The closing ceremony of Galway Film Fleadh on Sunday included the inaugural Peripheral Visions prize, which was given to Julie Schroell’s documentary “River Tales”.

The Peripheral Visions section of the film festival was co-curated by the members of the Europa Film Festivals network of which Luxembourg City Film Festival is a founding member. It featured 12 films focused on the themes “language, landscape and migration”. Each festival presented an introduction to their entry and audiences had the opportunity to participate in online Q&As after the end of the film streams.

Schroell’s film, her first feature documentary, follows a Nicaraguan teacher and his attempts to get the children of his native village on the banks of the legendary San Juan river to reflect on their own identity and the future of their country in the context of a new Chinese canal project.

Watch the trailer here:

“River Tales” was produced by Luxembourg’s Calach Films and was originally supposed to be screened at the Luxembourg City Film Festival. But covid-19 confinement scuppered those plans when the festival had to close prematurely on 12 March. The film was eventually screened during the festival’s Home Edition online streaming season.

Schroell’s award comes with a cash prize of €3,000.