Animated Short Film Coda Longlisted for the 2015 Academy Awards For Best Animated Short Film
After picking up several international awards, the Irish animated short film CODA, co-funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB), has been longlisted for the 2015 Academy Awards® in the category of Best Animated Short Film, along with ten other films. The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015.
This beautiful nine-minute, hand-drawn animated film stars the voices of Brian Gleeson (Standby) and Orla Fitzgerald (The Guarantee). Produced under the Frameworks animation scheme which was funded by the IFB, RTÉ and the Arts Council, the film became eligible for an Oscar following a number of prizes including Best Animated Short Film at SXSW, the prize for Most Creative Short at the Edinburgh Short Film Festival, the Grand Prize at Fest Anca for Best Animation at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival and the Don Quijote Prize at the Galway Film Fleadh.
Commenting on the news, director Alan Holly said "When you work on a short film like this for such a long time, you really just want as many people as possible to see it. So it is wonderful to be getting such a positive international response, first at festivals and now to make the final ten films for the Academy Awards. In many ways CODA is quite an Irish story, and yet there are also a lot of very universal elements to the film as well, which I think international audiences really relate to. And then of course there are parts that are quite personal to me too, so yes, I really happy to see the film take off internationally."
James Hickey, Chief Executive, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board said "Short films such as CODA can create major international opportunities for young Irish filmmakers and animators. CODA is the culmination of two years of painstaking work by a small team of dedicated animation artists and I really want to take this opportunity to congratulate Alan and the team behind this film for getting this far in the race for an Academy Award nomination."
Produced by Ciarán Deeney the film tells the story of a lost soul who stumbles drunkenly through Dublin city. In a park, death finds him and shows him many things. Alan Holly whose previous short film, Old Fangs, which he co-directed, was selected for Sundance Film Festival.
Fifty-eight pictures had originally qualified in the category. The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members of the Academy Awards will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theatre, The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Centre in Hollywood, and will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
Watch the trailer for CODA on the Irish Film Board's Media Hub.
More about the IFB's Frameworks funding initiative for short films here.
NOTE TO EDITORS
Irish short filmmakers have received huge profile at the Oscars in recent years. Martin McDonagh's SIX SHOOTER took home the award for Best Live Action Short, and Nicky Phelan's GRANNY O'GRIMM'S SLEEPING BEAUTY, Cathal Gaffney's GIVE UP YER AUL SINS, Juanita Wilson's THE DOOR, Steff Green's NEW BOY, Ruairí Robinson's FIFTY PERCENT GREY, Michael Creagh's THE CRUSH and Peter McDonald's PENTECOST have all received Oscar nominations over the last number of years. THE MISSING SCARF directed by Eoin Duffy was also short-listed for the Academy Award nomination last year.
Previous Awards for CODA
- 2nd Place for the Audience Choice Award at the 3rd Annual Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Invitational, Baltimore 2014
- Silver Hugo for Best Animated Short at the 50th Chicago International Film Festival 2014
- Joint Best Irish Short Film prize withThe Ledge End of Philat the Dublin Animation Film Festival 2014
- Best Animation at Kino Fest 2014
- Audience Choice at SICAF 2014
- Best in Show at Animation Block Party 2014
- Joint Best Animated Film Award with'Pandas'at Kratkofil Plus 2014
- The AnÄa Award at Fest AnÄa 2014
- Most Creative Short Award at The Edinburgh Short Film Festival 2014
- Best Animated Short at SXSW 2014
- The FICC Don Quijote Award