Another Terrific Week for Irish Film with Festival Selections, Awards and Nominations
It has been another terrific week for Irish film, with official selections to some of the world’s most renowned film festivals in addition to a slew of international award wins and nominations for Irish talent.
IFB Funded Films 'Room' and 'Brooklyn' Nominated for Golden Globes
The nominations for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards were announced on Thursday, with four nominations for IFB-funded films Room and Brooklyn. Lenny Abrahamson's Room was nominated in the category of Best Motion Picture. Room's Brie Larson and Brooklyn's Saoirse Ronan were both nominated in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture. Emma Donoghue was nominated for Best Screenplay for Room which she adapted from her own award-winning book.
Michael Fassbender was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in Steve Jobs, Caitriona Balfe for her performance in TV series Outlander, in addition to an acting nomination for Eva Green for the Dublin-filmed Penny Dreadful.
Seven Irish Titles are Announced for the Sundance Film Festival
The lineup for the Sundance Film Festival has been unveiled, with no less than seven Irish titles set to screen at the prestigious festival in 2016. Sing Street, Love & Friendship, Viva, The Lobster, Mammal, the feature documentary The Land of the Enlightened and the short animation A Coat Made Dark will each be heading to Park City, Utah in January, marking a record number of Irish films which will screen at the festival.
A Coat Made Dark is Bound for Clermont Ferrand Festival
The animated short film A Coat Made Dark has been officially selected to screen at the prestigious Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in February. The animation was written and directed by Jack O’Shea, produced by Damien Byrne for STILL Films LTD and was funded under the IFB’s Frameworks short film scheme. The festival is considered to be the world's leading film festival dedicated to short films and is France's second-largest film festival in terms of attendance, coming only after Cannes.
Nominations for Brooklyn and Room at the Screen Actors Guild Awards
The Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were announced on Wednesday, with Brooklyn star Saoirse Ronan and Room stars Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay receiving nominations, in addition to Irish actor Michael Fassbender for his role in Steve Jobs. The Screen Actors Guild Awards are highly monitored as they often provide a strong indicator of the Academy Award® nominations and winners.
Irish Talent is Honoured at the British Independent Film Awards
There were multiple wins for Irish talent at this year’s British Independent Film Awards, which took place on Sunday, December 6th. The Best International Independent Film award was picked up by Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, Saoirse Ronan was the winner of the Best Actress award for her role in John Crowley’s Brooklyn while the Best Supporting Actress prize went to Olivia Colman for her performance in The Lobster, which was filmed in Counties Kerry and Dublin.
There were also prizes for Brendan Gleeson for his role in Suffragette while Northern Irish director Stephen Fingleton received the Douglas Hickox award for Best Debut Director for The Survivalist.
Critics Circles Honour Saoirse Ronan and Brie Larson
Saoirse Ronan and Brie Larson have captured the notice of US film critics in end-of-year polls. The New York Film Critics Circle declared Saoirse Ronan as Best Actress for her role in Brooklyn, while she was the runner-up for the Boston and LA Film Critics. Brie Larson meanwhile was the winner of Best Actress winner at the New York Film Critics Online awards. Michael Fassbender was the winner of the Best Actor Award at the LA Film Critics Awards for his role in Steve Jobs.
Irish fingers will also be crossed at the European Film Awards this weekend, where The Lobster is nominated in five categories and Song of the Sea is nominated for Best European Animated Feature.
About 'BROOKLYN'
John Crowley's Brooklyn was produced by Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey and executive produced by Alan Moloney. Production companies were Parallel Films, Finola Dwyer Productions, Wildgaze Films and Item 7. It was financed by the IFB, BAI, RTÉ, BBC, Telefilm, SODEC and the BFI. Brooklyn is currently on release in the UK and Ireland via Lionsgate. It is also on release in the US through Fox Searchlight. Brooklyn was acquired at the Sundance Film Festival by Fox Searchlight for all international territories. International sales were handled by Hanway.
About 'ROOM'
Room was directed by Lenny Abrahamson. Element Pictures' Ed Guiney produced the film with David Gross. Executive producers are Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures and Jeff Arkuss and Jesse Shapira for No Trace Camping. Emma Donoghue, Rose Garnett (Film 4), Tessa Ross (Film 4), and David Kosse (Film 4) also serve as executive producers. Room is an Element Pictures and No Trace Camping production, in association with Film4, Telefilm Canada, and Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board. A24 distribute Room in the US, and Elevation Pictures is distributing the film in Canada. UTA handled the domestic sale of Room and FilmNation Entertainment handled international sales. Room will be on release in Irish cinemas in January 2016.
Room was the winner of the People's Choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.
About ‘THE LOBSTER’
The Lobster is a love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City, are arrested and transferred to The Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. A desperate Man escapes from The Hotel to The Woods where The Loners live and falls in love, although it is against their rules.
The Lobster is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou and produced by Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Ceci Dempsey and Yorgos Lanthimos. Executive Producers are Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross and Sam Lavender.
The Lobster is an Element Pictures, Scarlet Films, Faliro House, Haut et Court, Lemming Film co-production in association with Limp and Irish finance for the film came from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board.
About ‘SONG OF THE SEA’
Based on the Irish legend of the Selkies, Song of the Sea tells the story of the last seal-child, Saoirse, and her brother Ben, who go on an epic journey to save the world of magic and discover the secrets of their past. Pursued by the owl witch, Macha, and a host of ancient and mystical creatures, Saoirse and Ben race against time to awaken Saoirse's powers and keep the spirit world from disappearing forever.
Song of the Sea was directed by Tomm Moore, written by Tomm Moore and Will Collins and produced by Paul Young and Ross Murray.
The production companies were Cartoon Saloon, Melusine Productions, The Big Farm, Superprod and Noerlum Studios. Irish finance for Song of the Sea came from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, the BAI and TG4.