Adam & Paul scoops top prize at Sofia Film Festival

Lenny Abrahamson's film Adam & Paul has scooped the prestigious Best Film Prize (Stella Artois Grand Prix) and the International Film Critics Federation Prize (FIPRESCI award) at the 9th Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF).

This is the first time ever in the festival's nine year history that one film has won both awards.

Co-financed by Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board (BSÉ/IFB), Adam & Paul won against tough international competition, including Kevin Bacon's The Woodsman.

Adam & Paul's director Lenny Abrahamson gave his reaction to the news: "I am absolutely delighted and thrilled that our film has struck a chord with international audiences and critics alike.

"These awards are a testament to the hard work of everybody who made this film happen."

This latest award is just one of many this Irish box office hit has scooped including Best Film at the Galway Film Fleadh and Best Director at the Irish Film and Television Awards.

Adam & Paul also recently screened to critical acclaim in the Panorama section of the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival, while The Chicago Tribune hailed Adam & Paul as "an eerily brilliant notion…an amazingly effective low-budget tragi-comedy".

A stylised, downbeat comedy, Adam & Paul follows two friends through a single day, which, like every other, is entirely devoted to the business of scrounging and robbing money for drugs.

The difference today is that Adam and Paul - already near rock bottom - have finally run out of luck, credit and friends.

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, Adam & Paul was written by Mark O'Halloran who also stars in the film alongside Tom Murphy.