Very much deserved.
The Irish Film and Television Awards has put forward An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) as Ireland’s entry for the 2023 Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category.
The movie tells the story of nine-year-old Kate (Catherine Clinch) who is sent to live with her aunt (Carrie Crowley) and uncle (Andrew Bennett) for the summer while her own parents try to deal with their already overcrowded home. Living with them, Kate begins to flourish, while discovering some secrets about her own family along the way.
The movie premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February this year, where it was awarded the Grand Prix Award for Best Film. It then became the first ever Irish-language movie to open the Dublin International Film Festival, where it was awarded Best Irish Film and Audience Award.
It then went on to win eight IFTA awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress, before going on to receive a full cinematic release across Ireland and the UK in May, and has so far managed to bank over €800,000 at the box office, and will soon begin screening in cinemas in Australia and New Zealand.
The film currently has a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and JOE also ranked it among our 10 best movies of 2022 so far list back at the half-way point of the year.
Now that the movie has been selected as Ireland’s selection for the Best International Feature Film category, it will be added to the long-list of movies from around the world, before that shortlist is eventually whittled down to the five nominees in the category, which will be revealed on 24 January, 2023.
Upon the news of the selection, the movie’s writer/director Colm Bairéad and producer Cleona Ní Chrualaoi of Inscéal had the following to say:
“We are honoured beyond words that An Cailín Ciúin has been selected as Ireland’s entry for the 95th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category. Our heartfelt thanks to IFTA and its selection committee. We have always believed in the idea that an Irish-language film could stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of world cinema and we feel so proud to be representing our country and our language in this way.
“It has been an extraordinary privilege adapting Claire Keegan’s ‘Foster’ to the big screen and we can’t wait to introduce our film to more and more members of the Academy as An Cailín Ciúin / The Quiet Girl continues its roll-out on the international stage. None of this would have been possible without the vision of TG4, Screen Ireland and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, who co-funded the Cine4 feature film initiative, which has created a new wave of Irish-language cinema that is being recognised around the world.”
At the time of writing, An Cailín Ciúin is still being screened in select cinemas in Dublin and Wexford, and is also available to rent and purchase via Google Play, Rakuten TV and Apple TV.
Clip via Break Out Pictures
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