The shortlist of nominees has been announced for the 2006 Irish Film & Television Awards, the first to take place under the auspices of the recently re-constituted Irish Film & Television Academy.

Neil Jordan's Breakfast On Pluto leads with a total of ten nominations, followed closely by Brian Kirk's Middletown with nine. Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley and John Boorman's The Tiger's Tail have captured seven nominations each. Breakfast on Pluto, The Wind That Shakes the Barley and Middletown are Best Film contenders alongside Niall Heery's Small Engine Repair and David Gleeson's The Front Line.

The acting shortlist features some of Ireland 's internationally recognised screen talent. Cillian Murphy has received two nominations in the Best Actor category, for his performances in Breakfast on Pluto and The Wind That Shakes the Barley. He is joined in the shortlist by Colin Farrell for Miami Vice, Pierce Brosnan for The Matador, and Brendan Gleeson for Studs. Actor Liam Cunningham has been nominated for three acting awards across the Film-TV spectrum (The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Showbands, and Murphy's Law). Younger actors Padraic Delaney, Ruth Negga and Ruth Bradley received two nominations each.

Along with Brosnan and Farrell other Irish talent working abroad is well represented. Fionnula Flanagan is nominated for Transamerica and Pauline McLynn is nominated for Gypo, while in the craft categories Irish cinematographer Seamus McGarvey is nominated for World Trade Center, and costume designers Joan Bergin and Consolata Boyle are named for their work on The Prestige and The Queen respectively.

The five features in the running for Best International Film are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel , Martin Scorsese's The Departed, Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris' Little Miss Sunshine, Paul Green grass' United 93 and Martin Campbell's Casino Royale.

The award ceremony, covering 32 categories, will take place on Feb 9 in Dublin. According to the organisers the number of submissions rose again this year, reflecting the growing expertise of Irish people working in the film and television industry at home and abroad.

2006 Irish Film & Television Awards Nominees

AWARDS IN FILM

Best Film
Breakfast on Pluto
The Front Line
Middletown
Small Engine Repair
The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Best International Film

Babel
Casino Royale
The Departed
Little Miss Sunshine
United 93

Best Director

John Boorman - The Tiger's Tail
David Gleeson - The Front Line
Neil Jordan - Breakfast on Pluto
Brian Kirk - Middletown

Best Script

Daragh Carville - Middletown
David Gleeson - The Front Line
Niall Heery - Small Engine Repair
Neil Jordan & Pat McCabe - Breakfast on Pluto

Best Cinematography

Seamus Deasy - The Tiger's Tail
Seamus McGarvey - World Trade Center
Declan Quinn - Breakfast on Pluto
Robbie Ryan - Isolation

Best Music

Niall Byrne - Small Engine Repair
Patrick Cassidy - The Front Line
Glen Hansard - Once
Stephen McKeon - The Tiger's Tail

Best Production Design
Tom Conroy - Breakfast on Pluto
Mark Geraghty - Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Ashleigh Jeffers - Middletown
Mark Lowry - Small Engine Repair

Best Costume Design

Joan Bergin - The Prestige
Consolata Boyle - The Queen
Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh - Breakfast on Pluto
Maeve Patterson - The Tiger's Tail

Best Hair & Makeup

Martina McCarthy, Denise Watson - The Tiger's Tail
Lorraine Glynn, Lynn Johnson - Breakfast on Pluto
Morna Ferguson, Lorraine Glynn - Middletown

AWARDS IN ACTING

Best Actor in a Lead Role - Film

Pierce Brosnan - The Matador
Colin Farrell - Miami Vice
Brendan Gleeson - Studs
Cillian Murphy - Breakfast on Pluto
Cillian Murphy - The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Best Actress in a Lead Role - Film

Eva Birthistle - Middletown
Gemma Doorly - A Song for Rebecca
Pauline McLynn - Gypo
Ruth Negga - Isolation

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Film

Liam Cunningham - The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Padraic Delaney - The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Gerard McSorley - Middletown
Stephen Rea - Breakfast on Pluto

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Film

Sinead Cusack - The Tiger's Tail
Orla Fitzgerald - The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Fionnula Flanagan - Transamerica
Ruth Negga - Breakfast on Pluto

AWARDS ACROSS FILM & TELEVISION

The IFB & NIFTC Breakthrough Talent Award

Padraic Delaney - Actor (The Wind That Shakes the Barley)
Orla Fitzgerald - Actress (The Wind That Shakes the Barley)
Domhnall Gleeson - Actor (Studs)
Niall Heery - Writer/Director (Small Engine Repair)
Brian Kirk - Director ( Middletown )
Lucy Kennedy - TV Presenter (The Podge and Rodge Show)

Best Editing in Film / TV Drama

Dermot Diskin - Showbands
Cuan MacConghail - Studs
Stephen O'Connell - Stardust
Ray Roantree - Fallout

Best Sound in Film / TV Drama

Peter Blayney, Patrick Drummond, John Fitzgerald, Mervyn Moore - Lassie
Michelle Cunniffe, John Fitzgerald, Nikki Moss, Simon Willis - Middletown
John Fitzgerald, Peter Blayney, Jon Stevenson & Dan Birch - Stardust
Brendan Deasy - The Tiger's Tail

Best Short Film

Bongo Bong
The Faeries of Blackheath Woods
Joyriders
The White Dress

Topics