Athlone Filmmaker Leah Egan Awarded €10,000 Short Film Bursary by Westmeath Arts Office
Filmmaker Leah Egan has been announced as the 2024 winner of the Westmeath Film Award. The annual award is a bursary of €10,000 granted to a local filmmaker to be used towards the production of a short 10–15 minute film or documentary in the county.
The Award will enable Egan to create her short film I See A Voice. Set on the banks of the river Shannon in the town of Athlone, the film is centres on the lived experience of a Deaf woman in modern-day Ireland. Egan will be backed by the Producer Aaron Eccles and the production team at Drawn in Pen Productions.
The Film Award aligns with the Westmeath Art Office’s plans to support and promote filmmaking activity in the county, and to promote Westmeath as a location with diverse rural and urban landscapes ideal for filming.
Speaking about the bursary Leah Egan said;
“I’m so incredibly grateful for to the Arts Office for all the wonderful work they do for artists from Westmeath. I See A Voice is a script very dear to my heart and I’m excited to have their support in bringing this film to life. It’s such an honour to get to shoot a film in my home town, too! Excited to get the ball rolling and make Westmeath proud.”
More about Leah Egan
A graduate of the Gaiety School of Acting in 2012, Leah is an award-winning actor director. She has worked extensively in Film and TV in Ireland, the UK and Canada. She is the winner of two best actress awards for her portrayal of Ria Wade in Life Begins Now. Credits include recurring leads on RTE’s Fair City, TG4’s Ros na Rún and TBS Canada’s The Detour. As a writer-director, she is a published children’s author of two titles, confirmed recipient of Screen Ireland and Bow Street Ireland’s Actor as Creator Scheme, and has recently received her first director credit on TG4s Ros na Rún.
