The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) has announced that the award-winning Irish-language film Kneecap has been chosen as the Irish entry for the International Feature Film category at next year's Academy Awards, following in the footsteps of An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl).
Kneecap, which stars the Belfast rap trio of the same name and tells their "riotous and ground-breaking" origin story, has already taken honours at the Sundance Film Festival in the US and the Galway Film Fleadh.
It opens in Irish cinemas on Thursday 8 August and is released in the US today.
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The group's Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and DJ Próvai co-wrote the film with director Rich Peppiatt. The cast also includes Michael Fassbender, Simone Kirby, Josie Walker, Fionnuala Flaherty, Jessica Reynolds, and Adam Best.
The shortlist for the International Feature Film Oscar will be announced on Tuesday 17 December. The final five nominees will be announced on Friday 17 January 2025.
The Oscars take place in Los Angeles on Sunday 2 March 2025.
"Since the start of the year when Kneecap premiered in Sundance, we've been humbled by the grá the film has received around the world. But nothing hits quite like the reception we've had at home in Ireland," said writer-director Rich Peppiatt after the IFTA announcement.
"To get the opportunity to represent our nation on the biggest film stage of them all is an absolute privilege. Míle Buíochas to IFTA and everyone who's been part of and supported our wee film."
"We want to thank IFTA for selecting our film to be the Irish submission for an Oscar," said Kneecap's Mo Chara. "That's sound of yous."
"It's obviously great that films in the Irish language are having some kind of effect on people, you had An Cailín Ciúin and stuff," he continued.
"For a culture that was so brutally oppressed for so long, the language was almost driven to extinction, now it's on the biggest stage of the world and it's an absolute privilege."
"Is mór an onóir dúinn gur roghnaigh IFTA ár scannán Kneecap mar an roghnaíseachú oifigiúil don Oscar. Táimid fíor buíoch dóibh… agus go raibh mile maith agaibh as ucht an tacaíocht don Oscar! (We are honoured that IFTA has chosen Kneecap as its Oscar shortlist - we are truly grateful… and thank you for the Oscar!)" said bandmate DJ Próvai.
Móglaí Bap added: "Obviously, the movie is about the Irish language in Ireland, about young people re-engaging with the language, and putting their own stamp on the language.
"One thing we've noticed in America is it resonates internationally. It's an international story and makes people reflect on their own culture and language, and to consider the relationship they have with their indigenous or native language.
"It comes at a time when people are looking for something with a bit more substance, a bit more intrinsic value.
"That's the beauty of this movie: we're meeting people from all walks of life and it's resonating, and they're leaving the movie feeling proud about their own identity."
In 2023, An Cailín Ciúin made history as the first Irish-language film to be nominated for the International Feature Film Oscar following its submission by IFTA for consideration.
Kneecap was selected for the Oscars race by IFTA's 2024 Selection Committee. It included Oscar-nominated actor Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, The English); directors Colm Bairéad (An Cailín Ciúin) and Lisa Mulcahy (Lies We Tell, Ridley Road); actors Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones, Hunger) and Bríd Ní Neachtain (Róise & Frank, The Banshees of Inisherin); and producer Rebecca O'Flanagan (Flora & Son, Viva).
IFTA Academy CEO Áine Moriarty described Kneecap as "a brilliantly creative powerhouse of a film, with its bold and fearless storytelling and its raw and boisterous screen performances".
"Nowhere before has filmmaking brought together the Irish language and music in such rebellious and youthful defiance," she continued.
"We have no doubt that Kneecap will both surprise and entertain international audiences, and ultimately leave its unique mark on international Academy Members too."
Kneecap includes Belfast's Fine Point Films, Dublin's Wildcard Distribution, London's Mother Tongues Films, and the British Film Institute (BFI) among its producers.
Among the organisations that funded the film are: Northern Ireland Screen, the Irish Language Broadcast Fund, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, and TG4.
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