Harmanli: Trapped on the Fringe of Freedom (ICCL Awards) from Niamh Heery on Vimeo.

Irish documentary maker Niamh Heery was awarded the Grand Prize in the 2014 Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) Human Rights Film Awards this evening (Thursday 26 June 2014) for her film Harmanli: Trapped on the Fringe of Freedom, which explores the lives of asylum seekers living in the Harmanli camp in Bulgaria.

Commenting on the winning film today, Awards Jury member and Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker Pamela Yates said:

“Niamh Heery’s Harmanli: Trapped on the Fringe of Freedom celebrates the deep humanity of the asylum seekers in Harmanli, a world which for so many feels so remote. It is a worthy winner in an outstanding field of human rights documentaries”.

The Gala Screening and Awards ceremony, which took place to a full house in Screen 1 of Dublin’s Light House Cinema, saw Second Prize go to Spanish Director Nacho Gil’s A Thin Line, a poignant short film that examines the issue of homelessness on the streets of Valencia. Third place went to director Virginia Manchado for her film Modou Modou, which follows a day in the life of an African emigrant who lives and works in London as a market labourer.