CHRIS PINE, COLIN FARRELL, CHRIS O’DOWD, ROMA DOWNEY, MICHAEL MOORE, GABRIEL BYRNE, NICOLA COUGHLAN AND CHARLIE COX, AMONG THE GUEST PRESENTERS FOR SATURDAY’S IFTA AWARDS.

AWARDS CEREMONY BROADCAST - VIRGIN MEDIA ONE, 8.30PM, SATURDAY, 12^TH OF MARCH  

The Irish Academy will welcome international and Irish Guest Presenters on for Saturday night’s Virtual IFTA Awards Ceremony on Virgin Media ONE.

Chris Pine, Colin Farrell, Chris O’Dowd, Roma Downey, Michael Moore, Gabriel Byrne will be joined by Nicola Coughlan, Liam Cunningham, Fionnula Flanagan, Charlie Cox, Victoria Smurfit and John Connors, along with other names to be announced. 

Among the Actor Award Nominees on the night are Ciarán Hinds, Caitríona Balfe, Jessie Buckley, Kenneth Branagh, Ruth Negga, Aidan Gillan, Jamie Dornan, Andrew Scott, Niamh Algar, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Clare Dunne, Liam Cunningham, Angeline Ball, Moe Dunford, Peter Coonan, Simone Kirby, Jimmy Nesbitt, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Gemma-Leah Devereux, Jude Hill, Dervla Kirwan, Sam Keeley, Cathy Belton, Dean Quinn, Catherine Clinch, Owen McDonnell, Hazel Doupe, Dónall Ó Héalai, Carrie Crowley, Emmett J Scanlan, Amy-Joyce Hastings, Aaron Monaghan, Lola Petticrew, Cillian O Gairbhí, Sinéad Keenan, Justine Mitchell  and more (see full list of Nominees for this year below).

Deirdre O’Kane will host the 2022 IFTA Film & Drama Awards, which will be broadcast this Saturday on Virgin Media One at 8.30 pm.

Saturday night’s IFTA Awards will be a high-calibre virtual gathering from across the screen industry with a stellar line-up of Irish and international Guest Presenters joining in the celebrations. 

Fresh from his recent shoot on fantasy epic Dungeons & Dragons which filmed in Ireland, Star Trek and Wonder Woman leading man Chris Pine will be announcing the winner of the Best Film Award on the night, while Derry Girls and Bridgerton Star Nicola Coughlan will be presenting the coveted IFTA Screen Ireland Rising Star Award, which she won last year.  Oscar-winning Documentary-maker Michael Moore will present the George Morrison Feature Documentary Award on Saturday, and Marvel’s Daredevil himself, Charlie Cox, who spent much of lockdown filming in Dublin, will present the Lead Actress - Film Award. Derry native, Emmy-nominated Actress/Producer, and Hollywood Walk of Fame recipient Roma Downey will be on hand to announce the winner of the Best Drama category.

Irish Acting Legends Gabriel Byrne  and Colin Farrell will present the awards for Director - Film and Supporting Actress - Film  respectively, while actress Victoria Smurfit, currently filming season two of Bloodlands, will announce the winner of the Supporting Actor - Drama category, with the legendary Liam Cunningham lending his dulcet tones to the presentation of the award for the Best Supporting Actress Drama while the iconic Fionnula Flanagan will present the hotly-contested award for Best Supporting Actor in a Film.

The young stars of Belfast, Jude Hill, Lewis McAskie, and Lara McDonnell have reunited to present the award for Best Animated Short FIlm, with IFTA-winning actor John Connors announcing the winner of the Best Script Drama Category, while Boyle’s most famous son Chris O’Dowd is joining from Atlanta to add his unique charm to proceedings as he reveals the winner of the Lead Actress - Drama Category

CEO of the Irish Film & Television Academy, Áine Moriarty, said of this year’s show:

“The Academy is delighted to assemble such an incredible group of screen talent to help celebrate what is very much a golden era for Irish Film & Drama.  Many of our international presenters  have filmed here and have first-hand experience of the incredible talent that is recognised and rewarded as part of the awards. We look forward to welcoming them all, alongside this year’s nominees, and of course our wonderful master of Ceremonies Deirdre O’Kane.”

Nominations for this year’s best film include Colm Bairéad’s debut An Cailín Ciúin, a gorgeous and mesmerising story of a young girl’s summer break away from her dysfunctional family in 1980s Ireland, when she stays with a foster couple featuring new-comer Catherine Clinch and Carrie Crowley;  Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, is the tender, personal and very humorous story of one boy’s childhood during the Troubles in 1960’s Belfast, featuring Caitriona Balfe, Ciarán Hinds, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, and Dame Judy Dench;  Rachel Carey’s debut Deadly Cuts is the hit comedy about a group of inner-city Dublin hairstylists-turned-vigilantes, starring Angeline Ball; Swan Song, is the superb debut Sci-Fi feature from Oscar-winning Irish filmmaker Ben Cleary (Stutterer), featuring Oscar Winner Mahershala Ali who decides to clone himself in the hope of protecting his family when he’s gone; Graham Cantwell’s Who We Love, an LGBTQ+ coming-of-age drama that is funny and uplifting despite Lily having to navigate tough terrain starring Amy-Joyce Hastings and Dean Quinn; and Kate Dolan’s debut feature You Are Not My Mother, an Irish Folk-Horror following Char (Hazel Doupe) after her mother Angela (Carolyn Bracken) briefly goes missing, only to return with a radically changed personality.

The Best Drama Nominees are Hidden Assets in which a routine raid by the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau in Limerick turns up diamonds that are linked to a series of bombings in Belgium; Kin the story of a fictional Dublin family embroiled in gangland war and their secret weapon: The unbreakable bonds of blood and family; Smother whose second season continues the gripping tale of the Ahern family as they deal with an unwelcome visitor whose arrival in Lahinch shakes things up once again; and Vikings: Valhalla which picks up a  hundred years after the hit series Vikings and follows a new generation of legendary heroes arising to forge their own destiny — and make history.

See full list of 2022  IFTA Nominees HERE.

The IFTA Awards is funded by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, and also supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), Tourism Ireland and Virgin Media Television.

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