Irish Film set to shine at the Oscars!

By John Galway, Executive Director, Toronto Irish Film Festival (TIRFF)

To quote RTÉ “Best Day Ever!” as it helped announce a recordbreaking year for Irish film at the Oscars with The Banshees Of Inisherin leading the way with a stunning eight nominations. When you add in the best actor nomination for Aftersun which is written and directed by Scottish director Charlotte Wells (who many feel was robbed in not receiving nominations in both categories) it was quite the day for Celtic Cinema!

The Banshees Of Inisherin saw Martin McDonagh, Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell recapture the magic of their previous collaboration In Bruges. The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for McDonagh, Best Actor for Farrell, Best Supporting Actor for Gleeson and rising star Barry Keoghan, Best Supporting Actress for Kerry Condon and Best Original Score for Carter Burwell.

McDonagh is a previous Oscar winner for his short film Six Shooter which won the 2006 award for Best Live Action Short. The film stars Brendan Gleeson and features Domhnall Gleeson in his very first film role. It’s available for free on You-tube if you want to check it out!

Making history this year was also An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) which followed its record-breaking run at the Irish boxoffice with the first ever nomination for an Irish language film with its nod for Best

International Feature Film. An Cailín Ciúin is perhaps now the most recognized of a recent wave of Irish language films that includes Arracht (shown at TIRFF 2021), Doineann (shown at TIRFF 2022) and Róise & Frank (set to have its Canadian premier at TIRFF 2023!).

Northern Ireland had a role to play to with the nomination for the touching An Irish Goodbye (shown at TIRFF 2022) in the Best Live Action Short Film Category. Led by a fantastic performance by James Martin the film has been travelling the world through the film festival circuit.

Irish actor Paul Mescal, who many will recognize from Normal People, scored a Best Actor nomination for his incredible work in Aftersun. Set in the early 2000s, the film follows Sophie, an 11-year-old Scottish girl, on vacation with her father at a Turkish resort on the eve of his 31st birthday.

Not to be outdone, two additional nominations went to Irishmen in the technical categories: Jonathan Redmond for his work on Elvis (Best Film Editing) and Richard Baneham for his work on Avatar: The Way Of Water (Best Visual Effects).

The Oscars will be awarded on March 13th. If you are keen to see the next wave of Irish film and the talent set to explode onto the international scene, March is the best time!

The Toronto Irish Film Festival is all set to unveil its largest program ever of features, documentaries and short films ever, and Irish film festivals in Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver will be bringing the best of Irish Cinema to Canada.