Four Irish films Kneecap, The Apprentice, Room Taken and Clodagh shortlisted for the Oscars® 2025
Posted: 17th December 2024
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is delighted to congratulate the filmmakers and creative teams behind Kneecap, The Apprentice and short film Room Taken, all of whom have been shortlisted for the Oscars 2025.
Kneecap has been shortlisted in the Best International Feature Film category and for Best Original Song, while The Apprentice, produced by Irish production company Tailored Films, has been shortlisted in the Best Make Up and Hairstyling Category. Shortlisted for Best Live Action Short are Irish films Room Taken, funded under Screen Ireland’s flagship Focus Shorts scheme and directed by TJ O’Grady Peyton, as well as Clodagh, directed by Portia A. Buckley.
The range of projects featured across the shortlists represents a significant achievement for Irish film, and a remarkable one for Irish language film in particular. Kneecap is just the second film ever in the Irish language to be shortlisted in the Best International Feature Film category – the first being An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) in 2022.
Commenting on the shortlisting of the films, Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive of Fís Eireann / Screen Ireland said:
"We would like to extend our sincere congratulations to the creative teams behind Irish films Kneecap, The Apprentice and short films Room Taken and Clodagh on today's Academy Awards shortlist announcements. Comhghairdeas ó chroí libh. This is the second time in history that a film in the Irish language has been shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film - and to have four films shortlisted across various categories is an incredible achievement for Irish cinema.”
Kneecap is one of 15 films shortlisted from 85 countries who submitted to the category. 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 has been released in Irish and international cinemas to critical acclaim.The film is an Irish/UK co-production, 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.
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 film is a Canadian/Irish/Danish co-production. It 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.
Room Taken is a short film written by Michael Whelan, directed by TJ O’Grady and produced by Colmán Mac Cionnaith for Vico Films. It is fully funded by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland under the agency’s flagship short film scheme, Focus Shorts. When a man, new to Ireland, experiences homelessness and needs a place to sleep, he secretly takes up residence in the home of an elderly blind woman, which leads to them forming a unique bond.
Nominations voting begins on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, and concludes on Sunday, January 12, 2025. Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced on Friday, January 17, 2025.
The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.