The Irish Film and Television Academy announced the nominees for the 9th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards, which takes place on Saturday 11th February 2012 .
Academy CEO, Aine Moriarty stated that: “The Irish Film & Television Awards is Ireland’s showcase to the world of what our small but outstanding film and television community has to offer: excellent and challenging feature films and dramas; entertaining television and engaging factual content. The Irish industry consistently delivers world-class standards of work that is watched by a global audience. Ireland’s economic struggles have been well documented, but against this pressure it’s heartening to see how Ireland’s hard-working creative community continues to punch above its weight and really deliver.”
The features nominated for Best Film at IFTA 2012 are the period drama Albert Nobbs, Irish psychological thriller Charlie Casanova, black comedy The Guard, and rural drama Stella Days. Screenwriters for all four of the Best Film contenders – John Banville, Glenn Close & Gabriella Prekop , John Michael McDonagh, Terry McMahon and Antoine O’Flaherta – have been nominated for Script Film whilst McDonagh and McMahon join fellow debut director Rebecca Daly (The Other Side of Sleep) and IFTA winner Thaddeus O’Sullivan (Stella Days) in the category for Best Film Director.
In the feature film acting categories, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy star Ciaran Hinds receives an IFTA nomination alongside The Guard actor Brendan Gleeson. Michael Fassbender has been nominated for his performance in Steve McQueen’s drama Shame and Martin Sheen, an Irish citizen, has also been nominated for his role as Irish priest Fr. Daniel Barry in the Irish production Stella Days. Sheen’s Stella Days co-star Marcella Plunkett has also been nominated with Antonia Campbell Hughes (The Other Side of Sleep) included for the first time in the Lead Actress category following her Rising Star nomination in 2011. Newcomer Aoife Duffin is also nominated for her performance in Behold the Lamb. IFTA winning actress Saoirse Ronan has been IFTA nominated for her lead turn in Hanna. Albert Nobbs star Glenn Close and The Guard actor Don Cheadle have both been included in the International categories for their performances in these Irish features.
NOMINEES FOR THE 9TH ANNUAL IRISH FILM & TELEVISION AWARDS
FILM CATEGORIES
BEST FILM
Albert Nobbs- Alan Moloney, Bonnie Curtis, Julie Lynn and Glenn Close (Parallel Film Productions)
Charlie Casanova- Terry McMahon (Source Productions)
Stella Days- Jackie Larkin& Leslie McKimm (Newgrange Pictures)
The Guard- Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Chris Cark, Flora Fernandez Marengo (Element Pictures / Reprisal Films)
DIRECTOR FILM
Rebecca Daly – The Other Side of Sleep (Fastnet Films)
John Michael McDonagh – The Guard (Element Pictures / Reprisal Films)
Terry McMahon – Charlie Casanova (Source Productions)
Thaddeus O’Sullivan – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)
SCRIPT FILM
John Banville, Glenn Close & Gabriella Prekop – Albert Nobbs (Parallel Film Productions)
John Michael McDonagh – The Guard (Element Pictures / Reprisal Films)
Terry McMahon – Charlie Casanova (Source Productions)
Antoine O’Flaherta – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)
ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE IN A FEATURE FILM
Michael Fassbender – Shame (Momentum Pictures)
Brendan Gleeson – The Guard (Element Pictures / Reprisal Films)
Ciarán Hinds – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Focus Features)
Martin Sheen – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)
ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE IN A FEATURE FILM
Aoife Duffin – Behold The Lamb (Dumbworld Productions)
Antonia Campbell Hughes – The Other Side of Sleep (Fastnet Films)
Marcella Plunkett – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)
Saoirse Ronan -Hanna (Focus Features)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A FEATURE FILM
Liam Cunningham – The Guard (Element Pictures / Reprisal Films)
Brendan Gleeson – Albert Nobbs (Parallel Film Productions)
Ciarán Hinds – The Debt (Universal Pictures)
Chris O’Dowd – Bridesmaids (Universal Pictures)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A FEATURE FILM
Maria Doyle Kennedy – Albert Nobbs (Parallel Film Productions)
Fionnula Flanagan – The Guard (Element Pictures / Reprisal Films)
Brenda Fricker – Albert Nobbs (Parallel Film Productions)
Amy Huberman – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)
GEORGE MORRISON FEATURE DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Bernadette; Notes on a Political Journey- Lelia Doolan, (Digital Quilts)
Knuckle- Ian Palmer, (RISE Films)
Men of Arlington- Enda Hughes, (Hotshot Films)
Off The Beaten Track- Dieter Auner, (Ikandi Productions)
SPECIAL IRISH LANGUAGE AWARD
Corp + Anam – Paddy Hayes (Magamedia)
Mobs Cheanada – Dathai Keane (Abú Media)
Ray McAnally – M’Athair – Brian Reddin (Dearg Films)
Seacht – Colin O’Donnell (Stirling Film & Television)
ANIMATION
23 Degrees 5 Minutes – Darragh O’Connell (Brown Bag Films)
The Boy in the Bubble – Kealan O’ Rourke (Igloo Films)
The Last Train – Alex Sherwood (Giant Creative)
Origin – James Stacey (Souljacker)
PHILIPS SHORT FILM AWARD
The Boy In The Bubble- Kealan O’ Rourke (Igloo Films)
Cluck- Michael Lavelle (Tilted Productions)
Downpour- Claire Dix (Zucca Films)
Foxes- Lorcan Finnegan (Lovely Productions)
The Shore- Terry George (All Ashore)
INTERNATIONAL CATEGORIES
INTERNATIONAL FILM
Bridesmaids (Universal Pictures)
Drive (Eclipse Pictures)
Senna (Universal Pictures)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Focus Features)
INTERNATIONAL ACTOR
Don Cheadle – The Guard (Element Pictures / Reprisal Films)
Leonardo DiCaprio – J Edgar (Warner Bros Pictures)
Ryan Gosling – Drive (Eclipse Pictures)
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Focus Features)
INTERNATIONAL ACTRESS
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Kirsten Wiig, Bridesmaids