Irish film and creative talent recognised across BAFTA Film Awards longlists, including Screen Ireland-supported Kneecap, The Apprentice and Bring Them Down
Posted: 3rd January 2025
Screen Ireland is delighted to congratulate the Irish films and creative teams highlighted across the EE BAFTA Film Awards longlists for 2025, announced today. Films and artists across 25 categories will proceed to Round Two of voting for final nominations at the prestigious awards ceremony, with three Screen Ireland-supported projects making the longlists across several categories.
Record-breaking Irish-language film Kneecap is heavily featured across 7 categories, including Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Film Not in the English Language and Editing. Based on the origin story of the riotous and ground-breaking Irish-language rap trio Kneecap, the film is set in west Belfast in 2019, chronicling how fate brings the trio together and how they then go on to “change the sound of Irish music forever”. The film received its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year, where it became the first Irish-language film to win the Audience Award in the festival’s NEXT strand, and most recently became the biggest winner at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) in December.
The Apprentice, a Canadian/Irish/Danish co-production, was longlisted across six categories, including Best Film and Original Screenplay. Directed by Ali Abassi and written by Gabe Sherman, The Apprentice is a dive into the underbelly of the American empire. It charts a young Donald Trump’s ascent to power through a Faustian deal with the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn.
The Screen Ireland-supported Bring Them Down made the longlist for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for writer/director Christopher Andrews, while short film Portia A. Buckley's Clodagh and Roisin Agnew's The Ban made the longlist for British Short Film.
Bring Them Down is an Irish-set thriller starring Christopher Abbott, Barry Keoghan, Colm Meaney and Nora-Jane Noone. The film was produced by Irish production company Tailored Films, Wild Swim and MUBI, and co-produced by Frakas Productions, VOO et Be tv and Shelter Prod in association with Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, RTÉ and the UK Global Screen Fund. Bring Them Down will be released in Irish cinemas on February 7th 2025.
Kneecap is produced by Jack Tarling and Trevor Birney for Fine Point Films and Mother Tongues Films, and Patrick O’Neill for Wildcard. Funding for the film was provided by Northern Ireland Screen, the Irish Language Broadcast Fund, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Coimisiún na Meán and TG4, with backing from Great Point Media.
The Apprentice is produced by Daniel Bekerman for Scythia Films (Canada), Jacob Jarek for Profile Pictures, Ruth Treacy and Julianne Forde for Tailored Films, and Ali Abbasi and Louis Tisné for Film Institute. The film is supported by Kinematics, Head Gear Films, Screen Ireland, Film i Väst, The Danish Film Institute and National Bank of Canada.
The next round of voting to determine the final BAFTA nominations takes place between Friday 3rd and Friday 10th January 2025.
The EE BAFTA Film Awards nominations will be announced on Wednesday 15th January 2025., and the awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 16th February 2025.