Rich Peppiatt’s KNEECAP has been shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature and Best Original Song for ‘Sick In The Head’. It is one of three Irish films shortlisted ahead of the upcoming Oscar ceremony.

The other Irish nominees are The Apprentice, produced by Irish production company Tailored Films, in the Best Make Up and Hairstyling Category; and Room Taken, a short film funded under Screen Ireland’s flagship Focus Shorts scheme, and directed by TJ O’Grady Peyton, which is shortlisted for Best Live Action Short.

"The range of projects featured across the shortlists represents a significant achievement for Irish film,” a statement from Screen Ireland said, "and a remarkable one for Irish language film in particular. Kneecap is just the second film ever in the Irish language to be shortlisted in the Best International Feature Film category – the first being An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) in 2022."

The critically acclaimed Irish box office sensation will vie for a nomination (to be announced on January 17) ahead of the iconic awards ceremony, set to take place on March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles. It’s the third Irish film to ever be shortlisted for this category after Viva and An Cailín Ciúin.

Speaking about being shortlisted, KNEECAP writer and director Rich Peppiatt said, "If someone had walked into the pub in 2019 – back when me and Kneecap were still dreaming up what this movie could be–- and they told us five years later we’d be in the running for an Oscar, we’d probably have asked for a blast on whatever they were smoking...

"It’s been a rollercoaster journey, marked by a huge amount of hard graft and plenty good fun, and making it to that hallowed Hollywood red carpet would certainly be a grand way to finish it all off.”

Peppiatt’s film stars the members of the West Belfast rap trio Kneecap (Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvaí) alongside an ensemble cast including Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender, Simone Kirby, Josie Walker, Fionnuala Flaherty, Jessica Reynolds and Adam Best.

Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Brazil, “I’m Still Here”
Canada, “Universal Language”
Czech Republic, “Waves”
Denmark, “The Girl with the Needle”
France, “Emilia Pérez”
Germany, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
Iceland, “Touch”
Ireland, “Kneecap”
Italy, “Vermiglio”
Latvia, “Flow”
Norway, “Armand”
Palestine, “From Ground Zero”
Senegal, “Dahomey”
Thailand, “How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies”
United Kingdom, “Santosh”

Kneecap have just been named Phenomenon of the Year by Hot Press, with an exclusive interview in the Hot Press Annual, published this week. The band's album Fine Art came in at No.2 in the Hot Press Critics' Albums of the Year, behind only Fontaines D.C.'s new classic Romance. Fontaines D.C. are also interviewed in what is an action-packed Annual. Kneecap is also named among Hot Press' Films of the Year, selected by film editor Roe McDermott.

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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.

The Oscar shortlist announcement comes on the heels of a remarkable sweep at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) earlier this month, where KNEECAP claimed seven prestigious accolades. These included Best British Independent Film, Best Debut Screenwriter for Rich Peppiatt, and Best Joint Lead Performance for Kneecap members Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh. The film also secured awards for Best Casting, Best Editing, Best Original Music, and Best Music Supervision. Additionally, KNEECAP earned a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and was named Best Foreign Language Film by the Atlanta Film Critics Circle last week.

KNEECAP had its World Premiere at the A-list Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won a coveted NEXT Audience Award. Following its Sundance success, the film screened at major festivals worldwide, including Sundance London, Karlovy Vary, Tallinn Black Nights, Tribeca, and SXSW. As the opening film of the Galway Film Fleadh, KNEECAP resonated powerfully with Irish audiences, winning three prizes, including the Audience Award.

The film 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, TG4, Dias Feld and Kamila Serkebaeva, with backing from Great Point Media.

Commenting on the shortlisting of the three Irish films, Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive of Fís Eireann / Screen Ireland said:

"We would like to extend our sincere congratulations to the creative teams behind Irish films Kneecap, The Apprentice and short film Room Taken on today's Academy Awards shortlist announcements. Comhghairdeas ó chroí libh! This is the second time in history that a film in the Irish language has been shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film - and to have three films shortlisted across various categories is an incredible achievement for Irish cinema.”

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