Still waters run deep in this rousing Irish-language story of love and loss set in 1980s Ireland, awarded the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus Grand Prix for Best Film.

Nine-year-old Cáit is on the bottom rung of a bustling family headed by a bullying father and a pregnant-again mother. When she is sent away to spend the summer at a farm belonging to her mother’s cousin and her husband, the neglected child experiences – for the first time – what it’s like to flourish under the eyes of attentive guardians.

Featuring a star-making performance from young Catherine Clinch, this adaptation of Claire Keegan’s beloved novella Foster is the first ever Irish-language feature to screen in competition at the Berlinale, and subsequently won Best Irish Feature at the Dublin International Film Festival as well as eight awards – including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress – at the Irish Film & Television Awards. Written and directed by rising talent Colm Bairéad, and brought to life with meditative compositions by DOP Kate McCullough (Normal People), The Quiet Girl is a tale of life-changing tragedy and emerging love, told with graceful simplicity.

“Unexpectedly beautiful … The Quiet Girl is thoughtful, spiritual in its stillness but alive with the hum of the land and the emotions it guards.” – Screen Daily