North Circular, the black and white documentary musical that journeys along Dublin’s North Circular Road, has won the coveted American Cinematographer Award for Cinematography at the Salem Film Festival in Salem, Massachusetts, USA.

The prize was presented by festival programmer Jeff Schmidt to the film’s writer and director, Luke McManus, after the screening of the film in the famous Cabot Cinema in Beverly, Massachusetts during the festival, which closes on Saturday April 1st.

This is the second international award that the film has earned: in January, North Circular scooped a Grand Prix at the FIPADOC festival, held annually in Biarritz, France.

Having previously won awards at Dublin IFF and Louth IFF, and two prizes at IndieCork, this brings the film’s awards haul to a hugely impressive total of six to date.

Stephen Pizzello, Editor-in-Chief, American Cinematographer Magazine who selected the film for the award said: “North Circular, directed by Luke McManus and shot by a clearly skilled team of cinematographers (McManus, Evan Barry, Jamie Goldrick, Patrick Jordan and Richard Kendrick, with additional camerawork by Alex Sapienza and Thomas Beug), presents a stunning array of black-and-white images framed in the boxlike 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

"Bold framing of the doc’s settings result in striking compositions throughout this documentary,” he added. "The images have a truly cinematic quality that occasionally recall black-and-white 'kitchen sink' films of the 1960s, or even film noir. North Circular presents a consistent cavalcade of shots and compositions that boast an aesthetically impressive ‘wow’ factor.”

Salem Film Festival Programmer Jeff Schmidt said: “The striking visuals in North Circular emerge so organically in the film, yet every shot catches the eye in a purposeful way. Luke and his camera team capture our attention from the get-go, and transport us to Dublin."

The director of North Circular, Luke McManus added: “Salem Film Fest has a warmth and a welcoming quality that is both rare and precious and we were really delighted to bring North Circular to the knowledgeable and enthusiastic cinema fans of Salem. This award has huge meaning for us – as a director, I am delighted to see the work of the DOPs, camera team and colour grader acknowledged, and I know they are all thrilled with the accolade from American Cinematographer, which has always been the bible for cinematographers around the world. Thank you!”

The film, which is written and directed by Luke McManus, edited by John Murphy (The Quiet Girl/An Cailín Ciúin) and produced by McManus and Elaine Gallagher, also features appearances from some of the leading artists of the Irish folk and trad scene, including John Francis Flynn, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Lisa O’Neill and Ian Lynch (Lankum), as well as a special appearance by singer Gemma Dunleavy ('Up De Flats').

North Circular is still screening in Irish cinemas, four months after its release on 2 December, 2022.

North Circular is Luke McManus’s debut feature documentary as a director and was entirely funded by The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon under their ReelArt funding scheme. The film made its World Premiere at Dublin IFF 2022, where it won the Special Mention Award in the Documentary competition; its International Premiere at Sheffield DocFest 2022; and, as mentioned, the film has also won awards at Louth IFF, IndieCork and FIPADOC.