Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) and the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) are delighted to announce the Rising Star Award nominees for 2010, the winner of which will be announced at the Irish Film and Television Awards ceremony on 20 February 2010.

Selected by a special jury and sponsored by the IFB, the Rising Star Award is a unique IFTA in that it aims to highlight exceptional new and breakthrough talent working in all areas of the Irish film industry.

The 2010 nominees are;

• Margaret Corkery – Writer/Director, Eamon
• Darren Healy – Actor, Savage, Eamon
• Tomm Moore – Director/Co-Producer, The Secret of Kells
• Brendan Muldowney – Writer/Director, Savage
• Robert Sheehan – Actor, Cherrybomb, Misfits
• Ken Wardrop – Director, His & Hers

The 2009 Rising Star Award was won by actor Michael Fassbender following his performance in the IFTA winning feature Hunger.  Michael has since appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and is scheduled to shoot the action feature Knockout with director Steven Soderberg in Dublin next month.

In 2008, actress Saoirse Ronan was named the Irish Film Board Rising Star, following her breakthrough in Atonement – this year she has received IFTA and BAFTA nominations for her role in Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones. 

Aine Moriarty, Chief Executive of the Irish Film and Television Academy said:

“This important Award puts the spotlight on great Irish talent making a significant mark in the film industry at large.  These six exciting Irish stars have shown themselves to be world class talents in their respective fields and I have no doubt that they will be counted among the wealth of leading Irish talents over the coming years.  IFTA is proud to put the international spotlight on Ireland’s Rising Stars and acknowledges the Irish Film Board’s ongoing support of new Irish industry talent.”

Simon Perry, Chief Executive, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board said:

“It’s been an interesting time for Irish film with an abundance of talent both in front of and behind the camera emerging.  The Rising Star Award recognizes and champions new creative talent which is a key objective of the Irish Film Board.  This year’s nominees have all demonstrated exceptional talent in their field and we are delighted to see their achievements recognized with the award.”

About the 2010 Rising Star Award Nominees

Margaret Corkery – Writer/Director, Eamon

Born 1976 in Cork, Margaret graduated from the Scottish Screen Academy in 2002 and Westminster University, London in 2004. Her short film, Killing the Afternoon, screened in competition at the Berlin Film Festival and went on to win many international awards picking up both the Gold Moon of Valencia award at Cinema Jove in Spain and The Jury Prize for Best short film at Aye Aye Film Festival, France, in the same week.. Her other short film, Joyride, met with similar success.

Eamon, her debut feature film, screened in Official Selection at Toronto International Film Festival in the Discovery Programme and was reviewed by Variety’s Alissa Simon who wrote "Corkery's tight script and confident direction create a pitch-perfect combination of comedy and suspense, full of surprising twists and felicitous details that never strain. Among these are the primal parent-child dialogues, which will sound familiar to adults everywhere but are delivered here in a tone that is both unsettling and funny.”

Commenting on her Rising Star nomination, Ms. Corkery said:

“We are absolutely delighted that our film Eamon has received Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Actress and Rising Star nominations at this years IFTAs. After Eamon's international success, it is great to get this recognition at home ahead of the Irish cinema release in February 2010. I would like to thank the Irish Film and Television Academy and the Irish Film Board for their support of the film.”

Darren Healy – Actor, Savage, Eamon

Darren first appeared in a cinema role in John Boorman’s The General as a Young Hood in 1998, and in the same year he went on to play the male lead in Crush Proof - which is often mentioned as one of the best Irish-subject films made to date.

Since then he has developed a successful career in TV, film and theatre playing a variety of roles. In 2008, he had a particularly busy year – playing lead roles in two feature films, Eamon and Savage. Darren also played the title role of Noah in a two-hander with Mary Murray, in the theatre production of Noah & the Tower Flower. He recently filmed The Guard alongside Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle and Liam Cunningham.

Tomm Moore – Director/Co-Producer The Secret of Kells

Tomm is co-founder and company director of Cartoon Saloon. Since founding the company in 1999 with Paul Young, Tomm has worked on almost every Cartoon Saloon production in various capacities including directing and designing commercials for clients including Cadburys and the Irish Independent, illustrating graphic novels and children’s books and working as animation artist on several TV series and feature film productions.

His first feature film The Secret of Kells, is one of only 19 projects shortlisted in the Animation category for the 2010 Academy Awards. Tomm is currently working on the graphic novels of the film and his new feature film, The Song of the Sea. His awards thus far include being named Director of the Year at the Cartoon Movie Tributes awards, a UIP Best Director Award (short animation) for Dress Rehearsal and a SDGI/DGA Directors Finders Series Award for The Secret of Kells.

Commenting on his Rising Star nomination, Mr. Moore said:

"This nomination is a lovely surprise as we were already delighted to be nominated in the Film and Animation categories. I got the news in the middle of a scripting session for my new feature film and it’s a great incentive to push forward with that project.

“I think it’s a tribute to the whole creative team and the Irish and international co-producers who believed in The Secret of Kells for so long and especially to the Irish Film Board who have supported the project from the beginning."

Brendan Muldowney – Writer/Director, Savage

Brendan Muldowney is a graduate of Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design (The National Film School in Ireland). He has recently completed his debut feature film Savage, funded by the Irish Film Board and produced by SP Films.

He has written and directed nine award-winning short films. Innocence won the Tiernan McBride – Best Irish Short Film Award at the Galway Film Fleadh 2002 among many others, while The Ten Steps has won twelve awards throughout the world including Best Short at the Sitges Film Festival 2004. He participated in EAVE 2008 as writer/director with Love Eternal, his next project as a director with Fastnet Films, scheduled for production in 2010.

Commenting on his Rising Star nomination, Mr. Muldowney said:

"I am delighted to be nominated in the Rising Star category and would like to thank IFTA and the Irish Film Board for recognising all the hard work and effort that was put in by the cast and crew of Savage.”

Robert Sheehan – Actor, Cherrybomb, Misfits

Robert made his debut appearance in Song for a Raggy Boy and since then he has appeared in a number of feature films including A Dublin Story, Ghostwood and An Creatur and starred in others such as Summer of the Flying Saucer and Cherrybomb.

Television work includes Foreign Exchange, Young Blades, The Clinic, Bel’s Boys, Season 2 of The Tudorsand, most recently, as Nathan in E4’s Misfits. Robert is currently shooting Killing Bono in Belfast in which he plays the lead role of Ivan McCormick.

Commenting on his Rising Star nomination, Mr. Sheehan said:

"I'm absolutely delighted and very proud to be nominated in the Rising Star category of the IFTAs. I've been a fervid follower of the awards over the last few years so it's really an honour to be involved now. I must give my sincere thanks to The Lisa Richards Agency, particularly Jonathan Shankey and Rose Parkinson. Also my family who are nothing but supportive and encouraging, particularly my mother who may well be joining me at the ceremony! I look forward to the evening."

Ken Wardrop – Director, His & Hers

Ken has directed several short films including Questions, Farewell Packets of Ten, Undressing my Mother, which won a European Film Award and the 4-minute short film, The Herd, which was nominated for a European Film Award.

His & Hers is Ken’s first feature documentary and it has already won Best Irish Film at the Galway Film Fleadh and has been nominated for a Grierson Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival where it is currently screening in the World Documentary group. The festival previously awarded him an honourable mention in the Short Filmmaking Award category for Undressing my Mother in 2004.  Ken’s latest project is a short film called Rosslare to Roscoff which is expected to be released this spring.


The 7th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards will take place at Dublin’s Burlington Hotel on Saturday, 20 February 2010. The ceremony will broadcast live on 20 February 2010.