THE CRYING GAME star Stephen Rea will be honoured at Listowel Writer’s Week with the John B. Keane Lifetime Achievement Award. Organisers confirmed this week that the Belfast native will be presented with his award and a citation on the opening night of the popular annual literary event, which takes place from May 31 until June 4. Mr Rea’s citation will “celebrate his contribution to Irish theatre”, they organisers confirm.
Pierce Brosnan and Helena Bonham Carter are set to star in the Irish romance FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE directed by Polly Steele. Based on Niall Williams bestselling novel, the film will see Brosnan and Bonham Carter starring as the parents of fated lovers played by up-and-coming actors Fionn O’Shea (DANCE FIRST) and Ann Skelly (THE NEVERS). Gabriel Byrne will also star in the film.
BLOODLANDS Season 2, starring award-winning Irish actor James Nesbitt will premiere on Monday, February 6. This season DCI Tom Brannick (Nesbitt) returns as the murder of a crooked accountant unravels a trail of greed that threatens to expose the true identity of the legendary assassin codenamed Goliath.
Irish actor Barry Keoghan has overcome a challenging childhood to earn an Academy Award nomination for THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN. The Irish actor’s vulnerable and abused islander Dominic Kearney gives the film moments of warmth and much of its emotional punch. Among Keoghan’s many new fans is Gary Lineker, who was quick to applaud the nomination on social media, while McDonagh, who wrote the part for the actor, already regards him as “one of the best actors of his generation in the world today, let alone in Ireland”.
An Irish man who was responsible for editing the critically-acclaimed ELVIS biopic has been nominated for an Oscar, in what has been a record year for Irish film. John Redmond, who grew up in Dublin, has been given the nod for an Academy Award along with his co-editor Matt Villa, for brining the story of the King of Rock and Roll to the silver screen. Speaking on The Ray D’Arcy Show on RTÉ Radio 1, John explained that he landed the role through a relationship he built up with ELVIS Director Baz Luhrmann, over 23 years ago.
The latest movie from Irish writer-director John Carney (ONCE, SING STREET) is picking up some very good reviews following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Discovering an old guitar in a skip, she believes that music may be the answer and winds up seeking the services of an LA-based online guitar teacher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, INCEPTION).
Ireland has scooped a record 14 Oscar nominations, prompting jokes that the ceremony should be relocated from Los Angeles to Dublin. Martin McDonagh’s film THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN got nine nods, Paul Mescal was nominated for best actor for AFTERSUN, and THE QUIET GIRL made history by becoming the first Irish-language film to be nominated in the best international feature film category.
This weekend Warner Brothers release the new horror movie UNWELCOME. Director Jon Wright, who previously directed the Irish boozey comedy horror GRABBERS has gone deep into Irish folklore to bring The Red Cap to the big screen. Married couple Maya and Jamie escape their urban nightmare to the tranquility of rural Ireland only to discover malevolent and murderous goblins lurking in the gnarled, ancient wood at the foot of their new garden.
AFTERSUN is now available to rent on Google Play! 20 years after their last holiday at a fading vacation resort, Sophie reflects on the rare time spent with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal). Sophie’s recollections become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t, in Charlotte Wells’ superb and searingly emotional debut film.
Eve Hewson, the Irish actress now starring alongside Sharon Horgan on the dark Apple TV+ comedy BAD SISTERS, will be saluted at the 17th annual Oscar Wilde Awards in March, it was announced Monday. Hewson will receive the Wilde Card Award, which event organizer Trina Vargo, president of the US-Ireland Alliance, notes is used “to bring attention to rising talent who may not yet be a household name, but who we expect will be.”