The Edinburgh International Film Festival has announced the winners of its main feature and short film prizes, with the Northern Ireland-set drama "Skintown" and the family drama "Grief Room" taking top honours. The awards, unveiled on Wednesday evening, recognise outstanding new filmmaking talent and come with significant funding to support the winners' future projects, underlining the festival's role in launching emerging film careers.

"Skintown", directed by Kieron J. Walsh, won the audience-voted Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence, earning £50,000. Set during the 1994 ceasefire, it follows two friends navigating small-town life in 1990s Northern Ireland. "Grief Room", directed by Sinda Agha and starring Emily Beecham, Daisy Bevan and Louisa Harland, took the Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence and £15,000; it centres on estranged sisters reuniting at their mother's deathbed. EIFF director Paul Ridd praised both films and the overall strength of this year's lineup.