Round-up: The Irish Film and Television Awards 2012
It was the night when the crème of Irish talent came out in their finery to pay tribute to our best movies of the year. The Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA) were slightly overlooked this year, but The Fass got his gong out of it (no pun intended) and here at the Culch offices, that’s all we really wanted.
The IFTA ceremony is relatively new to our shores, it is only in its ninth year, but it has to be said we do put on a good show. There was the usual finery in the fashion stakes (I want Amy Huberman’s dress) and the very fine red carpet glamour (Mr Fassbender looked mighty fine and brought his mam and dad along for the occasion, sweet or what?) Unfortunately Ryan Gosling wasn’t available to pick up his prize (boo!), he won for his role in ‘Drive’ but we did get Laura Whitmore (looking stunning and sounding every inch the MTV presenter), Brian O’Driscoll, Dawn Porter and Chris O’Dowd.
The acclaimed TV series ‘Love/Hate’ emerged as the big winner of the night taking home seven gongs, including the main prize for best TV drama series, best director for David Caffrey, best TV writer for Stuart Carolan and best editor for Isobel Stephenson. Aiden Gillen was named best lead actor in a TV drama, with Tom Vaughan Lawlor taking the supporting actor award, and Denise McCormack taking the best supporting actress award.
Elsewhere, I was thrilled to see the unmissable gem ‘The Guard’ do well (If only The Fass and Mr Gleeson could’ve been nominated in separate categories, both deserved to win the gong). Winning big in the film categories, The Guard also received the IFTA for Best Film, with writer/director John Michael McDonagh named Best Director, Best Screenwriter (the script was legendary) and the Irish Film Board Rising Star for his feature directorial debut. Yay!
A highlight, apart from the Fass taking his win for the acclaimed ‘Shame,’ was when our newly elected President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins presented veteran Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan with the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award. She quite rightly received a standing ovation from the 1,400 strong audience and made a touching speech to top it all off. In addition, the actress took home a second IFTA statuette for her supporting role in The Guard.
Other notable wins included ‘Bridesmaids’ star Chris O’Dowd who won for the Actor Support Film award for his performance in the hit comedy film and actresses Saoirse Ronan, who won for her Lead performance as teen assassin in Joe Wright’s ‘Hanna.’ Did I mention how thrilled we are that The Fass won? Oh yeah, I did.
So it’s all over for another year, but it was great to see our home grown Irish talent get the accolades they deserve for bringing us some truly great films this year.
Here are all the winners for your viewing pleasure:
BEST FILM:
The Guard – Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez Marengo, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe (Reprisal Films / Element Pictures)
DIRECTOR FILM:
John Michael McDonagh
SCRIPT FILM:
John Michael McDonagh – The Guard
ACTOR – FILM:
Michael Fassbender – Shame
ACTRESS -FILM:
Saoirse Ronan – Hanna
SUPPORTING ACTOR – FILM:
Chris O’Dowd – Bridesmaids
SUPPORTING ACTRESS – FILM:
Fionnula Flanagan – The Guard
GEORGE MORRISON FEATURE DOCUMENTARY AWARD:
Bernadette; Notes on a Political Journey- Lelia Doolan,
SPECIAL IRISH LANGUAGE AWARD:
Corp + Anam – Paddy Hayes
ANIMATION:
The Boy in the Bubble – Kealan O’ Rourke
PHILIPS SHORT FILM AWARD:
Foxes – Lorcan Finnegan
INTERNATIONAL FILM:
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
INTERNATIONAL ACTOR:
Ryan Gosling – Drive
INTERNATIONAL ACTRESS:
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
BEST DRAMA, IN ASSOCIATION WITH BAI:
Love/Hate – Suzanne McAuley & Steve Mattews
DIRECTOR TELEVISION DRAMA:
David Caffrey – Love/Hate
WRITER TELEVISION DRAMA:
Stuart Carolan – Love/Hate
ACTOR – TELEVISION:
Aidan Gillen – Love/Hate
ACTRESS – TELEVISION:
Ruth Negga – Shirley
SUPPORTING ACTOR – TELEVISION:
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor – Love/Hate
SUPPORTING ACTRESS – TELEVISION:
Denise McCormack – Love/Hate
DIRECTOR TELEVISION:
Gary Keane – The Writing in the Sky
CURRENT AFFAIRS / NEWS:
Prime Time Investigates: The Home Care Scandal – Adrian Lydon
DOCUMENTARY SERIES:
Waterways – Stephen Rooke
DOCUMENTARY:
The Blood of the Travellers – Liam McGrath
ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME:
Mrs Brown’s Boys – Brendan O’Carroll & Justin Healy
FACTUAL PROGRAMME:
The Only Viking in the Village – Anne Heffernan & Bernadine Carraher
REALITY PROGRAMME:
ICA Bootcamp
SPORTS:
Eamonn Coghlan – Man on a Mission –
IRISH FILM BOARD RISING STAR:
John Michael McDonagh
About the Author
Jen McShane Writer and major Cinefile who loves movies. A whole lot. I’ve also been known to ramble about all other things Pop Culture on occasion too. For more information on these rambles please see (here, obviously) and also: http://worldofsnowwhite.blogspot.com/
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