Barry Dignam is an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 filmmaker

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

. Some of his films are Chicken

Chicken (short film)

Chicken is a 2001 Irish short film directed by Barry Dignam about the way adolescent males sometimes redirect their feelings of affection for each other into often violent or competitive activities such as games of chicken....

, Dream Kitchen, Stages, Bounce and A Ferret Called Mickey.
Barry Dignam studied drama at Trinity College Dublin and Film at the National Film School of Ireland (IADT). He has made a number of internationally successful shorts including Chicken

Chicken (short film)

Chicken is a 2001 Irish short film directed by Barry Dignam about the way adolescent males sometimes redirect their feelings of affection for each other into often violent or competitive activities such as games of chicken....

, Dream Kitchen and A Ferret Called Mickey. His films have been presented in official selection at over a hundred and fifty international film festivals and have won numerous awards. He has been nominated for a Palme d'Or

Palme d'Or

The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...

at Cannes and a Berlin Bear. Barry's work has been screened by top broadcasters including Film Four, PBS, Canal+ and have been released on DVD and theatrically in both Europe and the US. Barry lecturers in screenwriting and direction at the National Film School at IADT Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.

Personal life

Dignam and his partner, Hugh Walsh, are one of the first couples to enter into civil partnership in Ireland, and the first to do so after the mandatory three month wait (six previous couples were granted exemptions on compassionate grounds).