Irish-language cinema has bright future despite Oscars snub, says Kneecap director Comedy film loosely based on lives of Belfast hip-hop trio missed out on nominations for best international feature and original song.
Hollywood may not have been quite ready to see Kneecap “walking down the red carpet smoking a joint” but the makers of the comedy biopic about the hip-hop trio say it has shown there is a “bright future” for Irish-language cinema and an indigenous industry in Belfast.
Based loosely on the real lives of the west Belfast rap trio, it had had been shortlisted in the best international feature award category and best original song for Sick in the Head at the upcoming 97th Oscars but missed out on both.
The comedy film has been described as “one of the buzziest indie films of 2024” by the Hollywood bible Variety, but the band will never know whether their blunt messages about young working-class people in a post-Troubles city (including pro Palestinian positions) affected their chances.
Maybe Tom Hanks [and other Hollywood grandees] wasn’t ready for Kneecap smoking a joint on the red carpet,” he added.
