Irish stars to take centre stage at this year's Baftas

Cillian Murphy is competing in the best actor category for his role as J Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Picture: PA

All Irish eyes will be on Cillian Murphy, Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan for Sunday's Baftas, while Dublin production company Element Pictures will be hoping for acclaim after scooping 11 nominations for Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things.

Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, accolades will be handed out for the best feature-length film and documentaries from across the globe that were screened at British cinemas in 2023. This will mark the 77th year of the event.

Cillian Murphy is competing in the best actor category for his role as J Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. He will go head to head with Barry Keoghan, who starred in the 2023 flick Saltburn, a black comedy psychological thriller film written, directed, and co-produced by Emerald Fennell.

Murphy plays theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer while Keoghan received critical acclaim for his role as a student at Oxford who pays a visit to the sprawling estate of a wealthy classmate that turns sinister.

Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott in All Of Us Strangers.

Paul Mescal received a nomination for best supporting role following his performance alongside Dubliner Andrew Scott in All Of Us Strangers. The movie is being described as an unconventional ghost story that sees a man reunited with his parents, despite their death in a car crash decades earlier.

Meanwhile, Irish film professional Robbie Ryan was nominated in the best cinematography category for Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things.

The Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology graduate is best known for Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2018 movie The Favourite, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Cinematography.

The event will take place at the Royal Festival Hall in London's Southbank Centre this Sunday. 

It is hoped Irish film buffs will have further reason to celebrate next month when Cillian Murphy competes for the Best Actor Oscar. This will be the star’s first Oscar nomination as he prepares to go up against fellow nominees Bradley Cooper, Colman Domingo, Paul Giamatti and Jeffery Wright.