Announcement of the nominees for Irish Film and Television Awards 2005

The Irish Film and Television Awards have announced the shortlist of nominees in 30 strongly contested Jury categories for the 2005 Awards, taking place on 5th November 2005 in the RDS, Dublin.
The number of submissions rose by 39% this year, reflecting the expertise of Irish people working in the film and television industry at home and abroad.
Top talent featured in the shortlist includes the Irish actors Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Aidan Quinn and Cillian Murphy who have been nominated in the Best Irish Actor for Feature Film category for ‘Kinsey’, ‘Wah Wah’, ‘Conviction’ and ‘Red Eye’ respectively. Cillian Murphy has also been named in the Best Supporting Actor Category for his turn in the summer blockbuster ‘Batman Begins’, he is up against Sean McGinley, ‘On A Clear Day’, David Kelly, ‘Charlie The Chocolate Factory’ and Tadgh Murphy, ‘Boy Eats Girl’ for the prestigious award.
High profile women making an impact this year in Acting roles include Andrea Corr, nominated for Best Actress for ‘The Boys and Girl From County Clare’, with actress/comedienne Deirdre O’Kane, ‘Boy Eats Girl’ and Nora Jane Noone, ‘The Descent’ up for the Best Supporting Actress Award.
Leading the feature film selections with eight nominations each is Fintan Connolly’s ‘Trouble With Sex’ and Anthony Byrne’s ‘Short Order’. Both directors have also been shortlisted in the Best Director Category alongside Perry Ogden for his festival favourite ‘Pavee Lackeen’ and Terry George for his Oscar nominated feature ‘Hotel Rwanda’. George is also shortlisted for his ‘Hotel Rwanda’ script alongside the Northern Ireland based titles ‘Mickybo & Me’ by Terry Loane and ‘The Mighty Celt’ by Pearse Elliott.
In the craft categories, recent Hollywood blockbusters make an appearance with Irish cinematographers Seamus McGarvey, for ‘Sahara’. Other credits include ‘The Hours’ and Brendan Galvin, for ‘Flight of the Phoenix’, nominated with Seamus Deasy for ‘The Mighty Celt’ and Owen McPolin for ‘Trouble With Sex’.
The television shortlist proves 2005 has been a fantastic year for Irish drama with ‘Pure Mule’, ‘The Clinic’, ‘Love Is The Drug’ and ‘Showbands’ garnering multiple nominations. RTE’s Primetime also has two nominations in the Current Affairs category, alongside UTV’s ‘Spotlight’ and BBC’s ‘Insight’. Entertainment is packed with season comedy favourites and looks to be a close race with ‘Killinaskully’, ‘The Panel’, ‘Wild Trials’ and ‘Stew’ up for the top award. Eddie Hobbs’ ‘Show Me The Money’ has made the Lifestyle shortlist once again, having won the award in 2004, but faces tough competition from Neelo, ‘The Snip and Mother Knows Best’.
(CD/SP)