The 21st Irish Film and Television Academy (Ifta) awards has unveiled its slate of nominations, with Lies We Tell, adapted from Sheridan Le Fanu’s gothic classic Uncle Silas by Lisa Mulcahy, leading with 13 nominations. Not far behind, boasting 11 nominations, are Pat Collins’s highly hailed adaptation of John McGahern’s That They May Face The Rising Sun, and Ian Hunt-Duffy’s fast horror flick, Double Blind, based in an isolated silo. Additionally, Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things, recipient of four Oscars for Dublin’s Element Pictures last week, is vying for awards in the international segment.
Ifta CEO, Áine Moriarty, praised the quality of this year’s nominations. “This shortlist of nominees for the Irish Academy Awards exemplifies the outstanding calibre of Irish talent in and beyond the camera,” Moriarty said. “They are undoubtedly holding their own on a global stage, creating works of the highest quality in acting, filmmaking, and storytelling.”
Introduced at the Galway Film Fleadh in July of the previous year, Lies We Tell features rising star Agnes O’Casey in the role of a young heiress pitted against her malevolent uncle in a desolate manor during the late 19th century. O’Casey’s critically acclaimed performance has her vying for best actress against industry stalwarts such as Saoirse Ronan (featured in the science-fiction tale Foe), Jessie Buckley (starring in the unique allegory Fingernails), and Eve Hewson (from John Carney’s musical Flora and Son).
That They May Face the Rising Sun received rave reviews during its premiere at the London Film Festival last fall. Barry Ward, nominated for best actor, portrays a writer residing in rural Ireland among a host of peculiar characters and his foreign wife. With its stunning cinematography and distinct characterisation, this film is a potential front-runner for the best film award. Known predominantly for his documentaries, Collins exhibits a keen observational skill in his depiction of rural life. The film is scheduled for release here in late April.
The top honour at this year’s film event is contended for by six movies. The line-up includes That They May Face the Rising Sun, Double Blind, and Lies We Tell, challenging Flora and Son, a lively musical helmed by Carney; LOLA, Andrew Legge’s innovative alternate-history account; and Patricia Kelly’s Verdigris, a poignant narrative about a bond between a retiree and a young adult working in the sex industry. Geraldine McAlinden and Maya O’Shea from Verdigris are competing for best actress and best supporting actress titles respectively.
The acting categories draw competitors from both Irish super-successes and less affluent local productions. Cillian Murphy, previous Oscar winner for Oppenheimer, and Barry Keoghan, famed for his role in Saltburn, are up against Ward starring in That They May Face the Rising Sun and Pierce Brosnan in The Last Rifleman. Andrew Scott, who’s nominated for All of Us Strangers, on recollection, received an Ifta for Dead Bodies 20 years prior. He stands a fair chance of being rewarded here given that he was overlooked for an Oscar nomination.
The top international film category is composed of four best picture Oscar nominees – Poor Things; The Holdovers; Oppenheimer; and Past Lives, as well as two films spotlighting Irish talent: All of Us Strangers featuring Scott and Paul Mescal, and the increasingly popular Saltburn.
The Iftas are known for their peculiar custom of combining TV drama with film awards. The primary contender for the small screen is the crime drama Kin, nominated in a substantial 11 categories, followed by the dark comedy Obituary with six nominations. Nominated for Kin are Clare Dunne, Aidan Gillen and Sam Keeley.
The awards ceremony, presided over by Baz Ashmawy, are set to take place on the 20th of April at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre. It has already been made known that the admirable actor Stephen Rea will receive an honorary Ifta for his lifetime contributions.
The gentleman from Belfast expressed gratitude upon receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from Ifta. He thanked them, alongside the talented and big-hearted artists he has had the privilege of collaborating and spending time with throughout his career.
Ifta presented the nominations for 2024, spanning categories in film and television:
For the Best Film, the nominees included “Double Blind”, “Flora and Son”, “Lies We Tell”, “LOLA”, “That They May Face The Rising Sun”, and “Verdigris”. The Best Director nominations saw Ian Hunt-Duffy for “Double Bind”, alongside John Carney, Lisa Mulcahy, Andrew Legge, Pat Collins, and Patricia Kelly for their respective films.
The Best Script category highlighted nominees such as Darach McGarrigle for “Double Blind”, John Carney for “Flora and Son”, Elisabeth Gooch for “Lies We Tell”, Andrew Legge for “LOLA”, Éamon Little for “That They May Face The Rising Sun”, and Patricia Kelly for “Verdigris”.
The Lead Actor category featured Andrew Scott in “All Of Us Strangers”, David Wilmot in “Lies We Tell”, Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer”, Barry Keoghan in “Saltburn”, Barry Ward in “That They May Face The Rising Sun”, and Pierce Brosnan in “The Last Rifleman”.
Among the Lead Actress nominees were Jessie Buckley in “Fingernails”, Eve Hewson in “Flora and Son”, Saoirse Ronan in “Foe”, Agnes O’Casey in “Lies We Tell”, Bríd Brennan in “My Sailor, My Love”, and Geraldine McAlinden in “Verdigris”.
In the Supporting Actor category, we had Paul Mescal in “All Of Us Strangers”, Diarmuid Noyes in “Double Blind”, Chris Walley in “Lies We Tell”, Kenneth Branagh in “Oppenheimer”, Liam Carney in “Sunlight”, and Lalor Roddy in “That They May Face The Rising Sun”.
The Supporting Actress nominees included Bronagh Gallagher in “Dance First”, Catherine Walker in “My Sailor, My Love”, Alison Oliver in “Saltburn”, Ruth McCabe in “That They May Face The Rising Sun”, Agnes O’Casey in “The Miracle Club”, and Maya O’Shea in “Verdigris”.
On the television side, “Blue Lights” and “Hidden Assets” received nominations for Best Drama.
For director in a dramatic series, we have Fergus O’Brien with ‘Happy Valley’, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor with ‘Kin’, Kate Dolan also of ‘Kin’, Tom Hall of ‘Northern Lights’, John Hayes with ‘Obituary’, and Hannah Quinn for ‘The Gone’. The dramatic series screenplay nominations include Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson for ‘Blue Lights’, Peter McKenna for both ‘Hidden Assets’ and ‘Kin’, Stephen Jones for ‘Northern Lights’, Ray Lawlor for ‘Obituary’, and Joe Murtagh for ‘The Woman in the Wall’.
In the Lead Actor – Drama category, we have Martin McCann of ‘Blue Lights’, Francis Magee and Sam Keeley both of ‘Kin’, Michael Smiley of ‘Obituary’, Éanna Hardwicke of ‘The Sixth Commandment’, and Daryl McCormack of ‘The Woman in the Wall’. The Lead Actress – Drama nominations include Sharon Horgan from ‘Best Interests’, Clare Dunne of ‘Kin’, Niamh Algar of ‘Malpractice’, Elva Trill of ‘Northern Lights’, Siobhán Cullen of ‘Obituary’, and Caitríona Balfe of ‘Outlander’.
The category for Supporting Actor – Drama includes Richard Dormer of ‘Blue Lights’, Jared Harris of ‘Foundation’, Aaron Monaghan of ‘Hidden Assets’, Aidan Gillen and Emmett J. Scanlan both of ‘Kin’, Simon Delaney of ‘The Woman in the Wall’. Meanwhile, the Supporting Actress – Drama nominations are Niamh Algar of ‘Culprits’, Cathy Belton of ‘Hidden Assets’, Maria Doyle Kennedy of ‘Kin’, Danielle Galligan of ‘Obituary’, Fionnula Flanagan of ‘Sisters’, Hilda Fay of ‘The Woman in the Wall’.
Moving on to international films, nominated for Best Film are ‘All Of Us Strangers’, ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Past Lives’, ‘Poor Things’, ‘Saltburn’, and ‘The Holdovers’. The Best Actor category includes Ryan Gosling for ‘Barbie’, Leonardo DiCaprio for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, Bradley Cooper for ‘Maestro’, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe both for ‘Poor Things’, and Paul Giamatti for ‘The Holdovers’. Lastly, the Best Actress category features Margot Robbie for ‘Barbie’, Lily Gladstone for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, and Carey Mulligan for ‘Maestro’.
In another context, Annette Bening and Nyad graced the roster, as did Greta Lee from “Past Lives” and Emma Stone in “Poor Things.” In terms of special recognition, noteworthy documentaries included George Morrison’s feature “In The Shadow of Beirut,” “Joan Baez: I Am A Noise,” “Notes from Sheepland,” “Stolen”, “The Days of Trees” and “The Deepest Breath”.
For live-action short films, entries spanned “Calf”, “Mud Queen”, “Sound & Colour”, “The Golden West”, “Two for the Road” and “Waiting Day”. Animated shorts introduced us to “Nana Dee”, “The Small Makings of a Storm”, “The Presenter” and “Wind & The Shadow”.
Craft categories painted a picture of precision and artistry, with cinematography credits going to Narayan Van Maele’s “Double Blind”, “Kin” by JJ Rolfe, Eleanor Bowman’s “Lies We Tell”, “Poor Things” by Robbie Ryan, and Richard Kendrick’s “That They May Face The Rising Sun”.
An intricate and fabulous costume department showcased Gwen Jeffares Hourie’s “Double Blind”, Joanne O’Brien’s “Lies We Tell”, “LOLA” by Lara Campbell, Louise Stanton’s “That They May Face The Rising Sun”, and “The Pope’s Exorcist” by Lorna Marie Mugan.
Production design was at the forefront with John Paul Kelly’s “A Haunting in Venice”, Steve Kingston’s “Double Blind”, “Lies We Tell” by Caroline Hill, Ferdia Murphy’s “LOLA”, and “That They May Face The Rising Sun” by Padraig O’Neill.
In hair and makeup, we saw the creativity of Jennia Readman and Madonna Bambino from “Double Blind”, Lyndsey Herron and Barbara Conway in “Flora and Son”, Helen O’Connor and Aitana Silvana’s spellbinding work in “Lies We Tell”, Sandra Dunne and Edwina Kelly for “That They May Face The Rising Sun”, and from “The Pope’s Exorcist” Orla Carroll and Lynn Johnston.
In the realm of sound, credit was given to Nina Rice for “Barbie”, “Double Blind’s” Brendan Rehill, Rob Moore and Peter Blayney, “Evil Dead Rise” featuring Garret Farrell, Peter Albrechtsen and Myk Farmer, “Lies We Tell” by Aza Hand, Damien Lynch, and Peter Nicell, and “Saltburn” with Nina Rice, Nina Hartstone and Adam Scrivener.
Lastly, in original music, credits included “Double Blind” by Die Hexen, Gary Clark and John Carney’s artistry for “Flora and Son”, “Lies We Tell” by Aza Hand, and Neil Hannon’s work in “LOLA”.
Incorporating a diverse range of subjects, several movies and projects have won recognition. Among these are “That They May Face The Rising Sun” edited by Irene Buckley and Linda Buckley, “Double Blind” edited by Colin Campbell, “Lies We Tell” put together by Weronika Kaminska, “LOLA” another successful flick by Colin Campbell, and “Still: A Michael J Fox Movie” edited by Michael Harte. Not to forget the remarkable piece “The Last Rifleman” where John Walters worked his magic.
There is also a slew of notable works in the Visual Effects (VFX) field. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” was perfected by Kev Cahill and Diana Giogiutti, while Declan Boyle and Liam Neville brought about some chilling effects in “Evil Dead Rise”. Niall McEvoy and Liam Neville worked on adding the perfect effects to the film “Paradise”, and Ed Bruce and Andrew Barry used their VFX skills to create the memorable “The Nevers”.