The nominations for the 89th Academy Awards have been announced, and the big news from an Irish perspective are the nods for Limerick native Ruth Negga for Best Actress in Loving, Irish co-production The Lobster for Best Original Screenplay, and Dubliner Consolata Boyle for Best Costume Design for Florence Foster Jenkins.
Away from this island, La La Land has been nominated for 14 awards, equalling the record with Titanic and All About Eve for most nominations at a single ceremony. The film will compete for the big prize with Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, and Moonlight.
Australian actor/director Mel Gibson, who recently shot The Professor and the Madman in Dublin, will compete for Best Director for his newest film Hacksaw Ridge; facing off against Denis Villeneuve for Arrival, Damien Chazelle for La La Land, Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester By The Sea, and Barry Jenkins for Moonlight.
Ruth Negga will compete against Isabelle Huppert for Elle, Natalie Portman for Jackie, Emma Stone for La La Land, and Meryl Streep for Florence Foster Jenkins. Negga plays Mildred Loving, a black woman, who is sentenced to a year in prison in Virginia, along with her white husband Richard, for marrying each other. Their marriage violated the state’s anti-miscegenation statute, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriage between people classified as “white” and people classified as “colored”. The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision held this prohibition was unconstitutional and ended all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States. Ruth Negga’s Oscar nomination cements what has been an incredible year for the Irish star as she wowed the critics in Nichols’ heart-breaking film which has seen Negga nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe and a BAFTA, following her presentation with the Rising Star Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival earlier this month. Ruth has previously starred in Irish Fim Board-funded films including, Noble (2015), Breakfast on Pluto (2005), Isolation (2005), Capital Letter (2005), Stars (2005) and 3-Minute-4-Play (2005).
The Lobster, and writers Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou, competes against Hell Or High Water, La La Land, Manchester By The Sea, and 20th Century Women. The Lobster is a love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City, are arrested and transferred to The Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. A desperate Man escapes from The Hotel to The Woods where The Loners live and falls in love, although it is against their rules. The Lobster is written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou and produced by Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Ceci Dempsey and Yorgos Lanthimos. Executive Producers are Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross and Sam Lavender. The Lobster is an Element Pictures, Scarlet Films, Faliro House, Haut et Court, Lemming Film co-production in association with Limp and financiers include the Irish Film Board. This is the second year in a row for Element Pictures to be included in the Oscars, following the huge success story of Room last year. Room was nominated for four Academy Awards®, with Brie Larson taking home the award for Best Actress for her starring role in the film.
Speaking on the nomination, Element Pictures’ producer Ed Guiney commented:
We are so pleased that Yorgos and Efthimis’ amazing and hugely original script has been recognised by the academy. It’s an incredible achievement and we congratulate them and all of The Lobster team.
Consolata Boyle competes against period dramas Allied and Jackie, fantasy film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and musical La La Land. In 2007, Boyle was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and a BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design for The Queen. She won the best costume design award at the Irish Film and Television Awards for both Angela’s Ashes (1999) and The Iron Lady (2011).
Of other Irish interest at the awards is Irish actor Art Parkinson who stars in Kubo and the Two Strings, alongside Charlize Theron and Rooney Mara, in the Best Animated Feature-nominated film. Parkinson will star in the forthcoming Irish Film Board-funded feature film, The Belly of the Whale featuring Pat Shortt.
Congratulating the Irish nominees James Hickey, Chief Executive Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board said:
I’m delighted to see a strong contingent of Irish Academy Award® nominees this year. Huge congratulations to Ruth Negga and to Consolata Boyle on being recognised for their excellent work. Congratulations also to Element Pictures on their IFB-supported film The Lobster being nominated in the Best Original Screenplay category. The Irish film industry is flourishing and a continued presence on the international awards circuit is evidence of this. The solid and continued investment in talent over the last number of years is paying off. Both Ruth and Consolata have built their careers on Irish and international productions and the amount of work it takes over a long period of time to earn this level of international recognition cannot be underestimated. We’re very proud of all they have achieved.
The 89th Academy Awards will take place February 26th at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center.
Best Picture
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester By The Sea
Moonlight
Best Actor
Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Actress
Isabelle Huppert
Ruth Negga
Natalie Portman
Emma Stone
Meryl Streep
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell Or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester By The Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis, Fences
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester By The Sea
Directing
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By The Sea
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Film Editing
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell Or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight
Foreign Language Film
Land Of Mine
A Man Called Ove
The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmannn
Original Score
Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passenger
Production Design
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts
Hail, Caesar
La La Land
Passengers
Visual Effects
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Jungle Book
Kubo And The Two Strings
Adapted Screenplay
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
Moonlight
Original Screenplay
Hell Or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester By The Sea
20th Century Women
Animated Feature Film
Kubo And The Two Strings
Moana
My Life As A Courgette
The Red Turtle
Zootopia
Cinematography
Arrival
La La Land
Moonlight
Lion
Silence
Costume Design
Allied
Fantastic Beasts
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land
Documentary Feature
Fire At Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life Animated
OJ: Made In America
13th
Documentary Short Subject
Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe’s Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets
Makeup and Hairstyling
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad
Original Song
Audition, La La Land
Can’t Stop The Feeling, Trolls
City Of Stars, La La Land
The Empty Chair, Jim: The James Foley Story
How Far I’ll Go, Moana
Animated Short Film
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider And Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper
Live Action Short Film
Ennemis Interieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode
Sound Editing
Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully
Sound Mixing
Arrival
Hacksaw
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi