Just two years after An Cailín Ciúin was nominated for the best international feature film Oscar, could Ireland be on track to receive what would be only its second-ever nod in this category?
According to early predictions published by trade magazine Variety, Kneecap – Ireland’s submission for the 97th Academy Awards – will squeak a nomination.
There’s a long way to go until January 17th, when the chosen five will be revealed. Between now and then, the 86 submissions will be first whittled down to a shortlist of 15. Every year, many brilliant films do not make the final cut, with titles thought to be shoo-ins falling by the wayside as 15 become five.
This only highlights the significance of Colm Bairéad’s An Cailín Ciúin/The Quiet Girl in claiming Ireland’s first-ever nomination for what the Academy used to call best foreign language film in 2023. Only one other Irish submission has even made the shortlist: Paddy Breathnach’s Spanish language Viva in 2015.
The State’s belated ambition for Irish-language film means Ireland has only ever made 11 submissions, with just seven primarily in Irish. Our first entry came as late as 2007.
[ Kneecap’s use of Irish is perfectly in tune with Eoin MacNeill’s visionOpens in new window ]
If Kneecap’s semi-fictionalised account of the rise of the Belfast rap trio, written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, makes it all the way to the Dolby Theatre next March, it would represent a remarkable achievement, first and foremost for the film-makers, but also for a film industry now alive, finally, to the potential of Irish.
Kneecap’s cross-Border support comes from Northern Ireland Screen, the Irish Language Broadcast Fund, Screen Ireland, the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Coimisiún na Meán and TG4, among others. Crucially, such funding is only possible if those bodies are themselves adequately financed by their respective governments.
Whatever the outcome, perhaps the most gratifying element of this Oscar talk is the glorious difference between An Cailín Ciúin – a perfectly told story of kindness and devastating loss that unfolds leisurely through tender, quiet moments – and the hilarious, raucous, subversive Kneecap, which is the sort of film that gets described as “high-octane”.
Both are heartfelt. But Ireland certainly can’t be accused of producing the same Irish-language films over and over. That alone should do wonders for our creative reputation on screen.