So the IFTA nominations are out, with plenty of appearances from those lucky actors & filmmakers who appear on our Ones To Watch in 2012 list, which you can see in the next issue. Among them, Terry McMahon & Antonia Campbell-Hughes got noms but I imagine The Guard, Drive & Shame are going to sweep the boards at the awards, which will be held on February 11 & hosted by Simon Delany.

Fun, vaguely-creepy fact: I once auditioned for Seacht, the Irish drama that’s nominated for a Special Irish Language Award. The role was for a kind of rock chick rebel girl, & I was sure that I was a shoo-in because my big brother was already starring in the show. After two auditions I got a call telling me that I was really good, looked perfect for the part…but they’d just got the finalized scripts back & my character had to try seduce my brother’s character, what that a problem?

So yeah, good luck to that show I was never in.

BEST FILM

Albert Nobbs- Alan Moloney, Bonnie Curtis, Julie Lynn and Glen Close (Parallel Film & TV Productions)
Charlie Casanova- Terry McMahon (Source Productions)
Stella Days- Jackie Larkin& Leslie McKimm (Newgrange Pictures)
The Guard- Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Chris Larke, Flore Fernandez Marengo(Element Pictures)

DIRECTOR FILM

Rebecca Daly – The Other Side of Sleep (Fastnet Films)
John Michael McDonagh – The Guard (Element Pictures)
Terry McMahon – Charlie Casanova (Source Productions)
Thaddeus O’Sullivan – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)

SCRIPT FILM

John Banville & Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs (Parallel Film & Television Productions)
John Michael McDonagh – The Guard (Element Pictures)
Terry McMahon – Charlie Casanova (Source Productions)
Antoine O’Flaherta – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)

ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE IN A FEATURE FILM

Michael Fassbender – Shame (Momentum Pictures)
Brendan Gleeson – The Guard (Element pictures)
Ciarán Hinds – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Focus Features)
Martin Sheen – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)

ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE IN A FEATURE FILM

Aoife Duffin – Behold The Lamb (Dumbworld Productions)
Antonia Campbell Hughes – The Other Side of Sleep (Fastnet Films)
Marcella Plunkett – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)
Saoirse Ronan -Hanna (Focus Features)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A FEATURE FILM

Liam Cunningham – The Guard (Element Pictures)
Brendan Gleeson – Albert Nobbs (Parallel Film & Television Productions)
Ciarán Hinds – The Debt (Universal Pictures)
Chris O’Dowd – Bridesmaids (Universal Pictures)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A FEATURE FILM

Maria Doyle Kennedy – Albert Nobbs (Parallel Film & Television Productions)
Fionnula Flanagan – The Guard (Element Pictures)
Brenda Fricker – Albert Nobbs (Parallel Film & Television Productions)
Amy Huberman – Stella Days (Newgrange Pictures)

GEORGE MORRISON FEATURE DOCUMENTARY AWARD

Bernadette; Notes on a Political Journey- Lelia Doolan, (Digital Quilts)
Knuckle- Ian Palmer, (RISE Films)
Men of Arlington- Enda Hughes, (Hotshot Films)
Off The Beaten Track- Dieter Auner, (Ikandi Productions)

SPECIAL IRISH LANGUAGE AWARD

Corp plus Anam – Paddy Hayes (Magamedia)
Mobs Cheanada – Dathai Cathal Watters (Abú Media)
Ray McAnally – M’Athair – Brian Reddin (Dearg Films)
Seacht – Colin O’Donnell (Stirling Film & Television)

ANIMATION

23 Degrees 5 Minutes – Darragh O’Connell (Brown Bag Films)
The Boy in the Bubble – Kealan O’ Rourke (Igloo Films)
The Last Train – Alex Sherwood (Giant Creative)
Origin – James Stacey (Souljacker)

PHILIPS SHORT FILM AWARD

The Boy In The Bubble- Kealan O’ Rourke (Igloo Films)
Cluck- Michael Lavelle (Tilted Productions)
Downpour- Claire Dix (Zucca Films)
Foxes- Lorcan Finnegan (Lovely Productions)
The Shore- Terry George (All Ashore)

INTERNATIONAL CATEGORIES

INTERNATIONAL FILM

Bridesmaids (Universal Pictures)
Drive (Eclipse Pictures)
Senna (Universal Pictures)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Focus Features)

INTERNATIONAL ACTOR

Don Cheadle – The Guard (Element Pictures)
Leonardo DiCaprio – J Edgar (Warner Bros Pictures)
Ryan Gosling – Drive (Eclipse Pictures)
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Focus Features)

INTERNATIONAL ACTRESS

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Kirsten Wiig, Bridesmaids