A highly talented young Irish filmmaker and his Czech girlfriend have died in a motorcycle crash in Thailand, eliciting an outpouring of tributes from Ireland's film community.
Max Hendrickson, 20, was praised as one of Ireland's most talented up-and-coming filmmakers.
According to the Irish Independent, Hendrickson, from Cabra in north Dublin, was a second-year student at the National Film School within the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) in Dún Laoghaire.
His girlfriend also died in the accident. Her name was not given but she was understood to be a Czech national.
There were no details of the crash. The Department of Foreign Affairs did confirm it was providing consular assistance, but would not comment on individual cases.
IADT president David Smith said the college was "greatly saddened and distressed" by the death, describing Hendrickson as a "remarkably talented student". Lecturer Vanessa Gildea called him one of the most "unique and truly brilliant students" to have studied there.
Hendrickson had been making films since he was 12, when he won the Junior Young Filmmaker of the Year award at the Fresh International Film Festival. At 17, he won the senior Young Filmmaker of the Year award for The Tell-Tale Heart, an animated retelling of the Edgar Allan Poe short story that later screened at Omniplex cinemas nationwide. (continues below)
In a statement, Fresh Film said Hendrickson's talent had been "already so obvious" when he first entered the festival and described the award-winning short as showing "extraordinary vision, skill and imagination".
By his own account, Hendrickson had made 10 short films since the age of 12, which had screened at more than 100 film festivals and received over 40 awards. He had also been selected as Featured Artist at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 2023 for an animation created for its Earth Rising Festival.
References: The Irish Independent, The Irish Times
