Foy-directed 'Citadel' wins audience award

Psychological horror debut 'Citadel' from Irish writer/director Ciarán Foy has picked up an audience award at the renowned SXSW international film and music festival in Austin, Texas.

The award follows critical acclaim for the film since its world premiere as part of the "Midnighters" section of the festival.

Foy said: "Between the great reviews and the epic audience reaction to 'Citadel', I'm genuinely stunned and humbled. It'll take a while for it all to sink in, but I'm so thankful to SXSW and I can't think of a way that the festival could have gone any better!"

Irish/Scottish co-production 'Citadel' tells the story of an agoraphobic father and a renegade priest who try to save the man's daughter from a gang of feral children.

Variety has said: "Foy skillfully taps into primal fears and urban paranoia to keep his audience consistently unsettled" and also commented on the imagery in the final scenes describing them as "breathtakingly lyrical".