IFTA Announces Nominees for the 7th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards

Dublin, Ireland (January 11, 2010)

The Irish Film and Television Academy is delighted to announce the shortlist of nominees in strongly contested categories for the 7th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards, which takes place on Saturday 20th February at the Burlington Hotel, Dublin.   

Nominations are announced in 37 award categories across film and television, celebrating the highest standard of Irish talent over the past twelve months. 

Reflecting the Irish film and television industry’s continuing development of its creative, original and entertaining output year on year, IFTA received almost 250 titles submitted for consideration in the 2010 Awards. 

Academy CEO, Aine Moriarty stated that

“It’s a tremendous lineup of strong, diverse Irish production for IFTA 2010 and the Nominees’ showcase of work reinforces the fact that Ireland has a superb resource of creative talent, despite the difficult Irish economic year and the knock-on effect to our creative industries. The Academy is proud to give due recognition to home-grown Irish talent for their creative achievements both at home and abroad. Best of luck to all the Nominees and we look forward to a great industry celebration at the 7th annual IFTA Awards Ceremony.” 

All of the categories have been shortlisted by Academy Members and Jury panels of experts from around the world. 

The five shortlisted Best Feature Film nominees for 2010 are; Margaret Corkery’s drama Eamon; Conor McPherson’s supernatural thriller The Eclipse; Neil Jordan’s modern fairytale Ondine; Tomm Moore’s animated feature The Secret of Kells and John & Kieran Carney’s comedy Zonad.

Neil Jordan, Conor McPherson and John & Kieran Carney are nominated alongside Jim Sheridan for his work on Brothers in the Director Film category. 

In the Film acting categories, Darren Healy receives his first IFTA nomination in the Actor in a Lead Role Film category for Savage alongside Colin Farrell (Ondine), Ciarán Hinds (The Eclipse) and Stephen Rea (Nothing Personal). Last year’s double winner Michael Fassbender is nominated for his performance in Fish Tank in the Supporting Actor Film category, with Simon Delaney (Happy Ever Afters), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince) and Aidan Quinn (The Eclipse). 

Young Irish actresses feature strongly among the IFTA 2010 shortlist, with Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones), Amy Kirwan (Eamon), Jade Yourell (Happy Ever Afters) and Janice Byrne (Zonad) nominated for the Lead Actress Film award. In the Supporting Actress category, previous IFTA winners Anne Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy) and Ger Ryan (Happy Ever Afters) feature alongside Nora Jane Noone (Savage) and Dervla Kirwan (Ondine), who receives her first IFTA nomination this year. 

Irish television drama continues to deliver variety, entertainment and quality for home audiences with productions from Irish broadcasters RTÉ, TV3, TG4 and BBC NI included in the shortlist for Single Drama / Drama Serial; and Ireland’s long running soap operas Fair City and Ros na Rúnhave been selected for the Drama Series / Soap IFTA alongside The Clinic, The Tudors and Pure Mule: The Last Weekend. 

Strong performances from Irish talent working internationally are included in the TV acting categories with Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment) and Brendan Gleeson (Into the Storm) shortlisted alongside leading Irish actors working on home-produced projects - Liam Neeson (Five Minutes of Heaven) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors). Elaine Cassidy is nominated for TV Actress for her performance in US drama Harper’s Island alongside Ruth Bradley (Rásaí na Gaillimhe), Michelle Fairley (Best His Mother’s Son) and Charlene McKenna (Pure Mule The Last Weekend). 

Pat Kenny’s new series The Frontline features in the Current Affairs category with Prime Time Investigates Travellers - On the Edge, Spotlight: Stem Cell Tourists and Paul Williams’ Investigates, a probing insight Shell to Sea campaign. Entertainment sees 2009 winner The Apprenticein the spotlight once again with The All Ireland Talent Show , The Savage Eye and Xposé’s tribute to Boyzone star Stephen Gately also nominated. 

Other shortlisted titles include: Grand Slam Journey, following the Irish rugby team’s six nations 2009 season; a profile of one of Ireland’s most notorious murders in Killers: Joe O’Reilly; Seamus Heaney: Out Of The Marvellous, which allowed unprecedented access into the Irish poet’s life and The Forgotten Irish, which looks at the lives of a generation of people who emigrated to the UK in the post war era.

The Bass Player: A Song for Dad, Colony, His & Hers and The Yellow Bittern – The Legend of Liam Clancy are all shortlisted for the George Morrison Feature Documentary Award. 

The Irish Film & Television Awards will take place at the Burlington Hotel, Dublin. The Awards ceremony will be broadcast live on 20th February 2010. 

Following on from the success of the Awards in 2009, this year's Awards ceremony promises to be a highly prestigious and glamorous event with a host of film stars, TV personalities, directors, producers and distinguished guests in attendance to celebrate the undisputed talent that exists within the film and television industries in Ireland and around the globe. 

Further details are available from the Irish Film & Television Awards website: www.ifta.ie