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The Flickers: Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) presented a Best Actor Award to acting icon, Ciarán Hinds for his leading role in the acclaimed film The Shore, directed by Terry George, a short film that had its premiere at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

The Shore, received the grand prize for Best Short film at RIIFF in 2011. This award qualified the film to be considered for Oscar® consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Shore, then went on to be nominated and win the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 2012 at the 84th Annual Academy Awards.

A multi-talented method actor, Ciarán Hinds launched his professional career on the stage, appearing in Cinderella, the six-hour epic play The Mahabhareta, and several productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Hinds landed his first screen role in the 1981 film John Bootrman’s “Excalibur” alongside Helen Mirren, and has since starred in The Sum of All Fears with Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman, Steven Spielberg’s Munich, Oscar-winning There Will Be Blood, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 as Aberforth Dumbledore, the HBO series Rome as Julius Caesar, and more recently Game of Thrones.

“Since Mr. Hinds was unable to attend the 2011 Festival, we initially mailed the award to him in Ireland but received it back following a change of address for the film’s producer,” said Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director. “Thanks to the help of Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the RI Film and Television Office, we were given the perfect opportunity to present the award to him in person.”

RIIFF presented the Grand Prize Award to Ciarán Hinds during the recent filming of his latest film Bleed For This at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island before a crowd of over 3,000 extras. Hinds plays Angelo Pazienza in the film.

Bleed For This is a new feature film produced by Chad Verdi of Verdi Productions and executive producer, Martin Scorsese. The film chronicles the life and trials of the world champion Rhode Island boxer, Vinny Pazienza (Vinny Paz) and features a star-studded cast that includes Ciarán Hinds, Miles Teller, Katey Sagal, and Aaron Eckhart. Shot entirely in Rhode Island, the film wrapped last week and has already been booked for an international theatrical release.

“It is a true honor to have the opportunity to award such an enormously talented actor and thanks go to Chad A. Verdi and Steven Feinberg for making this presentation possible. Ciarán Hinds has created an enormous artistic footprint within the world of cinema, and we could not be more pleased to recognize his fantastic performance in The Shore.” said Michael Drywa, RIIFF Advisory Board President, who presented the award for Best Actor to Mr. Hinds.