IRISH PRODUCTION COMPANY Element Pictures has gotten more awards season nods after the film The Favourite scooped five nominations in this year’s Golden Globes.
The film, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos – a longtime collaborator with Element – was nominated for Golden Globes across five categories:
This follows Golden Globe nominations for previous Element productions including The Guard, Room and The Lobster.
Ed Guiney, co-founder of Element, told TheJournal.ie: “It’s great – we’re really happy. It means greater visibility for the film. It has just been released in the States and it is doing very well. As it expands and we get more of a profile and people go see it, it also gets us more visibility with the Academy [which gives out the Oscars]. It means it’s on people’s radars a bit more, which is very tangible and important for the film.”
Does he think The Favourite is – like Room – set for an Oscar nomination? “One remains optimistic, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves either,” said Guiney.
With the nomination we are certainly in what they euphemistically call ‘the conversation’ [about the Oscars]. We’ll see how we roll.
He added: “Obviously we went through a it a couple of years ago with Room, so it’s nice to be back in contention again and have another film that might get that recognition.”
Asked how The Favourite differs to Lanthimos’s previous work with Element, Guiney said: “It’s a bigger budget, it’s a period film – he didn’t write it, unlike the other movies we made. But I guess it’s designed by its authors to be a bit more accessible perhaps than his previous work and hopefully will bring his work to a wider audience. And so far that’s happening for sure, but it’s also very much a film made by him.
It’s got a very distinctive style and it’s very particular and interesting and different, and for anyone who enjoys film I think it’s something fresh and new. It’s obviously a period film partly based on real events and is also very funny, with an acid wit to it.
The Favourite won the Grand Jury Prize and Olivia Colman won Best Actress in Venice earlier this year, and it recently won a record-breaking 10 awards at the BIFAs (British Independent Film Awards).
The Favourite stars Olivia Colman and Academy Award winners Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, and marks the third collaboration between Element Pictures and director Yorgos Lanthimos.
The film was shot by Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan and was partly post-produced in Dublin. It will be released in Ireland in January 2019 through Fox Searchlight. It’s written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara and is produced by Ed Guiney and executive produced by Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures.
Irish actress Catriona Balfe was also nominated for a Golden Globe, for her role in the TV series Outlander.
The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan TD, commented:
I’m delighted to see, yet again, Irish excellence recognised on such a global scale – nominations for major international awards demonstrate the strength of the Irish film industry and the outstanding talent of many of our actors, writer, directors and others involved in every aspect of the industry.
This, Catriona’s fourth consecutive nomination in this category, is testament to her talent and dedication to her art. I would like to wish Catriona every success on awards’ night in the New Year.
The 76th annual Golden Globe awards will take place on 6 January 2019, and will be hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg.
Here are the Golden Globes nominees for the major categories:
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Best Actress (film)
Best Actor (film)
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Actress (Film – Musical or Comedy)
Best Actor (Film – Musical or Comedy)
Best Motion Picture – Animated
Best Motion Picture (Foreign Language)
Find the full list here.
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