'Calm with Horses' leads Irish BIFA nominations

In a big day for Irish cinema, Nick Rowland’s debut feature Calm With Horses has received a staggering 10 BIFA nominations, and Clare Dunne has also received a Best Actress nomination for Phyllida Lloyd's Herself.

Rowland’s award-winning debut, starring Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan and Niamh Algar received nominations for: Best Casting (Shaheen Baig); Most Promising Newcomer (Niamh Algar); Breakthrough Producer (Dan Emmerson); Debut Screenwriter (Joe Murtagh); Debut Director (Nick Rowland); Best Supporting Actress (Niamh Algar); Best Supporting Actor (Barry Keoghan); Best Actor (Cosmo Jarvis); Best Director (Nick Rowland); and Best British Independent Film.

Nominee for both Debut Director and Best Director, Nick Rowland said: “It’s such a dream come true to see CWH recognised by the BIFA voters. It’s a testament to the amazing work done by the entire cast and crew, and I am so excited to celebrate this with them all, in some kind of responsible and socially distanced fashion! It feels so special to be following in the footsteps of my filmmaking heroes, and it means even more to see so many of my good friends nominated alongside us too. You would never know 2020 has been a tough year for cinema, with so many amazing films being recognised today. It’s an honour to be in their company.”

Herself co-writer and star Clare Dunne, whose performance has been hailed as “a revelation” by Indiewire, received a BIFA nomination for Best Actress.

On hearing the nomination news, Clare Dunne said: “I can’t express how thrilled and honoured I am to be nominated by BIFA for best actress. Such incredible films and artists get included every year and I cannot believe I’ve been chosen to be amongst this incredible group of artists. So grateful to BIFA for this. Thank you to my family and friends and partner Jack for supporting me all the way! Many more thanks to Sharon Horgan, Clelia Mountford, Malcolm Campbell, Ed Guiney, Rory Gilmartin, Andrew Lowe, Rose Garnett and all the team in Merman, Element Pictures, BBC, BFI and Screen Ireland who made this film happen .... especially Phyllida Lloyd, who encouraged me to play Sandra - an incredible director of this whole cast. It’s mostly her I owe!”

Herself, from Element Pictures and Merman Films Productions, is coming soon to Irish and UK cinemas, and Calm With Horses is currently available to watch on all major platforms, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, Virgin Media and Volta.