Spectacular success for Irish films, actors, and filmmakers with the 2016 Oscar nominations

Irish eyes are definitely smiling this afternoon as Irish films, filmmakers and actors picked up 9 Academy Award nominations.

Room and Brooklyn are among the 8 nominees for Best Picture, with Room director Lenny Abrahamson being nominaterd for Best Director. Californian actress Brie Larson has been nominated for Best Actress for her leading role in Room, with author Emma Donoghue picking up a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. Brooklyn star Saoirse Ronan was also nominated for Best Actress, with screenwriter Nick Hornby also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work converting the Colm Toibin novel. Kerry’s Michael Fassbender is up for Best Actor for his portrayal of Apple founder Steve Jobs, while Irish director/writer/editor Benjamin Cleary’s UK-set short Stutterer is up for Best Live Action Short.

Room and Brooklyn will square off against the might of Hollywood, with eight films nominated for Best Picture. The other six contenders are The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, Spotlight, The Martian, Bridge of Spies, and The Big Short.

Dublin director Lenny Abrahamson will face stiff competition from Adam McKay for The Big Short, George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road, Alejandro González Iñárritu for The Revenant and Tom McCarthy for Spotlight.

Larson and Ronan will be favourites for Best Actress, competing against Cate Blanchett for Carol, Jennifer Lawrence for Joy, and Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years. Fassbender is second favourite for Best Actor behind The Revenant‘s Leonardo DiCaprio. The others in his category are Bryan Cranston for Trumbo, Matt Damon for The Martian, and last year’s winner Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl.

British author Nick Hornby and Ireland’s Emma Donoghue will compete with

Treasure Entertainment’s Viva missed out on a Best Foreign Language Film nomination after  the shortlist of 9 was whittled down to 5.

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant leads the field with 12 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio. It is closely followed by George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road with 10 nominations. Ridley Scott’s The Martian takes third spot with 7 nominations.

[quote title=”James Hickey – Bord Scannán hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, Chief Executive”]What a triumph for Irish film. It’s a staggering achievement for the Irish film industry to be recognised amongst the very best in the world. For two independent feature films developed and produced in Ireland to be recognised amongst the best eight films in the world is phenomenal.  It’s a day for the Irish film industry and the entire country to be very proud. It truly is a golden age for Irish film. Everyone who worked on Room and Brooklyn, especially the entire teams at Element Pictures and Parallel Films should be very proud of this achievement.  My deepest heartfelt congratulations to the new Academy Award® nominees Lenny Abrahamson, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Donoghue, Ed Guiney, Brie Larson, Nick Hornby, Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey, Michael Fassbender, and Benjamin Cleary.[/quote]

The 2016 Academy Awards takes place on Sunday, 28th February at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.

Complete list:

Best Picture
The Big Short
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers

Bridge of Spies
Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

Brooklyn
Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

Mad Max: Fury Road
Doug Mitchell and George Miller, Producers

The Martian
Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam, Producers

The Revenant
Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon, Producers

Room
Ed Guiney, Producer

Spotlight
Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust, Producers

Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Micheal Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge Of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslett, Steve Jobs

Directing
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Film Editing
Big Short
Mad Max
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Foreign Language Film
Embrace Of THe Serpent
Mustang
Son Of Saul
Theeb
A War

Original Score
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars

Production Design
Bridge Of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max
The Martian
The Revenant

Visual Effects
Ex Machina
Mad Max
The Revenant
Star Wars
The Martian

Adapted Screenplay
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
Martian
Room

Original Screenplay
Bridge Of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton

Animated Feature Film
Anomalisa
Boy And The World
Inside Out
Shaun The Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There

Cinematography
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Mad: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario

Costume Design
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

Documentary Feature
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Documentary Short Subject
Body Team 12
A Girl In The River
Last Day Of Freedom

Makeup and Hairstyling
Mad Max
100 Year Old Man
The Revenant

Original Song
50 Shades Of Gray
Racing Extinction
Youth
The Hunting Ground
Spectre

Animated Short Film
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow

Live Action Short Film
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be OK
Shock
Stutturer

Sound Editing
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Sound Mixing
Bridge Of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens