Nominees for the 2016 IFTA - Film and Drama Awards

14th March 2016

The countdown begins for the Irish film industry’s biggest night of the year, acknowledging and rewarding the industry’s great work and achievements in this Golden Age of Irish Cinema, at the annual Awards Ceremony taking place at the Round Room of the Mansion House on Saturday 9th April 2016.  The Ceremony & Red Carpet will be broadcast primetime on TV3 and highlight and news clips will be distributed worldwide.

The Lord Mayor will welcome the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins along with 500 guests from across the world of Film & Drama, all coming together to celebrate the continued great work and success of Ireland’s home industry.  The Irish Academy will also welcome Liam Neeson to Dublin to celebrate his Outstanding Contribution to Cinema and will also welcome Roma Downey who will receive the Inaugural Irish Diaspora Award.

Nominations are announced in all categories and have been shortlisted by Irish Academy Members alongside a specialist Jury panel of industry experts from around the world. 

Number of Nominations for Best Film Titles

  • My Name is Emily – 8
  • Room – 8
  • Sing Street – 8
  • Brooklyn – 7
  • Viva – 7
  • The Survivalist – 4
  • Pursuit – 2
  • The Callback Queen – 2
  • Get Up and Go – 1
  • The Lobster – 1
  • Moscow Never Sleeps – 2
  • Price of Desire – 1

Number of Nominations for Best Drama Titles

  • An Klondike – 9
  • Rebellion – 8
  • Vikings – 5
  • Penny Dreadful – 3
  • Game of Thrones - 2

Academy CEO, Aine Moriarty stated that: “What a superb year for Irish production and this year’s Nominations showcase to the world what Ireland’s small but excellent film industry has to offer.  Irish creative talent is delivering world-class standards of work and we look forward to showcasing and celebrating their achievements at the Ceremony”.

The feature films nominated for Best Film this year are Brooklyn, John Crowley’s depiction of a young Irish woman’s emigration to New York in the 1950’s;  Simon Fitzmaurice’s touching teenage road movie My Name is Emily;  the heart wrenching story of a kidnapped young woman and her son in Room; the entertaining and musical coming of age Sing Street;  the tense and psychological post-apocalyptic thriller The Survivalist from first time feature director Stephen Fingleton and the poetic raw and moving crowd-pleaser Viva.  Five of the Best Films have also received nominations for Best Director; Lenny Abrahamson for Room; John Carney for Sing Street, John Crowley for Brooklyn, Paddy Breathnach for Viva and Stephen Fingleton for The Survivalist.

Emma Donoghue (Room), Mark O’Halloran (Viva), Simon Fitzmaurice (My Name is Emily) and John Carney (Sing Street) are all nominated for their scripts alongside Moscow based Irish writer/director Johnny O’Reilly (Moscow Never Sleeps) a love poem to his adopted city around a multi narrative of Russian characters.

In the Actor in a Leading Role Film category, Colin Farrell is nominated for his artistic turn in the strange and thrillingly ambitious film The Lobster alongside Domhnall Gleeson for his performance in Ex Machina; Michael Fassbender is shortlisted for his skilful turn in Steve Jobs, Barry Keoghan receives his first nomination for his performance as a troubled youth in Mammal and lead actor Martin McCann gives his character an edgy and intense turn in The Survivalist.

Saoirse Ronan is in good company in Actress in a Leading Role Film with her Brooklyn performance alongside Orla Brady’s turn in The Price of Desire; Eva Birthistle who performs in Swansong; Evanna Lynch’s road trip in My Name is Emily and Ruth Bradley in the modern day Irish myth Pursuit.

Nominee Actors in Supporting Roles in Film are Domhnall Gleeson for Brooklyn, Michael Smiley for My Name is Emily; Owen Roe for Pursuit, Jack Reynor for Sing Street and Sean T O Meallaigh who is nominated for The Callback Queen.

Jane Brennan is nominated for Supporting Actress in Film for Brooklyn alongside Olwen Fourere for The Survivalist; Ger Ryan for The Callback Queen, Siobhan O’Kelly for the feature cut of An Klondike and newcomer Gemma Leah Devereux for her performance in Get Up and Go.

Television Drama being produced across Ireland north and south, continues to enthral both Irish and International audiences with compelling scripts, great direction and performances all round.   In the Best Drama category, the Galway based Irish language drama An Klondike and Dublin based 1916 drama Rebellion are nominated alongside the epic fantasy Game of Thrones filmed in NI, the horror drama Penny Dreadful and the historical action drama Vikings both of which are shot in Co Wicklow. Nominations in Best Director Drama are Anthony Byrne for Ripper Street, Neasa Hardiman for Happy Valley, Dathaí Keane for An Klondike, Aisling Walsh for An Inspector Calls and Brian Kirk for Penny Dreadful. The nominees for Best Writer Drama are Colin Teevan for Rebellion, Marcus Fleming for An Klondike, Billy Roche for the kidnap drama Clean Break, and Lisa McGee for Indian Summers.

The strongly contested Actor Lead role in Drama category sees Colin Farrell nominated for True Detective, Aidan Turner for Poldark, Dara Devaney for An Klondike, Stephen Rea for Dickensian and Barry Ward for Rebellion.

Caitriona Balfe has been shortlisted for her role as US show Outlander, Ruth Bradley and Sarah Greene for Rebellion, Elaine Cassidy for No Offence, and Catherine Walker for Critical.  

Liam Cunningham is shortlisted for his role in Game of Thrones, in the supporting Actor Drama category along with Stephen Rea for his performance in War and Peace, Ned Dennehy for Dickensian, Moe Dunford for Vikings, and Robert O’Mahoney for An Klondike. Michelle Fairley is nominated for Rebellion alongside Sarah Greene for Penny Dreadful; Paula Malcomson for US show Ray Donovan, Ruth Negga for Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Victoria Smurfit for the US hit Once Upon a Time.

Full List of Nominees here

 




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