The Favourite and Late Afternoon Lead the Irish Nominations at 90th Academy Awards
Posted: 22nd January 2019
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland congratulates the teams behind the Element Pictures-produced The Favourite and Louise Bagnall’s short film, Late Afternoon, following today’s Academy Award® nominations.
The Favourite, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, received an astounding 10 nominations including Best Picture for Ed Guiney, Best Cinematography for Irish director of photography Robbie Ryan, Best Actress for Olivia Colman, along with two nods for Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Costume Design, Film Editing, Production Design and Original Screenplay, while Louise Bagnall’s Late Afternoon is nominated for Best Animated Short.
Screen Ireland also congratulates Irish US based sound-mixer Peter Devlin on his nomination for his work on Black Panther and the team behind the short film Detainment nominated for Live Action Short Film.
Commenting on the news, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland Chief Executive, James Hickey said: “On behalf of Screen Ireland, I would like to congratulate Element Pictures, Louise Bagnall and Robbie Ryan on today’s nominations. Irish film has been a consistent presence at the Academy Awards® over the last decade and this is the fifth ceremony in a row where Irish filmmaking talent has been front and centre.
“The success of The Favourite has been a truly remarkable feat to witness this awards season and Screen Ireland is delighted to have worked with Ed and Andrew at Element, and of course Yorgos, on previous success stories, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. We are also particularly happy to see Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan garner a much deserved nomination for his work on the film.
“We are also incredibly proud of Louise Bagnall and her nomination for the beautiful and poignant Late Afternoon, co-funded by Screen Ireland. Irish short film has a fantastic track record at the Academy Awards® and for Late Afternoon to be among the line-up of five international animated shorts is a testament to the strength and creativity of the Irish animation industry. Louise undoubtedly has a successful career ahead of her and we are delighted to see her flying the flag for Irish creative female talent at this year’s awards. We wish Louise, Element and Robbie Ryan every success at next month’s ceremony.”
The Favourite has been a critical and box-office hit since it premiered on the Lido in Venice last August where it scooped the Grand Jury Prize and Olivia Colman won Best Actress for her portrayal of Queen Anne. Today’s Academy Award® nominations follow Coleman’s recent win at the Golden Globes® where she took home Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy. The film is also nominated for 12 BAFTAs.
The Favourite stars Olivia Colman and Academy Award winners Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone and marks the third collaboration between Element Pictures and director Yorgos Lanthimos following award-winning films The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
The film was shot by Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan and was partly post produced in Dublin. It is currently playing in Irish cinemas, released through Fox Searchlight.
Late Afternoon, written and directed by Louise Bagnall and starring Fionnula Flanagan follows an elderly woman as she drifts back through her memories, existing between two states — the past and the present.
The film received its New York premiere at Tribeca earlier this year, where it was awarded Best Animated Short, screening as part of a special animation programme curated by Whoopi Goldberg.
The Favourite is written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara and is produced by Ed Guiney and executive produced by Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures. Other producers include Ceci Dempsey, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos. The film is an Element Pictures/Scarlet Films production for Fox Searchlight, Film4 and Waypoint.
Late Afternoon is produced by Nuria González Blanco for Cartoon Saloon and was funded under the Screen Ireland and RTÉ funded Frameworks short film scheme.
The 90th Academy Awards® will take place on February 24, 2019 in Los Angeles.