Foscadh (Shelter) has been selected by IFTA as Ireland's entry for the Academy Awards 2022
Posted: 22nd September 2021
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is delighted to congratulate Seán Breathnach and the creative team behind Foscadh on the announcement today that the Irish language feature has been selected as Ireland’s entry for the Oscars®’ Best International Feature Film category (formerly Best Foreign Language category) at the upcoming 94th annual Academy Awards.
The film was selected by the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA)'s 2022 Selection Committee, including Director Aisling Walsh (Maudie; Elizabeth is Missing; Song for a Raggy Boy), Actor Owen McDonnell, (Killing Eve; An Klondike; Paula), Cinematographer Kate McCullough (Normal People; Arracht; Phil Lynott: Songs for While I’m Away), Producer Martina Niland (Sing Street; Once; Float Like a Butterfly), actress Fionnula Flanagan (The Guard; The Others; Waking Ned Devine) and Paul Young, CEO of the five-time Oscar®-nominated Irish Animation company Cartoon Saloon (Wolfwalkers; Song of the Sea; The Breadwinner). The Committee was chaired by Academy CEO Áine Moriarty.
Foscadh (Shelter) is a poignant meditation on isolation, neurodiversity, and letting go of the past, set in the wild mountains of Connemara. Based on characters in Donal Ryan’s novel The Thing About December, Foscadh tells the story of naïve recluse John Cunliffe who is suddenly propelled into manhood at the ripe old age of 28. When his overprotective parents pass away, friendless John inherits mountain land that is in the way of a lucrative wind-farm development, and he is forced to navigate the choppy waters of romance, trust and vengeance for the first time.
Written and directed by Seán Breathnach, Foscadh stars 2020 IFTA nominee Dónall Ó Héalai (Arracht), Fionnuala Flaherty (An Klondike), and Cillian O’Gairbhí (Blood). Foscadh joins a stellar list of Irish-made films (not in the English language) that have been selected by IFTA’s selection committee to represent Ireland in the Oscar® race over recent years. Last year IFTA submitted Irish-language feature film Arracht to represent Ireland, and previous selections have included Gaza (Arabic language Documentary); Viva (Spanish language); Song of Granite (Irish language); As If I Am Not There (Serbo-Croatian language), and Kings (Irish language) among others.
Foscadh was produced by Paddy Hayes (Cumar: A Galway Rhapsody), whose father Tom Hayes was nominated for an Oscar® fifty years ago in 1961 for the documentary Cradle of Genius. The film is produced by Hayes’ Magamedia and premiered to critical acclaim at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2021 winning Best Irish First Feature at the Festival’s Awards.
Alongside the news of its selection as Ireland’s submission for the Oscars®’ Best International Feature Film category, the Irish Academy has exclusively revealed the full international trailer for Foscadh.
Foscadh (Shelter) was supported by Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, and TG4 as part of the Cine 4 scheme, an initiative set up in 2017 to develop original feature films in the Irish language. Foscadh (Shelter) is distributed in Ireland by Eclipse Pictures.
The Oscar® Best International Film contenders will next be shortlisted to 15 international finalists on December 21st which will then be ultimately shortlisted to the final 5 Oscar® Nominees in that category on February 8th. The 94th Academy Awards ceremony (the Oscars®) is currently scheduled to take place on Sunday 27th March 2022 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will honour the best films of 2021.
World Sales for Foscadh (Shelter) are being handled by The Yellow Affair.