The 21st annual IFTA Awards take place tonight at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre, with the ceremony hosted for the first time by Emmy-winning broadcaster Baz Ashmawy. Ireland’s biggest stars like Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott, Saoirse Ronan, Cillian Murphy, Pierce Brosnan and Sharon Horgan to name a few are set to appear on the red carpet. Check out the full list of nominees across 28 categories in Film and Drama below.
This St. Patrick’s Day, we take a moment to acknowledge that Irish culture takes centre stage in multiple creative genres. Whether it’s Cillian Murphy’s Best Actor win for OPPENHEIMER at the Oscars, Paul Mescal’s upcoming career-changing role in GLADIATOR, Paul Lynch’s Booker Prize winning novel PROPHET SONG or Belfast band Kneecap, who recently premiered their first movie at the Sundance Film Festival – Ireland’s reputation as a storytelling powerhouse is without doubt.
American talk show host and comedian Conan O’Brien is touring Ireland in the hopes of tracing his ancestors following an earlier DNA test that revealed he is “100pc Irish”. The 60-year-old Massachusetts-born star made pitstops in Dublin, Galway and Limerick while filming for his new travel show CONAN O’BRIEN MUST GO, as he maps out his Irish family heritage.
Margo Harkin’s STOLEN documentary uncovers the horrors of Ireland’s mother-and-baby institutions – essentially state- and church-run factories churning out children for adoption, shame and misery. Harkin interviews journalists, politicians, legal scholars and historians, but also poets such as Jessica Traynor, who read pieces about the pain of such places in the ruins that remain. We hear from sons and daughters who lived with mothers that survived these homes and are still searching for siblings who remain unaccounted for, and of course many survivors themselves. STOLEN is in theatres Nov 3rd 2023.
Gothic thriller THE WOMAN IN THE WALL is a sensitively crafted, fictional drama series which examines the legacy of one of Ireland’s most shocking scandals – the inhumane institutions known as The Magdalene Laundries. Ruth Wilson plays Lorna Brady, who was sent to her local laundry/home for being pregnant at 15. The baby was taken from her by the nuns and, like the rest of the young mothers, she has never known what happened to her child.
The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) has announced the Screen Ireland – IFTA Rising Star nominees for 2023 ahead of the IFTA Awards in Dublin next month. The five Rising Star nominees are: Kathryn Ferguson (Director – NOTHING COMPARES), Danielle Galligan (Actor – LAKELANDS), Éanna Hardwicke (Actor – LAKELANDS), Aoife McArdle (Director – SEVERANCE) and Daryl McCormack (Actor – BAD SISTERS, GOOD LUCK TO YOU LEO GRANDE). Áine Moriarty, Chief Executive of IFTA, said: “These five superb individuals are a true reflection of the brilliant new wave of Irish talent who are proving themselves to be world-class screen professionals.”
Irish talent shines at BIFA2022. GOD’S CREATURES, NOTHING COMPARES, YOUNG PLATO, IT IS IN US ALL, and THE WONDER are among the Irish titles named as nominees. Leading the nominations is Charlotte Wells’ AFTERSUN starring Paul Mescal, a poignant portrait of a father and daughter’s complex relationship. Irish Netflix drama THE WONDER also leads the way with 12 nominations.
BLADE RUNNER 2099, a TV series based on the iconic Blade Runner films, is to be filmed in Northern Ireland. The series has been commissioned by the streaming giant Amazon with Ridley Scott, who directed the original 1982 BLADE RUNNER film, as executive producer. Northern Ireland Screen chief executive Richard Williams made the announcement on Tuesday.