Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast wins Best Screenplay at Golden Globes

Several Irish actors were nominated, but narrowly missed out.

Last night, Kenneth Branagh’s film Belfast picked up the award for Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes, while a number of Irish stars missed out on winning big.

Belfast, which stars Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Ciarán Hinds, follows the story of a young working class boy in the city amid the Troubles. Along with The Power of the Dog, the film led the way in terms of nominations, with seven in total.

As well as Best Screenplay, which it won, the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture (Drama). Kenneth Branagh was nominated for Best Director while Jamie Dornan and Ciarán Hinds were both nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Caitríona Balfe was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Van Morrison’s Down to Joy also received a nomination for Best Original Song.

Irish actress Ruth Negga appeared alongside Balfe in the running for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Passing, but she missed out as Ariana DeBose won for her performance in West Side Story.

Dornan and Hinds lost out to Kodi Smitt-McPhee for The Power of the Dog. The film’s director, Jane Campion, also won Best Director.

Due to rising Covid-19 cases, the Golden Globes ceremony took place behind closed doors, and the winners of each category were announced via press release. The show was also subject to a boycott by a number of actors and media organisations due to a lack of diversity among the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. A report by the Los Angeles Times determined that the HFPA has not had a single Black member since 2002.

At the ceremony, The Power of the Dog won Best Motion Picture (Drama), while West Side Story won the gong for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy).

For his performance in King Richard, Will Smith won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama, while Nicole Kidman was awarded Best Actress in a Drama for playing Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos.

Andrew Garfield won the award for Best Performance in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) for tick, tick… BOOM!, and Rachel Zegler won Best Actress for her role in West Side Story.

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