The 2014 IFTA Nominations Are Out

The Irish Film and Television Academy has unveiled the shortlist of nominees for this year’s Irish Film and Television Awards. The Best Film category will be contested by Byzantium, Calvary, Run & Jump, The Sea and The Stag while John Butler (The Stag), Neil Jordan (Byzantium), John Michael McDonagh (Calvary) and Ruairi Robinson (The Last Days on Mars) will battle it out for Best Director. Father and son duo Brendan (Calvary) and Domhnall Gleeson (About Time) will be up against each other, along with Ciarán Hinds (The Sea) and Andrew Scott (The Stag) for the Best Actor in a Lead Role award. Antonia Campbell-Hughes (3096 Days), Jane McGrath (Black Ice), Saoirse Ronan (Byzantium) and Kelly Thornton (Life’s a Breeze) have been named as the contenders for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Colin Farrell (Saving Mr.Banks), Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave). Edward MacLiam (Run & Jump) and Peter McDonald (The Stag) are up for Best Supporting Actor while Sinead Cusack (The Sea), Fionnula Flanagan (Life's A Breeze), Amy Huberman (The Stag) and Orla O'Rourke (Calvary) have been named as the nominees for Best Supporting Actress. In with a chance of taking home the award for Best International Film (sponsored by American Airlines) are 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, Philomena and The Wolf of Wall Street. Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street), Michael Douglas (Behind the Candelabra), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) will battle it out for Best International Actor. In the female equivalent, Amy Adams (American Hustle), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Sandra Bullock (Gravity) and Judi Dench (Philomena) are in with a chance. From the big screen to the small screen, the contenders for Best Drama are The Fall, Game of Thrones, Love/Hate, Quirke and Vikings while the title of Best Entertainment Show will go to either Irish Pictorial Weekly, The Late Late Show, Moone Boy or Mrs Brown’s Boys. Gabriel Byrne (Quirke), Jamie Dornan (The Fall), Chris O’Dowd (Moone Boy) and Tom Vaughan Lawlor (Love/Hate) are up for Best Actor in a Leading Role while Eva Birthistle (Amber), Charlie Murphy (Love/Hate), Mary Murray (Love/Hate) and Deirdre O’Kane (Moone Boy) will battle it out in the category for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Love/Hate’s Peter Coonan is in with a chance of taking home the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role but he will have to see off strong competition in the form of Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones), Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones) and Allen Leech (Downton Abbey). Meanwhile Elaine Cassidy (The Paradise), Caoilfhionn Dunne (Love/Hate), Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones) and Victoria Smurfit (Dracula) are up for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. For a full list of nominations, go to the IFTA website here. The awards ceremony takes place on Saturday 5th April and will air on RTÉ One.