Accolades Continue For Irish Film

Irish film is celebrating a successful week following a number of accolades, awards and nominations for Irish talent.

Already for 2016, two Irish films have been announced for the Sundance Film Festival. The films, which will will have their world premiere at the event, are supported by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board and are Mammal by Rebecca Daly (The Other Side of Sleep) and The Land of the Enlightened by Pieter-Jan De Pue. They will screen in January 2016.

The world premiere of Mammal will take place at the festival as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Starring Rachel Griffiths, Barry Keoghan and Michael McElhatton, Mammal was produced by Conor Barry and Macdara Kelleher for Fastnet Films. The world premiere will also take place of feature documentary The Land of the Enlightened directed by Pieter-Jan De Pue and produced by Morgan Bushe for Fastnet Films, will screen in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

At the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Brooklyn star Saoirse Ronan was honoured with the Best Actress Award. Previous recipients include Marion Cotillard and Cate Blanchett.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) have also announced that Saoirse Ronan and Room star Brie Larson will share the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award at the 2016 festival, the first time in its history that the award has been jointly awarded. Previous winners of the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award include Charlize Theron (Monster), Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain), Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook). The 2016 edition of SBIFF will take place from 3 to 13 February.

Elsewhere, in New York, the National Board of Review has hailed Brie Larson as Best Actress for her performance in Lenny Abrahamson's Room, while her co-star Jacob Trembley received a nod for Breakthrough Performance. The Board also named Room as one of their nine top films. The film will be released in Irish cinemas on 15 January, 2016.

At the Satellite Awards, which take place in Los Angeles days before the Academy Awards, Room secured four nominations in the categories of Best Film, Best Director (Lenny Abrahamson), Best Actress (Brie Larson) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Emma Donoghue). In addition, Brooklyn was nominated in the categories of Best Film and Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan). The Satellite Awards take place on 21 February.

Meanwhile, IMDb's Col Needham has announced his top ten films of 2015, which features three IFB–supported films; Room, Brooklyn and The Lobster.

Following a successful week for Irish film, the Moet British Independent Film Awards take place in London this Sunday. Irish co-production The Lobster has received seven nominations, with Brooklyn being nominated in five categories, in addition to a nomination each for Room and Corin Hardy's The Hallow. In addition, Irish actor Michael Fassbender has been nominated for Best Actor for his role in Macbeth, while Brendan Gleeson was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Suffragette.

(JP)