IFTAs 2008

speedy21

Does anyone care about the upcoming Irish Film and TV Awards?

I just read on Movies.ie that Mel Gibson is going to be in town for a lifetime achievement award - that's a bit of a coup - even if he is a nut job. Its better than just seeing the cast of Fair City walk up the red carpet!

Oh, and he's also got Irish roots - that explains the nuttiness.. yes!

Nolanger

And the IFTA to the most overrated country in world cinema goes to us!

phasers

the IFTAs aren't real awards

in Britain and America the awards are huge glitzy occasions because celebrities are actual famous people there

in Ireland, nobody cares enough and nobody knows who half the winners are

wierdal

shouldnt this be in the film awards section

ixoy

wierdal wrote: »

shouldnt this be in the film awards section

No it should not. That forum is specifically for boards own film awards, not others.

wierdal

sorry didnt know still new to all this

Nolanger

Some of the winners have already been announced - BEFORE the awards ceremony!

lizann

Hilary Swank won best actress for PS I Love You

I hope Pat Shoritt and Anne Marie Duff win for Garage

ixoy

Donald Clarke pretty much ripped into their worth in this week's "Ticket" URL="http://www.ireland.com/theticket/articles/2008/0215/1202938374587.html"]link[/URL:

The Irish Film and Television Academy knows how to pull in the celebs for its annual awards ceremony, but the academy's broad definition of Irishness under mines the credibility of the Iftas, argues Donald Clarke .

In two days, Mel Gibson, director, actor and professional hyper-Christian, will amble onto the stage of Dublin's Gaiety Theatre to receive an award for "outstanding contribution to world cinema" from the Irish Film and Television Academy.

In the four years since the Ifta awards were inaugurated, the organisers have done a fine job of bagging attractive celebrities for their red carpet. Vanessa Redgrave, Mischa Barton and Lara Flynn Boyle turned up in previous years and, on Sunday, Rene Russo and Bo Derek will join Mr Gibson at the ceremony.

The event, which is broadcast by RTÉ, helps promote the Irish film industry and provides plenty of nice images for the next day's papers.

But what about the gongs themselves? This time round, as in previous years, there are some surprises among the nominations. Ifta seems very open-minded in its interpretation of the calendar, and exhibits a flexibility in its definition of Irishness that even the FAI might regard as cavalier.

Fans of John Carney's Oscar-nominated Once may wonder why that film figures nowhere in this year's event. The short answer is that, following successful festival screenings in 2006, the film was submitted for last year's awards, was accepted and deemed worthy of only one nomination (for music, which it failed to win).

"Yes, it was very disappointing that Once wasn't more successful in Ireland through its cinema release and how it did at the Iftas," Áine Moriarty, chief executive of Ifta, writes in a detailed response to queries from The Ticket.

"Unfortunately, not enough academy members were able to view Once , as the film had not been released and no DVDs could be provided as they were seeking distribution and had various restrictions regarding copyright."

The confusion concerning what film gets considered in which year is further heightened by a nomination this year for There Will Be Blood . Although the film is not released until a week after the Iftas take place, Daniel Day-Lewis receives a nod for best international actor.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) and the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas, the Oscars body) both demand that films receive a commercial release before the Baftas or the Oscars take place. Ifta seems to take a looser approach.

Moriarty explains: "As, in many cases, films receive festival screenings before theatrical release (and, in some cases, do not receive theatrical releases at all . . .) Ifta's requirement is that, in order to be eligible, a film must screen at a film festival, have a theatrical release, or have a DVD release within the eligible period (December 1st 2006 to December 31st 2007)." This is a very broad admissions policy.

Last year, eyebrows were raised when Ian McKellen picked up a best international actor nomination for his performance in X-Men 3 . Ifta seems to be the only organisation in the world to have honoured this particular performance. It's hard to avoid the suspicion that some actors are being nominated on the basis that they may turn up (McKellen didn't) and add a bit more class to the red carpet.

"Ifta would strongly disagree with the suspicion suggested by The Irish Times that some nominations are driven by the 'desire to have a particular celebrity turn up'," Moriarty says in her response to our written inquiry. "Who is voicing this opinion? It is ridiculous! We are not in the business of nominees being selected purely on the basis of them attending."

OK, but what - moving to the academy's notion of Irishness - is Becoming Jane doing among the nominations for best Irish film? The Jane Austen biopic, a co-production of the BBC, was indeed filmed in this country and did involve the participation of the Irish Film Board, but it is set in Hampshire, is written and directed by English talent and features British and American actors in the leading roles.

Moriarty points out that one of several criteria for consideration as an Irish film admits projects whose "principal photography took place fully or partially in Ireland". By these standards, Saving Private Ryan or Reign of Fire might be considered Irish.

Similar questions arise when we consider some of the actors up for awards over the past few years. Anne-Marie Duff, star of Shameless and The Virgin Queen , has twice been nominated for awards intended for Irish actresses. A glance at her biography suggests that, though of Irish descent, she was born and raised in London.

"To qualify one needs to have been born in the 32 counties or have lived here for a minimum of three consecutive years," Moriarty counters. "To my knowledge it had been clarified that Anne-Marie Duff lived here in her teens, and therefore qualifies."

I may take issue with this overly inclusive approach but it is only fair to acknowledge the great amount of work carried out by Moriarty and her colleagues. A version of the Irish Film and Television Academy Awards had been in existence for a few years - one previous ceremony took place in Belfast's Waterfront Hall - before the current regime took over and set about injecting more glamour into proceedings.

In July 2006, they helped formally re-establish the Irish Film and Television Academy, which, taking its cue from Bafta and Ampas, set out to "drive a range of industry initiatives, encouraging excellence through recognition, education and leadership through industry events/activities".

Such an organisation can do good work, and a national awards beano remains a desirable entity. The attention the ceremony brings to, say, short films and lower-budget productions is invaluable.

But the myriad of peculiar nominations - the admirably successful Cecelia Ahern, who recently created a sitcom in the US, is hardly a "rising star" any more - does undermine the credibility of the awards.

And for all the commercialism of the Oscars, the American Academy has yet to rename its best actress award after a shampoo company and will, one assumes, resist the temptation to decide that category by a public vote. You can, however, vote online for the Pantene Best International Actress award at the Iftas. Hilary Swank has been nominated for her performance in PS I Love You . Yikes. Come back, Ian McKellen. All is forgiven.

The Irish Film and Television Awards start at 7pm on Sunday in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. The ceremony will be broadcast on RTÉ1 from 9.30pm

He doesn't seem to think much of them..

Nolanger

At least he got a reply from the IFTAs about Once's poor performance last year. I sent the esteemed Academy a similar email months back but never got a reply.

Yes, they are definitely scraping the barrell for nominees - in a country that produces only a handful of feature films each year (and most are terrible) these awards are a joke.

cashback

lizann wrote: »

Hilary Swank won best actress for PS I Love You

And with that goes any shred of credibility these awards possess.
That was a public vote I heard?

steps_3314

i watched a little bit of these awards last night and i have to say what a patetic attempt of an awards ceremony.

is there any uniqueness left in this country..talk about trying to copy other awards ceremonies....this looked like an attempt to host the oscars..what rubbish

and what is with ryan tubridy..did anyone notice him swaying from side to side..he looked like some gob****e. its bad enough we have "Your a star" trying in a poor attempt to be "The X factor" but this is just as bad.

irish tv can really be very poor but its worst when they try to imitate the work of other studios.

i turned over fairly prompt as it was making me angry

faceman

Just like the meteors, the IFTA's are a joke.

lizann

I'm glad Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Pat Shoritt and Garage won but the awards show was terrible. Ryan Turbidy was a terrible host. I thought Rene Russo was there to present Mel Gibson his award.

lizann

http://www.examiner.ie/breaking/entertainment/mheysnmhmhkf/

Tudors scoops seven IFTAs
18/02/2008 - 07:19:09

Television period drama The Tudors stole the show at the Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) when it won in a record seven categories.

Jonathan Rhys Myers was honoured for his performance in the hit series with an award for best actor in a television drama lead role.

Co-stars Maria Doyle Kennedy and Nick Dunning also picked up IFTAs last night while 'The Tudors' scooped best drama series.

Another three awards at the ceremony in Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre made the drama about the life of King Henry VIII the most successful in the event’s five year history.

'Garage' won the Best Film category, Best Director for Lenny Abrahamson, Best Script for Mark O’Halloran and Best Actor in a Lead Role Film for Pat Shortt.

Young Irish actress Saoirse Ronan was another standout winner on scooping the Supporting Actress Film and the Irish Film Board Rising Star awards for her starring role in 'Atonement'.

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s 'The Lives of Others' was named Best International Film and Daniel Day Lewis took the Best International Actor award for 'There Will Be Blood'.

Actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson received a standing ovation for his Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema Award

RESULTS

BlitzKrieg

I'd rather a sombre but credibal low key award cermony awarding actual irish productions and performances then that sad attempt at a glitzy celeb ridden show...

WannaST

Best line of the night had to go to the BBC Newsline team when they took the award and then plugged their own BBC program live on RTE...

Tubridy was cringe worthy, trying too hard to be Billy Crystal. He should get some sort of award for tactlessness, taking a dig or two at the Taoiseach (deserved or not) and then have his daughter walk off the stage in front of him and him be all smiles and pleasantries... gimp!

He got a bit of dig from Colin Farrell the night before too, Farrell talking about parenthood and putting it before work, I could have sworn I saw a tear in Tubridy’s eye.

Anyway, the awards were indeed tacky, but not completely unprofessional either. At least it flowed and delivered the end result, no phaffing about with dramatic stage show or songs etc.

Fair dues to the Tudors, that fine upstanding family from the mid-lands of … where exactly? Not much Irish connection there really, even the lead actor has a fine thick English accent on him! Funny how it wasn’t there when Tubridy interviewed him a while back, yet suddenly pops up again when he’s in a room full of his Tudor cronies.

Well done Pat Shortt (no ‘i’), that’ll shake the Barley in Donnybrook

steps_3314

and the sad thing is the foreign actors they awarded probably went home laughing at the sad attempt to mimic something big

hot fuss

Just felt I had to reply to this and ask the question, are the IFTAs not better than not having any kind of film and television awards in Ireland at all? They may be a little dubious when it comes to winners and have quite bizarre eligibility criteria but I think fair dues to the organisers for instilling a bit of glitz and glamour into the Irish film and TV industry that we never had before the IFTAs took place.

Surely it can only be a good thing to have the likes of Mel Gibson, Kevin Dillon and others in Ireland at an awards ceremony that honours the work of all those people working in the Irish film and TV industry. Can we leave the cynicism aside for a moment and appreciate that surely the IFTAs are better than nothing?

I have to say I was delighted to see Pat Shortt's performance in Garage honoured last night and the direction of that movie honoured too. Other awards such as Hilary Swank's were a little more dubious to say the least but I thought it was nice to be able to see certain talented people get some deserved public praise.

Jay P

I didn't hear of half the films last night, never mind the people who were behind the scenes of all them. Also, I found it pretty funny that RTE lost to BBC for the best news show. Beaten at their own game

faceman

hot fuss wrote: »

Just felt I had to reply to this and ask the question, are the IFTAs not better than not having any kind of film and television awards in Ireland at all? They may be a little dubious when it comes to winners and have quite bizarre eligibility criteria but I think fair dues to the organisers for instilling a bit of glitz and glamour into the Irish film and TV industry that we never had before the IFTAs took place.

events like that only serve to damage the credibility of the film & tv industry in ireland. Either do it right or dont do it at all.

Eire 4Ever

hot fuss wrote: »

Just felt I had to reply to this and ask the question, are the IFTAs not better than not having any kind of film and television awards in Ireland at all? They may be a little dubious when it comes to winners and have quite bizarre eligibility criteria but I think fair dues to the organisers for instilling a bit of glitz and glamour into the Irish film and TV industry that we never had before the IFTAs took place.

Surely it can only be a good thing to have the likes of Mel Gibson, Kevin Dillon and others in Ireland at an awards ceremony that honours the work of all those people working in the Irish film and TV industry. Can we leave the cynicism aside for a moment and appreciate that surely the IFTAs are better than nothing?

I have to say I was delighted to see Pat Shortt's performance in Garage honoured last night and the direction of that movie honoured too. Other awards such as Hilary Swank's were a little more dubious to say the least but I thought it was nice to be able to see certain talented people get some deserved public praise.

I'm glad also Pat Shortt and Garage won.

Mel Gibson, Mary McDonnell, Rene Russo, Kevin Dillion, Bo Derek and John Corbett were the only big named Hollywood celebs at the event i expected a lot more with Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend in Dublin for his film's premiere and also with the film festival on

hot fuss

faceman wrote: »

events like that only serve to damage the credibility of the film & tv industry in ireland. Either do it right or dont do it at all.

How exactly do you think they damage the credibility of the film and TV industry here?

Balagan

Thought it shoddy that the two scriptwriting awards, both won by Mark O'Halloran for 'Prosperity' and 'Garage', were only shown in the 'presented earlier' bit of the tv show. Less fluff and less old guff and less bootlicking of the Hollywood starts (Jesus, Mel Gibson talked about pigs, twice, ) and more serious rewarding of achievement would improve things a lot. Also schedule it further apart from the Meteor Awards for all our sakes, but especially for Pat Shortt!

walt0r

In all fairness it was cringeworthy. I knew we were in trouble from the moment Tubridy stepped onto the stage. He was woeful. As somebody else said before he he was trying too hard to be Billy Crystal. Shocking jokes outta him. Marty Whelan would have done a better job for sure. Pat The Plank seemed really nervous too. Awkward, awkward, awkward.

The thing I'm wondering is how much money did they have to pay Mel to come over for this tripe? I felt sorry for him really. He must have been well bored sitting through that ****e and all the crappy Irish movies that nobody ever heard of.
Like Faceman said, either do it right or don't bother at all because I was truly embarrassed by it last night. The American celebs must be going home having a great laugh at our dismal attempt to emulate the Oscars.

We really are a crap bunch aren't we?
Fair play to Pat Shortt though, he seems like a nice chap even though he's not at all funny really.

WannaST

I don't think it was that bad that we made fools of ourselves on the international stage. To be honest, it didn't register anywhere, i've checked SkyNews/BBC News and a few more, all that's mentioned is the Berlin Festival, no IFTA's anywhere... so you're blushes are saved for now... lets just hope Tubridy watches his performance some night and learns what not to donext time...

Couldn't help but feel that Kevin Dillon's segment will be cut and pasted into a future episode of Entourage - Drama becomes an International B-lister!!!:p ... then you might see some cringe-worthy material broadcast internationally!

... what was Gibson going on about Pigs for, any idea?

Kur4mA

WannaST wrote: »

... what was Gibson going on about Pigs for, any idea?

I reckon it was because he's a f*cking nutjob.

colsers22

Check this out, from the sky news website..
Offensive much?

http://showbiz.sky.com/showbiz/article/0,,50001-1305857,00.html

Kur4mA

WTF? :eek:

colsers22

Every time the camera went on to Mel, you could tell he was dying for a drink. Jesus I would be too if I had to sit through hours of that s**t. It was so embarrassing. We fell around the place laughing at the best news award. Pointless!!

steps_3314

even skynews are ticking the piss...lepracauns..blarney stone....

Is it supposed to be taken seriously? Surely having Ryan Tubridy involved removes any creednece of respectbility. There's a reason he's only allowed on TV on Saturdays, most normal people are'nt home.

colsers22

Deleted User wrote: »

Is it supposed to be taken seriously? Surely having Ryan Tubridy involved removes any creednece of respectbility. There's a reason he's only allowed on TV on Saturdays, most normal people are'nt home.

Meow! I completely agree!!

WannaST

you mean "most people who haven't been blessed/cursed with parenthood aren't at home"... the rest of us use Sky+ and skip over him and go straight to (if you are the wife) - WestLife or (if you are me) - Bo Derek...

It was a joy to do this throughout most of the award show, maybe thats why i didn't think it was that bad, unless there was a big chuckle shown in the crowd, i skipped over RT completely!

Mrs Roy Keane

what a crap award show and terrible presenting

only good part was Pat Shortt winning

Mrs Roy Keane

Was Daniel Day Lewis and Dominic Purcell at the IFTA?

If so why were they not presenting

colsers22

You have to admit, Pat Shortt's acceptance speech was pathetic! He giggled about 1 minute too long.

constitutionus

phf. we dont HAVE a film industry of note. this is just an excuse for the RTE telly totty brigade to ponce about in a new frock.

bleedin youtube has more irish stuff on it than the IFTAS

MisterAnarchy

colsers22 wrote: »

You have to admit, Pat Shortt's acceptance speech was pathetic! He giggled about 1 minute too long.

He was sloshed .
He looks like has has put on about 5 stone weight in the last few years.He is huge now.

Eire 4Ever

Mrs Roy Keane wrote: »

Was Daniel Day Lewis and Dominic Purcell at the IFTA?

If so why were they not presenting

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfox/with/2274310789/

Dominic Purcell was at the event but i didn't see him presenting on the TV show

Petey2006

If Ireland started producing better than 'Shrooms' (taking into account films like Once which are the exception to the rule), then maybe we could start patting ourselves on the backs a bit more and have a proper awards ceremony.

Nolanger

We've the got IFTAs, film and acting schools, film archive, books written, Film Board, magazines, film centres, cinemas, actors, and film festivals.

All we're missing are the good films.