IFTA congratulates Irish winners at 88th Academy Awards

29nd of February 2016

The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) would like to congratulate all the Irish Oscar nominees and winners from the 88th Academy Awards, which took place in Los Angeles on February 28th.  Dublin filmmaker Ben Cleary’s stunning short Stutterer won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film while Brie Larson won Best Actress for her universally acclaimed performance in Lenny Abrahamson’s Room.

In what was an unprecedented year for the Irish industry, Irish projects and talent received a massive nine nominations at this year’s Academy Awards. Irish films Room and Brooklyn were both nominated for Best Picture and there were also nominations for Lenny Abrahamson (Best Director – Room), Saoirse Ronan (Best Actress – Brooklyn), Brie Larson (Best Actress – Room), Michael Fassbender (Best Actor – Steve Jobs), Emma Donoghue (Best Adapted Screenplay – Room), Nick Hornby (Best Adapted Screenplay – Brooklyn) and Benjamin Cleary (Best Live Action Short Film – Stutterer).

Following on from universal acclaim and BAFTA, SAG and Golden Globe Awards, Brie Larson won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as a young woman held captive in a room with her young son in Lenny Abrahamson’s Room.

Ben Cleary’s Stutterer also won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. The superb film is written, directed and edited by the Dublin filmmaker in his directorial debut. Produced by UK-based Bare Golly Films on a budget of just £5,000, Stutterer tells the tale of a lonely typographer with a cruel speech impediment but an eloquent inner voice who must face his greatest fear when a woman he met online turns up unexpectedly.

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