The nominees for this year’s IFTA Rising Star Award include actors Sam Keeley and Hazel Doupe as well as writer/directors Benjamin Cleary, Kate Dolan, and Colm Bairéad.

The IFTA Rising Star Award is selected by a special jury and given to artists who “have not only honed their crafts in the formative years of their career but have also excelled in their respective fields.”

Chief executive of Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Désirée Finnegan, congratulated this year's nominees saying, “The nominees are all recognised for their strong creative vision, both in front of and behind the camera. Screen Ireland is proud to support the Rising Star Award, highlighting the incredible achievements of Irish screen talent, and look forward to the future work of all the nominees.”

Past winners of the IFTA Rising Star Award include Saoirse Ronan, Michael Fassbender, Tomm Moore, Domhnall Gleeson, John Michael McDonagh, and Jamie Dornan.

Congratulations to the 2022 @ScreenIreland #IFTA Rising Star Nominees: Benjamin Cleary, Colm Bairéad, Hazel Doupe, Kate Dolan & Sam Keeley.

Winner to be announced at the #IFTA Awards, broadcast @VirginMediaIE One Sat, March 12 @ 8:30pm. Read Here: https://t.co/bOg0snlIAo pic.twitter.com/woZtV0W8LI

— Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) (@IFTA) March 4, 2022

Irish actor Sam Keely stars alongside Ciarán Hinds, Aiden Gillen, and Charlie Cox in the hit RTE crime drama Kin. The show has an impressive 13 nominations at this year's IFTA awards and has recently been renewed for a second season. Keely will also be playing a major role in the upcoming docudrama Joe vs. Carol.

Dublin actress Hazel Doupe has already racked up a number of impressive performances in acclaimed films like Calm With Horses and Float Like a Butterfly. Her latest project You Are Not My Mother premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently showing in cinemas.

UCD graduate Benjamin Cleary won an Academy Award for his 2015 short film Stutterer. This year he made his feature film debut Swan Song, A poignant sci-fi drama starring Mahershala Ali, Glenn Close and Awkwafina. It is nominated for six IFTA awards including best film.

Kate Dolan is nominated for best director for her feature film debut You Are Not My Mother, making her the only woman IFTA has nominated for directing this year. You Are Not My Mother also won the Jury Prize for Best Film at the Gérardmer Film Festival in France. It landed in cinemas today.

Colm Bairéad made his feature film debut with the Irish language film An Cailín Ciúin. The film is now nominated for 10 IFTA awards and ties Belfast as the most nominated film. It recently became the first Irish Language film to win the Grand Prix for Best Film, from the 'Generation Kplus' Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival.

"Irish language film production has been revitalised in recent years, fostering new and emerging voices with universal stories to tell and is being watched by audiences around the world” said Bairéad after the film's Grand Prix win.

The 2022 IFTA Awards will air on Virgin Media One at 8.30pm on Saturday 12 March.