Awards season is upon us again, both at home and abroad, and the nominee list for the 20th Irish Film & Television Academy Awards is looking stellar!
The WRAP Fund is proud to support eleven nominees this year across the Irish film and Television award categories, including Feature Film God’s Creatures, and TV Series Smother and North Sea Connection. Featuring locations from counties Donegal, Clare, and Galway, the striking settings of all three pieces showcases the unique backdrop that is the west coast of Ireland – the same coast that shows up so stunningly in the Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin which has garnered 11 nominations.
God’s Creatures, a psychological drama, is based on a screenplay written by Shane Crowley with producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly and directed by Saela Davis & Anna Rose Holmer, and stars Paul Mescal.
Smother, the hit Irish thriller drama series – which has sold in over 100 territories world wide – has just completed its final season. It was written by Kate O’Riordan and was directed by Dathaí Keane for Treasure Entertainment.
North Sea Connection, a Swedish-Irish six-part Irish crime thriller written by Mark Greig and directed by Hannah Quinn, first aired on RTÉ in September 2022, and recently debuted on BBC Four in the UK.
Gillian Buckley, WDC Investment Manager said:
The WDC which provides all the capital funding for the WRAP Fund is delighted to see the success of productions that it has funded through WRAP be so successful in this years IFTA’s nominations.
The 11 WRAP Fund supported nominations to keep an eye out for on IFTA night are:
- God’s Creatures – Best Film
- God’s Creatures – Best Script Film
- Paul Mescal – Best Supporting Actor Film (God’s Creatures)
- Aisling Franciosi – Best Supporting Actress Film (God’s Creatures)
- Emily Watson – Best International Actress (God’s Creatures)
- Smother – Best Drama
- Daithí Keane – Best Director Drama (Smother)
- Kate O’Riordan – Best Script Drama (Smother)
- Dervla Kirwan – Best Actress Drama (Smother)
- Jason O’Mara – Best Actor Drama (Smother)
- Kerr Logan – Best Actor Drama (North Sea Connection)
2023 is certainly Paul Mescal’s year, as he collects a BAFTA and is nominated for an Oscars gong for his poignant performance in Aftersun. Mescal has been in the business officially since 2017, having risen to international heights following his performance in Sally Rooney’s Normal People in 2020. He is, though, quite happy to credit his secondary school’s production of The Phantom of The Opera as a moment that sparked his love of acting. God’s Creatures opened the Dublin International Film Awards, and its Irish cinema release date is set for March 31, 2023 and will be distributed by Volta Pictures Distribution.
