19/02/2008

Kings and Garage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ed Guiney
interview: Jean-François Deveau
interview: Lenny Abrahamson
film profile] continued their golden awards run, picking up five and four gongs respectively at the 5th annual Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTAs).

Garage won Best Film, Best Director Film for Lenny Abrahamson, Best Script Film for Mark O’Halloran and the IFTA for Actor in a Lead Role Film for Pat Shortt. Abrahamson and O’Halloran also picked up awards for Director Television and Script Television for their urban drama series Prosperity.

Irish-language drama Kings dominated the craft categories, winning awards for Original Score (Pol Brennan), Sound (Ken Galvin/Ronan Hill/Dominic Weaver), Editing (Dermot Diskin), Actor in a Supporting Role Film (Brendan Conroy) and the Special Irish Language Award.

In the acting stakes, young Irish actress Saoirse Ronan was a double winner, scooping the Supporting Actress Film and the Irish Film Board Rising Star awards for her role in Atonement [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. In addition, Irish cinematographer Seamus McGarvey was honoured for his work on the film.

Daniel Day Lewis continued his stellar run en route to the Oscars when he won the International Actor award for There Will Be Blood. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
interview: Ulrich Muehe
film profile] was named Best International Film.

Television drama The Tudors made history by winning a record seven IFTAs, including Actor in a Lead Role Television for Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

Aine Moriarty, CEO of the Irish Film and Television Academy, said: “The list of winners and nominees at these Awards shows the exceptional talent and creativity that our industry has to offer and re-affirms IFTA’s commitment to celebrating their work. The Award’s supporters and all the Academy members join me in congratulating the winners for their fine achievements this year.”