THE Irish film, Bloody Sunday, has been banned from competing for the Oscars because it was shown on Irish and British television on the same night it was premiered in London.

The US distributor of the multi-award winning "Bloody Sunday" has asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to change its rules barring films shown on TV within six months of their theatre release from the Oscar competition.

A Northern Ireland Protestant actor and a leading Irish republican have embraced at the end of the screening of a new film.