Flying high on a wave of local talent

The IFTAs will show off the strength of Irish film and TV production, says Pádraic Killeen

THE great and the good of the Irish audiovisual industry will gather on Saturday for the annual Irish Film and Television Awards. The glitzy event at the Convention Centre Dublin will be broadcast live on RTÉ One.

Among the nominees are familiar faces like Gabriel Byrne and Neil Jordan, as well as rising stars like Chris O’Dowd and Jack Reynor. Reynor — who recently signed on as the lead in the next Transformers movie — is nominated for his turn in Lenny Abrahamson’s What Richard Did, a favourite this year in the film categories. In the TV stakes, meanwhile, RTÉ’s gangland melodrama Love/Hate is tipped to pick up a slew of awards.