With the 2016 IFTA Film & Drama Awards looming (April 9th), IFTN is taking a closer look at each of the categories in what has been a golden year for Irish film and television. First up is the Best Cinematography category which is housing four very distinguished nominees in Seamus Deasy, PJ Dillon, Robbie Ryan and Cathal Watters.
Seamus Deasy is receiving his fifth nomination this year after previous nominations for ‘Neverland’, ‘A Film With Me In It’ and ‘The Mighty Celt’, winning in 2007 for frequent collaborator John Boorman’s film ‘The Tiger’s Tail’. He has also collaborated with Boorman on films such as ‘The General’ and ‘Queen and Country’ while other well-known credits of the DoP include ‘Perrier’s Bounty’ starring Cillian Murphy and ‘Triage’ starring Colin Farrell.
His work on Simon Fitzmaurice’s ‘My Name is Emily’ has been acclaimed with Film Ireland writing: “The photography of Seamus Deasy is quite remarkable, giving the film a transparent and otherworldly effect.” Deasy also received the award for Best Cinematography in an Irish Feature when the film made its’ premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh last year.
One of the more prolific Irish DoP’s working in film and drama, this is PJ Dillon’s fourth IFTA nomination in a row (he received a nomination last year for ‘Vikings’ also) and he has received a massive 10 nominations overall. He has previously won IFTA Awards for ‘Ripper Street’, ‘The Runway’ and ‘32A’, also garnering nominations for ‘Timbuktu’, ‘Kings’, ‘An Ranger’ and ‘Game Of Thrones’. He also received a Best Director nomination in 2011 for ‘Rewind’ which starred Allen Leech and Amy Huberman.
Recent work of Dillon’s include the Irish/Australian mystery drama ‘Strangerland’ - starring Oscar winner Nicole Kidman – as well as episodes of Irish shot series ‘Penny Dreadful’ and ‘Game of Thrones’ – both of which are up for Best Drama alongside ‘Vikings’.
Receiving very high praise for his lensing on John Maclean’s ‘Slow West’ – where he turned modern day New Zealand into 1800’s Colorado - Robbie Ryan’ is receiving his third IFTA nod this year after previous IFTA nominations for ‘Isolation’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’. Ryan’s work in ‘Slow West’ has received praise from major US publications such as Variety who lauded the “natural splendour of the outdoor imagery, shot with a typically superb eye by Robbie Ryan”.
Recent work of Ryan’s include ‘Catch Me Daddy’ and the Oscar nominated ‘Philomena’ and he also recently shot Billy O’Brien’s ‘I Am Not A Serial Killer’ starring Laura Fraser and Christopher Lloyd.
Receiving his first nomination this year for ‘Viva’ is Cathal Watters. The DoP, whose previous projects include last year’s IFTA-nominated documentary ‘One Million Dubliners’ as well as Vivienne De Courcy’s drama ‘Dare to be Wild’, has received praise for his work on Paddy Breathnach’s Cuban set film, which was shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film this year. The Hollywood Reporter commended Watters lensing of the film saying he “captures the less touristy, grittier side of Havana in vividly detailed vignettes”.
Upcoming projects of Watters’ include Liam Gavin’s horror film ‘A Dark Song’ as well as John Butler’s ‘Handsome Devil’ starring Moe Dunford and Andrew Scott.
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