Irish language box office hit Kneecap, directed by Rich Peppiatt, has been nominated for two prestigious European Film Awards - the European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI and the European University Film Award (EUFA).
The critically-acclaimed Irish-language film also dominated at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) this morning, leading with an impressive 14 nominations. Highlights include nods for Best Screenplay, Best Director for Peppiatt, and joint lead performances for Kneecap members Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh.
Set in West Belfast in 2019, when fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ into the orbit of Naoise and Liam Óg, the needle drops on a hip hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, the trio create their own genre of Irish punk rap, melding the Irish and English language with electrifying energy. Their writing and performance reimagine what rap can be as a creative and cultural force, rooted in community. Kneecap ultimately become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue, upending preconceptions about language and place and spearheading a cultural revival and interest from their legions of young followers.
Kneecap was produced by Trevor Birney and Jack Tarling for Fine Point Films and Mother Tongues Films, with Patrick O'Neill at Wildcard acting as Co-Producer. Funding for the film was provided by Northern Ireland Screen, the Irish Language Broadcast Fund, Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Coimisiún na Meán and TG4, Dias Feld and Kamila Serkebaeva, with backing from Great Point Media.
The film had its World Premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in January this year, where it won a NEXT Audience Award, the first Irish language film to win at the festival. It went on to play at Sundance London, and was the opening film of Galway Film Fleadh, where it won three prizes including the Audience Award. The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) has selected the feature to represent Ireland in the Oscar® International Feature Film category at the upcoming 97th annual Academy Awards.
The 37th European Film Awards, hosted by the European Film Academy, will take place in Lucerne, Switzerland on December 7th while the 24th British Independent Film Awards will also take place in early December.
