THERE was disappointment this afternoon as the hit movie Kneecap missed out on two Oscar nominations.
The film lost out in the Best International Feature Film and Best Original Song categories.
Writer and director Rich Peppiatt and producer Trevor Birney gathered in Maddens bar to watch the nominations live on a big screen, while the band members looked on remotely from another screen. The upstairs bar was packed with the movie’s film crew, media and well-wishers as the nominations were revealed for each film category from Los Angeles.
There were groans and sighs of disappointment from those in the city centre pub when the nominations were read out and the realisation dawned that Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvaí would not be strutting the red carpet in Tinseltown, but Rich and Trevor rallied the troops, telling them that they have all been on an incredible journey and have the IFTAs and BAFTAs to look forward to next month.
Speaking to the Andersonstown News, Trevor Birney from Fine Point Films, said the film has been an “amazing adventure”.
“A year ago today we were in Sundance Film Festival premiering the film. At that point we thought that was the high point of this film’s journey. Little did we know that it was only to get bigger and bigger and win nominations for awards and we were going to be going to BAFTAs, BIFAs and IFTAs and looking at Oscars.
“That was due to the creativity and genius of Rich Peppiatt and Kneecap in terms of their performances but the important thing to remember is that this is all about West Belfast. This is a story that was born in West Belfast, that has come out of West Belfast and it has put West Belfast on the global stage.
Rich Peppiatt and Trevor Birney in Maddens today
“There is no other film that has come out of this city that has done the job that this film has done."
When all is said and done, Trevor said the movie is a celebration of Ireland’s indigenous language as well as its indigenous film industry.
“What this film is all about is the indigenous language and that’s why I think it struck accord with audiences all around the world. We are celebrating our Irish language, our Irish culture in this film. And of course it is about the film industry. This film took dozens and dozens of people to put their hands to the wheel in order to make. We are talking about the cast and the wonderful crew members, about the locations that opened their doors and about the creativity.
“We are sending out a message to the world that Belfast is a place to come and make a film. And it’s also to send a message to young people, to script writers, to directors, to producers that you can do it. Just do it and one day you could be sitting in this surreal position.”
As the big screen was turned off, Rich Peppiatt turned to the packed bar. "Now that we're here, we might as well have a drink," he said, raising a glass of Guinness. He didn't need to say it twice.
