Aoife Barry reports from LA.
IF THE IRISH Oscar nominees were missing home, yesterday’s weather in Los Angeles would have felt achingly familiar.
The ‘Pineapple Express’ storm barrelled into California with force, sending hours of rain bucketing over the city and adding a nip in the air to boot. LA was lucky in that the city areas didn’t feel the full force of the storm – other parts of the state saw snow and floods.
But it did make journeying by car through the city (this is not a place where you walk from place to place) that bit trickier, thanks to the heavy traffic and spot flooding on some roads. Still, it’s meant to be cleared in time for tomorrow’s Oscars event, where Ireland holds a record 14 nominations.
In LA, Oscars prep continued ahead of tomorrow’s big event. In the morning, Irish nominees attended an event in their honour hosted by Marcella Smyth, Ireland’s Consul General to the South Western United States, after having a good night out on Thursday – some well-earned fun amid an intense week of events.
The buzz continues to grow globally for An Cailín Ciúin. The Australian Film Critics Association awarded it Best Film in a Foreign Language at their awards.
Meanwhile, Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes proclaimed it “sensitive, intelligent, a remarkable character study” in an interview with Forbes, saying: “It’s a beautiful movie I would recommend to anyone.” (The reporter he was speaking to agreed.)
Business moves
Yesterday afternoon, eyes turned to the business deals and discussions that had been happening all week. At a press conference on Wilshire Drive (a long, long road that stretches across the LA area, into the chi-chi Beverly Hills area and beyond), it was announced that Limerick had won a bid to host the Cineposium in September.
For those outside of the film industry, that might not seem like a big deal, but for those interested in boosting Ireland’s reputation as a place to make movies, it was major news. Limerick City and County’s Mayor Cllr Francis Foley was among those who travelled to LA to announce the decision.
The news spoke to the current focus that’s there on bringing film development further into the regions in Ireland, with Screen Ireland already having announced it had ring-fenced €3.5 for a new fund to support regional activity.
Limerick’s Troy Studios and the relationship between the bidding groups Innovate Limerick/Film in Limerick and Screen Ireland were two keys to the decision by the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI).
The Cineposium news showed how important the business side of things is for Ireland this week. Minister Catherine Martin and Screen Ireland have been on a trade mission, hoping to capitalise on the Irish Oscar buzz to increase interest in filming in Ireland.
They’ve already seen the screen tourism boost that Star Wars and Game of Thrones brought to the West and Northern Ireland, so there are now big hopes that Cineposium will showcase not just Limerick, but Clare and Tipperary too.
Minister Martin told The Journal that the Cineposium will see “the leaders, the influencers, the decision makers around the world gather in September in Limerick – and this is really good news for Limerick, for the region”. She highlighted the “breathtaking” locations Ireland can offer, as well as the fact they expect the Cineposium to be the largest ever. “That’s good for a tourism point of view too,” she said, as they expect attendees to travel while they’re here.
With all those meetings she’s been having, has she been getting a sense of this year being an extra special one for Ireland?
“I think it’s very much now in Oscar week we need to seize the moment,” was all she would reveal. “It’s a special time for the creative screen industry in Ireland.”
Oscar wins?
But back to this year’s event: what are Ireland’s chances of winning a statuette?
By now, all Oscar pundits are putting their bets on the Daniels’ excellent Everything Everywhere All At Once scooping best film as well as acting and directing awards, giving Banshees a shot at Best Screenplay and potentially Best Supporting Actress for Kerry Condon – though she faces tough competition from Angela Bassett for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Bassett was previously nominated for her role as Tina Turner in the biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993), but has spoken out about the gruelling shoot and the fact it took 18 months for new offers to come in after her nomination that time around.
Though there are many hopes that Colin Farrell could win Best Actor for his turn in Banshees of Inisherin, he is in an extremely tough category. Traditionally, the Academy (the voters who choose the winners) tend to love transformation stories, and in The Whale Brendan Fraser transformed himself utterly to play a man with obesity. But then again, that film has faced much criticism over how it depicts his character, and it has many middling reviews.
But Farrell is also up against another transformation – former child star Austin Butler, for his turn as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrman’s huge and colourful biopic Elvis. In turn, he’s up against Paul Mescal for the outstanding Aftersun, but it looks unlikely Mescal will win. Still, it has cemented his role as a rising star just a few years into his professional career.
But perhaps the voters decide to turn away from the bombastic performances this year and into something a little more offbeat and emotional? Farrell could see a way in then.
An Cailín Ciúin’s competition for Best International Feature is All Quiet on the Western Front, which won a sweep of awards at the Baftas. Talk to anyone who’s seen An Cailín Ciúin in LA and they’ll wax lyrical about how much they adored it. It’s really seen as a special film, totally different in tone to All Quiet.
Again, it really depends on which of these tones has resonated with voters – maybe they want to go for a film that in its quiet simplicity, has a huge emotional impact?
The short film An Irish Goodbye is also considered one of the top options in its category, but again faces competition. Still, its fully-formed story about brotherhood and grief could tug on voters’ heartstrings.
We potentially could see a win in the Editing category if Elvis wins here, as Irishman Jonathan Redmond is on the editing team for this film, but a statuette isn’t guaranteed for Elvis either.
Right now, there are no guarantees beyond Dubliner Richard Baneham being on the four-person team who win the Visual Effects Oscar for their work on Avatar.
If all goes to plan, this will be his second time winning the award. He told The Journal this week that this year felt like a “reprisal” of when he won his first award in 2009, and hoped he’d “get lucky” again. He was particularly enjoying being surrounded by so many other Irish nominees.
He told us:
“I think being nominated is the real win – don’t get me wrong, winning is big, but at the end of the day it’s being recognised by your peers that’s really the win. For smaller movies, win lose or draw it propels your career forward.”
His proud parents are over in LA for the Oscars, and even brought his Bafta with them.
For all of its huge celebrity focus and glamour, for the Irish Oscar nominees in LA this year there’s been a real sense of family and connection, especially among the newcomers to the celebrity world.
It’s that which will keep them grounded as tomorrow’s events get underway.
Follow our liveblog and reporting from the winners press room live on The Journal on Sunday.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say