An Cailín Ciúin announced as Ireland's entry for Best International Feature at Oscars
Irish language film An Cailín Ciúin, aka The Quiet Girl.
It’s already been a critical and commercial success - now Irish-language drama An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) could be heading all the way to the Oscars.
An Cailín Ciúin has been selected as Ireland’s entry for Best International Feature Film at next year’s Academy Awards after being put forward by the Irish Film and Television Academy’s (IFTA) Irish selection committee. This marks a major step for the film’s makers as it begins to reach international movie audiences.
The Quiet Girl has enjoyed a lengthy run in Irish and UK cinemas, buoyed by strong word of mouth and rave reviews, and has so far taken €870,000 at the box office. It has since secured releases in international territories including New Zealand and Australia.
Told almost entirely in the Irish language, the moving drama tells the story of a neglected young girl named Cáit (Catherine Clinch) who spends a memorable and life-altering summer with relatives. The film also stars Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett as a couple who form a strong bond with the girl.
Following the announcement, writer and director Colm Bairéad and producer Cleona Ní Chrualaoi spoke of their delight that the film was gaining international momentum.
“We are honoured beyond words that An Cailín Ciúin/The Quiet Girl has been selected to represent Ireland,” they said. “Our heartfelt thanks to IFTA and its selection committee. We have always believed in the idea that an Irish-language film could stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of world cinema and we feel so proud to be representing our country and our language in this way."
They also spoke of their privilege at adapting Claire Keegan’s ‘Foster’ short story for the big screen. "We can’t wait to introduce our film to more and more members of the Academy as The Quiet Girl continues its roll-out on the international stage.”
Formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film, Best International Feature Film sees each country submitting what it considers its best film (not primarily in the English language) to the Oscars. The Academy then selects a long list of features for competition before the five final nominees are revealed on Oscars nominations day in early spring.
The Quiet Girl was produced by Ní Chrualaoi for Inscéal, a production company she established with the film’s writer and director Bairéad. The feature was financed through a scheme called Cine4, a production and development funding initiative that was established through Irish-language TV broadcaster TG4, Screen Ireland and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Introduced in 2017, it provides for two production and five development projects annually.
The scheme is seen as key to the recent run of successes for Irish-language films including Famine-set drama Arracht and the coming-of-age drama, Foscadh.
An Cailín Ciúin is the latest film to be put forward as Ireland’s entry for Best International Feature Film, following Arracht (Irish), Gaza (Arabic), Viva (Spanish), Song of Granite (Irish), As If I Am Not There (Serbo-Croatian) and Kings (Irish).
This year’s IFTA Irish selection committee included actress Roma Downey, actor John C. Reilly, producer and Paramount TV EVP of International Strategy David Flynn, filmmaker Jim Sheridan, filmmaker Aisling Walsh and actress Fionnula Flanagan. The committee was chaired by Academy CEO, Áine Moriarty.
