Sligo County Council Arts Service is delighted to announce that filmmaker Patryk Łukaszewski has been awarded the 2026 Creative Heartlands Film Bursary for Sligo for his short film “Svitlana “

The Creative Heartlands Film Bursary is an annual award by Sligo Arts Service, together with both Leitrim and Roscommon Arts Offices as part of their Creative Ireland programmes.  The award is open to both established and emerging filmmakers and production companies, living/working in the SLR (Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon) region, and designed to support collaboration among filmmaking teams in the development of an original Short Film, see more information here: https://sligoarts.ie/artist-supports/creative-heartlands-film-bursary/

Patryk’s new short film, Svitlana, follows a Ukrainian mother and daughter as they attempt to rebuild their lives in rural Sligo while awaiting news from the husband and father they left behind. The project has recently completed production and is now in post-production.

A graduate of the National Film School at IADT Dún Laoghaire, Patryk’s work explores themes of memory, grief and identity. His recent short film, Tymek, premiered at the Dublin International Film Festival and led to him being named a runner-up in Ireland’s Emerging Director Awards.

This bursary is funded by The Arts Service Department of Sligo County Council & The Arts Council of Ireland.