Northern Ireland talent in the running for a Bafta
Date Posted: January 6, 2023
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) today announced the full set of longlists of films and talent for its 2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards. We are delighted to see Nothing Compares, in the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer category and An Irish Goodbye, in the British Short Film category.
Northern Ireland Screen funded short film, An Irish Goodbye, written and directed by Tom Berkeley and Ross White, has recently been shortlisted for the Oscars and is a black comedy following the reunion of estranged brothers Turlough and Lorcan following the untimely death of their mother. Under the watchful eye of odd-ball parish priest Father O’Shea, the brothers’ pained reunion is worsened by the fact Turlough must now make new care arrangements for Lorcan, who has Down Syndrome. A robust and dedicated farmer, Lorcan’s dream of continuing to work the land he grew up on is thwarted when Turlough decides he’s sending him to live with their Aunt on the other side of Ireland. But when the brothers discover an unfulfilled bucket list belonging to their late mother, Lorcan senses an opportunity: he’ll only agree to leave the farm once he and Turlough have themselves completed every single wish on their mother’s list…all one hundred of them.
Kathyn Ferguson’s Nothing Compares charts Sinéad OʼConnorʼs phenomenal rise to worldwide fame and examines how she used her voice at the height of her stardom, before her iconoclastic personality led to her exile from the pop mainstream. Focusing on O’Connor’s prophetic words and deeds from 1987 to 1993, the film presents an authoritative, richly cinematic portrait of this fearless artist through a contemporary feminist lens. In December, Nothing Compares won both the Best Feature Documentary and Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary for Belfast director Kathryn Ferguson at the 25th British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs). Nothing Compares was supported by Screen Ireland, the BFI Doc Society Fund, ie:entertainment and Northern Ireland Screen.
The nominations will be announced on Thursday 19th January 2023 with the ceremony taking place on Sunday 19th February 2023.
The full list of longlisted films can be found here.
