Irish short film nominated for Oscar shortlist

A short Irish film about an altar boy’s love of football has been shortlisted for an Oscar nomination.

Light-hearted 'Pentecost' is one of 10 international pieces of work vying to be selected for the final Best Live Action Short nomination list at the gala awards at the end of February.

Written and directed by Peter McDonald and starring Andrew Bennett, Michael McElhatton and Don Wycherley, it tells the story of a young altar boy who is forced to serve at an important Mass and has to make a difficult choice - conform to the status quo or serve an extended ban from his passion in life, football.

Bord Scannan na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, which funded the film, said 'Pentecost' was selected from 107 short films and will now go forward to the next stage in the voting process.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday January 24.