The nominations for the 21st Irish Film and Television Academy awards (Ifta) have been announced. Lisa Mulcahy’s Lies We Tell, an adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu’s gothic classic Uncle Silas, tops the table with 13 nominations.
Pat Collins’s already highly acclaimed take on John McGahern’s That They May Face The Rising Sun and Ian Hunt-Duffy’s Double Blind, a fast-paced horror set in a remote silo, are just behind with 11 mentions. Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things, which won four Oscars for Dublin’s Element Pictures last weekend, here competes in the international categories.
“What an incredible showcase of nominees shortlisted for Irish Academy Awards this year,” Ifta CEO Áine Moriarty said. “Irish talents are proving themselves to be amongst the best in the world, both in front and behind the camera, delivering such high standards of acting, filmmaking and storytelling. ”
Premiering at the Galway Film Fleadh last July, Lies We Tell stars Agnes O’Casey, fast rising star, as a young heiress cast against her sinister uncle in a remote pile during the late-19th century. O’Casey, great-granddaughter of Seán O’Casey, won rave reviews for her performance and here competes in best actress against luminaries such as Saoirse Ronan (for science-fiction fable Foe), Jessie Buckley (for off-centre allegory Fingernails) and Eve Hewson (for John Carney’s musical Flora and Son).
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That They May Face the Rising Sun went down a storm when it premiered at the London Film Festival last autumn. Barry Ward, nominated for best actor, plays a writer living among various eccentrics with his European wife in rural Ireland. Beautifully photographed, rich in eccentric characterisation, the film must be seen as a big favourite to take the best film prize. Hitherto best known for his documentaries, Collins brings a sharp eye to his study of rural mores. The film opens here at the end of April.
Six films compete for the top prize. That They May Face the Rising Sun; Double Blind; and Lies We Tell are up against Flora and Son, another rollicking musical from Carney; Andrew Legge’s LOLA, an ambitious alternative-history fable; and Patricia Kelly’s Verdigris, touching tale of the friendship between a middle-aged retiree and a young sex worker. Geraldine McAlinden and Maya O’Shea, stars of that last film, compete for respectively best actress and best supporting actress. O’Shea was recently mentioned in this newspaper’s list of 50 people to watch in 2024.
The acting categories pit Irish stars from mega-hits against those in lower budget local productions. Cillian Murphy, who won at the Oscars for Oppenheimer, and Barry Keoghan, memed to oblivion for Saltburn, find themselves competing with Ward for That They May Face the Rising Sun and Pierce Brosnan for The Last Rifleman. Andrew Scott, up for All of Us Strangers, will recall that he won an Ifta for Dead Bodies 20 years ago. He has a good chance of getting compensation here for missing out on an Oscar nomination.
The best international film category comprises four best picture Oscar nominees – Poor Things; The Holdovers; Oppenheimer; and Past Lives – plus two films showcasing Irish talent: All of Us Strangers, starring Scott and Paul Mescal, and the now unavoidable Saltburn.
The Iftas have a somewhat eccentric habit of bunching TV drama with the film awards. The big contender for the small screen was the crime drama Kin. That show competes in a full 11 categories. The black comedy Obituary trails with six. Clare Dunne, Aidan Gillen and Sam Keeley are among the nominees for Kin.
This year’s ceremony, hosted by Baz Ashmawy, will take place on April 20th at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre. It had already been announced that an honorary Ifta for lifetime achievement would go the way of distinguished actor Stephen Rea.
“Ifta have … offered me a Lifetime Achievement Award,” the Belfast man said. “A lifetime of collaboration with the most generous and creative artists you could ever work with. And hang out with. Thanks to all of them. Thank you Ifta.”
Ifta 2024: Full list of nominations
FILM
Best film
- Double Blind
- Flora and Son
- Lies We Tell
- LOLA
- That They May Face The Rising Sun
- Verdigris
Best director
- Ian Hunt-Duffy, Double Bind
- John Carney, Flora and Son
- Lisa Mulcahy, Lies We Tell
- Andrew Legge, LOLA
- Pat Collins, That They May Face The Rising Sun
- Patricia Kelly, Verdigris
Best script
- Double Blind, Darach McGarrigle
- Flora and Son, John Carney
- Lies We Tell, Elisabeth Gooch
- LOLA, Andrew Legge
- That They May Face The Rising Sun, Éamon Little
- Verdigris, Patricia Kelly
Lead actor
- Andrew Scott, All Of Us Strangers
- David Wilmot, Lies We Tell
- Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
- Barry Keoghan, Saltburn
- Barry Ward, That They May Face The Rising Sun
- Pierce Brosnan, The Last Rifleman
Lead actress
- Jessie Buckley, Fingernails
- Eve Hewson, Flora and Son
- Saoirse Ronan, Foe
- Agnes O’Casey, Lies We Tell
- Bríd Brennan, My Sailor, My Love
- Geraldine McAlinden, Verdigris
Supporting actor
- Paul Mescal, All Of Us Strangers
- Diarmuid Noyes, Double Blind
- Chris Walley, Lies We Tell
- Kenneth Branagh, Oppenheimer
- Liam Carney, Sunlight
- Lalor Roddy, That They May Face The Rising Sun
Supporting actress
- Bronagh Gallagher, Dance First
- Catherine Walker, My Sailor, My Love
- Alison Oliver, Saltburn
- Ruth McCabe, That They May Face The Rising Sun
- Agnes O’Casey, The Miracle Club
- Maya O’Shea, Verdigris
TV
Best drama
- Blue Lights
- Hidden Assets
- Kin
- Northern Lights
- Obituary
- The Woman in the Wall
Director – drama
- Fergus O’Brien, Happy Valley
- Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor, Kin
- Kate Dolan, Kin
- Tom Hall, Northern Lights
- John Hayes, Obituary
- Hannah Quinn, The Gone
Script – drama
- Blue Lights, Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson
- Hidden Assets, Peter McKenna
- Kin, Peter McKenna
- Northern Lights, Stephen Jones
- Obituary, Ray Lawlor
- The Woman in the Wall, Joe Murtagh
Lead actor – drama
- Martin McCann, Blue Lights
- Francis Magee, Kin
- Sam Keeley, Kin
- Michael Smiley, Obituary
- Éanna Hardwicke, The Sixth Commandment
- Daryl McCormack, The Woman in the Wall
Lead actress – drama
- Sharon Horgan, Best Interests
- Clare Dunne, Kin
- Niamh Algar, Malpractice
- Elva Trill, Northern Lights
- Siobhán Cullen, Obituary
- Caitríona Balfe, Outlander
Supporting actor – drama
- Richard Dormer, Blue Lights
- Jared Harris, Foundation
- Aaron Monaghan, Hidden Assets
- Aidan Gillen, Kin
- Emmett J. Scanlan, Kin
- Simon Delaney, The Woman in the Wall
Supporting actress – drama
- Niamh Algar, Culprits
- Cathy Belton, Hidden Assets
- Maria Doyle Kennedy, Kin
- Danielle Galligan, Obituary
- Fionnula Flanagan, Sisters
- Hilda Fay, The Woman in the Wall
International film
Best film
- All Of Us Strangers
- Oppenheimer
- Past Lives
- Poor Things
- Saltburn
- The Holdovers
Best actor
- Ryan Gosling, Barbie
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
- Bradley Cooper, – Maestro
- Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
- Willem Dafoe, Poor Things
- Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Best actress
- Margot Robbie, Barbie
- Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
- Carey Mulligan, Maestro
- Annette Bening, Nyad
- Greta Lee, Past Lives
- Emma Stone, Poor Things
Other awards
George Morrison feature documentary
- In The Shadow of Beirut
- Joan Baez: I Am A Noise
- Notes from Sheepland
- Stolen
- The Days of Trees
- The Deepest Breath
Live-action short film
- Calf
- Mud Queen
- Sound & Colour
- The Golden West
- Two for the Road
- Waiting Day
Animated short film
- Nana Dee
- The Small Makings of a Storm
- The Presenter
- Wind & The Shadow
Craft categories
Cinematography
- Double Blind, Narayan Van Maele
- Kin, JJ Rolfe
- Lies We Tell, Eleanor Bowman
- Poor Things, Robbie Ryan
- That They May Face The Rising Sun, Richard Kendrick
Costume design
- Double Blind, Gwen Jeffares Hourie
- Lies We Tell, Joanne O’Brien
- LOLA, Lara Campbell
- That They May Face The Rising Sun, Louise Stanton
- The Pope’s Exorcist, Lorna Marie Mugan
Production design
- A Haunting in Venice, John Paul Kelly
- Double Blind, Steve Kingston
- Lies We Tell, Caroline Hill
- LOLA, Ferdia Murphy
- That They May Face The Rising Sun, Padraig O’Neill
Hair and make-up
- Double Blind, Jennia Readman, Madonna Bambino
- Flora and Son, Lyndsey Herron, Barbara Conway
- Lies We Tell, Helen O’Connor, Aitana Silvana
- That They May Face The Rising Sun, Sandra Dunne, Edwina Kelly
- The Pope’s Exorcist, Orla Carroll, Lynn Johnston
Sound
- Barbie, Nina Rice
- Double Blind, Brendan Rehill, Rob Moore, Peter Blayney
- Evil Dead Rise, Garret Farrell, Peter Albrechtsen, Myk Farmer
- Lies We Tell, Aza Hand, Damien Lynch, Peter Nicell
- Saltburn, Nina Rice, Nina Hartstone, Adam Scrivener
Original music
- Double Blind, Die Hexen
- Flora and Son, Gary Clark, John Carney
- Lies We Tell, Aza Hand
- LOLA, Neil Hannon
- That They May Face The Rising Sun, Irene Buckley, Linda Buckley
Editing
- Double Blind, Colin Campbell
- Lies We Tell, Weronika Kaminska
- LOLA, Colin Campbell
- Still: A Michael J Fox Movie, Michael Harte
- The Last Rifleman, John Walters
VFX
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Kev Cahill, Diana Giogiutti
- Evil Dead Rise, Liam Neville, Declan Boyle
- Paradise, Niall McEvoy, Liam Neville
- The Nevers, Ed Bruce, Andrew Barry
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