, dryFriday afternoon at 4.00pm. Or that the same venue would be packed for JimJarmusch's meditative vignettes on the delights of caffeine and nicotine, Coffee And Cigarettes, at 11.30 atnight.

That the other, smaller venues were similarly fullthroughout the week with audiences for the extensive short film and documentaryprogrammes bodes well for the festival's ambitious plans for next year's 50thanniversary celebrations.

A competitive festival for short films, Cork hosts theJameson Award for best Irish short film (Euros 6,000) which went to Undressing My Mother, by Ken Wardrop. OfWardrop's short documentary the national jury said, "We are delighted to award this prize to a filmmaker who we thinkwill be recognised as a true artist in years to come." The international juryalso gave Wardrop's film a special mention.

The award for best international short film (Euros 4,000)was split by the international jury between two films from the UK, Wasp by Andrea Arnold, and Polish Your Shoes by Sam Huntley.

The Claire Lynch Award for best first short by an Irishdirector went to Six Shooter, writtenand directed by well-known playwright Martin McDonagh.