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Five Oscar Nominations for the Irish Film Industry and three for IFB funded films

Three Oscar Nominations for Irish Film Board Funded Films

The Irish film industry has received five Academy® Award nominations today, three of which are for Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board funded projects. ‘The Secret of Kells' directed by Tomm Moore and produced by Kilkenny based company Cartoon Saloon beat off stiff competition from major US studios to be nominated in the Best Animated Feature Film category. Irish short films ‘The Door' directed by up and coming filmmaker Juanita Wilson and ‘Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty' written and performed by Kathleen O'Rourke and directed by Nicky Phelan have been nominated in the Best Short Film categories. Other Irish nominations include Richard Baneham is among the nominees in the Best Visual Effects category and Peter J Devlin who has been nominated in the Best Sound Achievement category.

Simon Perry, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board Chief Executive said "This is a great day for the Irish film industry. The Oscar nominations represent the best possible international industry endorsement for film talent worldwide. For the ‘The Secret of Kells' produced by an  independent studio in Kilkenny to beat off competition from the major US animation studios and win a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination is an enormous achievement. The film is so completely Irish in its story, its artwork and its creativity that it will represent Ireland to millions of viewers all around the world for years to come."

Mr. Perry went on to say "It's also a great achievement for Juanita Wilson and Nicky Phelan to have their debut short films recognised at the highest levels of the international industry. Nurturing new talent is a key objective of the Irish Film Board and we are delighted to fund these short films which have showcased their talent. There are hundreds of thousands of short films produced every year around the world and for Ireland to receive two short film Oscar nominations and five nominations in total in one year really underlines the world class talent currently working in the Irish industry."

Tomm Moore, director of The Secret of Kells said "The nomination for The Secret of Kells in the Animated Feature category of the Academy Awards is a huge surprise and honour. It's a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the entire crew and all our partners in the production. I hope it will encourage more and more people to seek out our film on DVD!!!"

‘The Secret of Kells' which features the voice talent of Brendan Gleeson and Mick Lally tells the story of an orphan named Brendan who is set the task of completing the Book of Kells.  The task sees him called to a new life of creativity and imagination where adventure, danger and action await him. The film has already picked up a large amount of awards over the past twelve months including the Jury and Audience Awards in Kecskemet in Hungary, the Audience Award in Annecy and a Special Mention at the Zagreb Animation Festival in Croatia.

Produced by European Producers of the Year, Cartoon Saloon, ‘The Secret of Kells' received funding from the IFB, BAI, France 2 Cinema, Eurimages, Media programme, Canal+ Cine Cinema, Conseil General de la Charente, Piste Rouge, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique et des Télédistributeurs Wallons, Promimage and Wallimage.

This is the second year running that an Irish short film has been nominated in the live action Academy Award category. ‘New Boy' directed by Steph Green and funded by the IFB was nominated last year.  ‘The Door', written and directed by Juanita Wilson and produced by Octagon Films is based on the true story of a father and his young daughter set in Russia 1986.  The film already picked up the Best Short Film IFTA last year and the award for Best Director at the Grand OFF Awards in Warsaw and the Gold Medal Award (Fiction) at the Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films.  The film was produced under the Short Cuts scheme co-funded by the IFB and RTE. Wilson is currently in the final stages of post production on her debut feature film ‘As If I Am Not There'.

‘Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty' directed by Nicky Phelan and written by Kathleen O'Rourke is the second Oscar nomination for Irish animation studio Brown Bag Films. They were first nominated in 2002 for the IFB funded short film ‘Give Up Your Auld Sins'. ‘Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty' has already proved very popular with audiences and has scooped a number of awards to date.  The short has picked up Audience Awards at the Omaha Film Festival, US and Cinegal Festival in Montreal as well a Best Animation IFTA, a Best Animation Gold Heart Award in Australia and an Outstanding Achievement in Short Animation Filmmaking at the Newport Beach Film Festival in California. The short flm was funded as part of Frameworks co-funded by the IFB, the Arts Council and RTE.

Irish animator Richard Baneham is among the nominees in the Best Visual Effects category for his work on 'Avatar'. Baneham studied animation in Ballyfermot College of Further Education.

Peter J Devlin has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Sound for his work on ‘Star Trek'. Originally from Northern Ireland, he now resides in Los Angeles working mainly in Feature Production and his long list of credits include ‘Transformers', ‘King Arthur', ‘The Jane Austen Book Club' and ‘Nixon'. He worked for the BBC Audio unit in Belfast from 1981 to 1988. he was previously nominated for Best Sound Achievement on ‘Transformers' and ‘Pearl Harbour'.