Posted: 7th December 2023
Three films from Screen Ireland's flagship short film schemes are in the running for the upcoming 96th Academy Awards. Two Focus Shorts, Sinéad O'Loughlin's Lamb and Lochlainn McKenna's Two For The Road, and one Frameworks short, Jessica Patterson's Worry World, are currently eligible for the Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film awards respectively.
Chosen out of a record-breaking 7,200 short film submissions to receive its World Premiere as part of the Tribeca Film Festival's Official Selection in 2022, Sinéad O'Loughlin's Lamb has gone on to receive 15 awards during its festival run as well as a nomination at this year's IFTA Awards. Starring Irish Rising Star Éanna Hardwicke and Aoife Duffin, the film takes place on an ordinary day for a woman and her child which takes a sinister turn when a stranger walks into their isolated rural home.
Two For The Road began its festival run at this year's Galway Film Fleadh, picking up the Best Short Drama and Best Cinematography in a Short Film awards at the festival's closing ceremony. Focusing on Oscar and his father amidst spontaneous travels in 1990s Ireland, the film resonated with audiences abroad at the Newport Beach Film Festival as much as at home, receiving awards in across the film's native Cork and Kerry counties. The film stars Ewan Morris in his screen acting debut and Steve Wall as the young boy's father.
A regimented world of black-and-white is the setting of Jessica Patterson's Worry World, where a rebellious young factory worker who thinks in color makes an unexpected connection. The film received its World Premiere as part of the Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland shorts programme at this year's Galway Film Fleadh and went on to receive the James Horgan Award for Best Animated Short Film. It later received the Audience Award for Best Short - Animation at the Newport Beach Film Festival.
Lamb, Two For The Road and Worry World are now available for viewing for Academy members in the Academy Screening Room, with voting opening for members on the 14th December. The Academy will announce the shortlists of several categories on Tuesday, 21st December 2023. The 96th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, 10th March 2024.
Find out more information about Screen Ireland's short film schemes here.
Watch previous Screen Ireland short films on Screen Ireland’s Short Film Player.