Nominations Announced for the Moët British Independent Film Awards

INDIEWIRE
By Sydney Levine | Sydneys Buzz
November 10, 2014 at 4:04PM



The nominations for the 17th annual Moët British Independent Film Awards were announced recently, at St Martins Lane, London by actor Jared Harris .

Joint Directors, The Moët British Independent Film Awards’ Johanna von Fischer & Tessa Collinson said: "This has been a record year for MBIFA with over 250 films submitted giving our dedicated members their toughest challenge to date. Hugely impressed by the quality of films and performances across all categories the shortlist demonstrates how the standard of creativity in British independent filmmaking continues to flourish year on year. The decision of who will walk away with one of the iconic MBIFA trophies* is now in the hands of our distinguished independent jury announced today. We are looking forward to seeing as many of the nominees as possible at the Awards on 7th December, to celebrate their incredible achievements. It will be a very personal celebration for us also, as the last in a wonderful 9 Award Ceremonies as Joint Directors of BIFA.”

The highest number of nominations this year goes to "‘71" with nine nominations including Best British Independent Film; Best Director and Debut Director for Yann Demange; Best Screenplay for Gregory Burke; Best Actor for Jack O’Connell and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Harris. "Pride" picked up seven nominations and "Catch me Daddy,""Frank," and "Mr Turner" picked up five nominations each.

Nominations for Best Actress go to Alicia Vikander for "Testament of Youth;" Cheng Pei Pei for "Lilting;" Gugu Mbatha-Raw for "Belle;" Keira Knightley for "The Imitation Game" and Sameena Jabeen Ahmed for "Catch Me Daddy." Leading men hoping to take home the Best Actor award include Asa Butterfield for"X+Y;" Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Imitation Game"; Brendan Gleeson for "Calvary"; Jack O’Connell for "’71" and Timothy Spall for "Mr Turner."

Best Supporting Actor nominations go to Andrew Scott and Ben Schnetzer, both for "Pride;" Michael Fassbender for "Frank;" Rafe Spall for "X+Y" and Sean Harris for"’71."

Dorothy Atkinson for "Mr Turner;" Imelda Staunton for "Pride;" Maggie Gyllenhaal for "Frank;" Sally Hawkins for "X+Y"and Sienna Guillory for "The Goob" are all nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Award.

READ MORE HERE: http://blogs.indiewire.com/sydneylevine/nominations-announced-for-the-moet-british-independent-film-awards-20141110

Fassbender, Gleeson, Scott among British indie nominees

RTE
Monday 03 Nov 2014

Gleeson and Fassbender - Nominated for their work on Calvary and Frank respectively

Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson and Andrew Scott are among a number of Irish nominees for this year's British Independent Film Awards.

Gleeson is nominated in the Best Actor category for his performance in Calvary.

The film, which was an Irish and British co-production, is also nominated for Best British Independent Film, Best Director (John Michael McDonagh) and Best Screenplay (John Michael McDonagh).

Fassbender is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in Frank, while Scott is nominated in the same category for his work on Pride.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/1103/656593-british-independent-film-awards/

Domhnall Gleeson fuels rumours of reunion with father Brendan Gleeson on screen

IRISH POST
By Nemesha Balasundaram on April 28, 2014



IRISH actor Domhnall Gleeson has fuelled rumours that he may star alongside his father Brendan on the big screen, once again.

“I’ve got to keep my mouth shut for the moment, but maybe some time in the next year we might get working on something, that’d be fun,” the About Time leading-man revealed.

The pair previously worked together on Calvary, in which they both performed in front of the camera, and earlier in Noreen (2010), where Domhnall wrote and directed his father in his short film about two Gardaí.

Speaking to The Irish Post on the red carpet at London’s O2 on the first day of Sundance London, where he was promoting his new film Frank alongside Michael Fassbender and director Lenny Abrahamson, the enthusiastic star spoke of potential opportunities for his family to reunite for audiences in the near future.

“We’ll figure it out, my brother Brian is a tremendous actor also, so we’re working on it, we’ll see what we can come up with,” he added.



READ MORE HERE: http://www.irishpost.co.uk/entertainment/domhnall-gleeson-fuells-rumours-of-reunion-with-father-brendan-on-screen

Brendan Gleeson Tries to Charm The Doctor in 'The Grand Seduction' [Trailer]

CONTACT MUSIC
by Jack de Aguilar | 22 April 2014



With one darkly comic Irish film already receiving rave reviews, Brendan Gleeson is starring in a lightly comic Canadian one, which, by the looks of the trailer, will have exactly the same effect. Taylor Kitsch also stars in ‘The Grand Seduction’, which has a brand new trailer below.

The film sees Murray French (Gleeson) rally the troops of Tickle Cove, a picturesque harbour town, to convince a visiting doctor to stay permanently so the local factor can keep its business contract alive and provide the locals with work. But with such a motley and lazy crew, he’s got his work cut out.

Kitsch plays the exotic doctor; a Canadian visiting the small Irish town. French’s efforts to convince Kathleen (Liane Balaban) that a little flirtation (not intercourse, mind) could go a long way don’t really work, but romance blossoms anyway.

Of course, the comedic core of this charming story, which is based on based on the 2003 film Seducing Doctor Lewis (original French title La grande séduction), is the juxtaposition between the aged, haggard locals of the working class town and the youthful exuberance of the doctor.

Read more: Brendan Gleeson Tries to Charm The Doctor in 'The Grand Seduction' [Trailer] http://www.contactmusic.com/article/the-grand-seduction-trailer-brendan-gleeson-taylor-kitsch_4163751?track=cp

Brendan Gleeson, son Domhnall, compete for IFTA's Best Actor prize

UPI
By KAREN BUTLER, United Press International   |   Feb. 27, 2014



Beloved Irish actor Brendan Gleeson and his son Domhnall were both nominated for the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Film Thursday.

The elder Gleeson earned the nod for his work in "Calvary," while his offspring was nominated for his performance in "About Time." The actors previously co-starred in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and "Six Shooter."

Up for the Best Picture IFTA are "Byzantium," "Calvary," "Run & Jump," "The Sea" and "The Stag."

Four of the five best film nominees also get mentions for Best Script -- John Banville for "The Sea," Ailbhe Keogan for "Run & Jump," John Michael McDonagh for "Calvary," and the duo of John Butler and Peter McDonald for "The Stag."



Read more: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2014/02/27/Brendan-Gleeson-son-Domhnall-compete-for-IFTAs-Best-Actor-prize/UPI-25751393512155/#ixzz2udMhFTFC

Brendan Gleeson dedicates film role to Ireland’s ‘good’ priests

IRISH TIMES
Derek Scally
February 10, 2014



Actor Brendan Gleeson has dedicated his new movie role to Ireland’s good priests, the ones he said have been overlooked or even tarred by recent clerical abuse scandals.

Mr Gleeson, promoting ‘Calvary’ at the Berlin Film Festival, said he was motivated by the memory of a “particularly good Christian Brother in primary school ... Brother Pat Grogan, a beautiful man”.

‘Calvary’, already hailed by Sundance critics as Beckett-meets-Bresson, enthused Berlin audiences yesterday with one critic calling it a “wonderful, disturbing, sad movie”. It opens this year’s Jameson Dublin Film Festival.

“I think there have been a few false accusations of paedophilia, life-wrecking allegations, against good men amongst all the proper exposure of bad men,” said Mr Gleeson in Berlin yesterday. “Imagine being a good person who has given their life to doing good things, finding themselves wearing a uniform that has been besmirched. It must be horrible for anyone who commits to good to be reviled for doing so.”

‘Calvary’ tells the story of a middle-aged Irish man who becomes a priest in a hostile environment, a role Gleeson said was “the most pressurised” he’d ever experienced,

READ MORE HERE: http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/gleeson-dedicates-film-role-to-ireland-s-good-priests-1.1686323

Brendan Gleeson plays an innocent priest slapped with a death sentence in John Michael McDonagh's exquisitely nuanced second feature."Calvary":SUNDANCE REVIEW

THE HOLLYWOOD REVIEW
 2:42 AM PST 1/20/2014 by David Rooney

John Michael McDonagh’s 2011 debut, The Guard, provided the wonderful Brendan Gleeson with a vehicle for some of his best screen work, playing an Irish West Country cop unencumbered by diplomacy skills. But the follow-up collaboration of the writer-director and lead actor is in a whole different league. Gleeson’s performance as a man of profound integrity suffering for the sins of others is the lynchpin of this immensely powerful drama, enriched by spiky black comedy but also by its resonant contemplation of faith and forgiveness. Representing a considerable leap in thematic scope and craft for McDonagh, Calvary deserves to reach the widest possible audience.

As with the work of McDonagh's younger brother, the playwright, screenwriter and director Martin McDonagh, an inherent irreverence is essential to the work. But don’t let the gags, the ripe profanity and the wicked comic characterizations fool you. The director of Calvary appears utterly serious about exploring the uses and abuses of spirituality in a world of toxic disillusionment and cynicism.

Set along the rocky cliffs of County Sligo, the film begins in the intimacy of a Catholic Church confessional box. Father James (Gleeson) listens as the voice on the opposite side of the covered window recounts being sexually abused by a clergyman from the age of seven. The unseen parishioner informs the priest that he’s giving him a week to make his peace with God and the world, arranging a Sunday meeting on the beach where he intends to kill him. Since the man who molested him died long ago, he reasons that the death of an innocent priest will make more of a statement.

That would appear to be an irreversibly grim departure point for a film. But McDonagh and the actors navigate supple shifts between mordant humor and emotionally complex drama throughout much of Calvary.

Father James appears to have recognized the voice, and while he seeks counsel from the Bishop (David McSavage), he declines to name his prospective murderer, even later when a violent warning suggests the seriousness of the threat. Instead, in what amounts to an anticipatory whodunit that’s equal parts Agatha Christie and Stations of the Cross, he makes his regular parish rounds.

He meets with the cuckolded local butcher (Chris O’Dowd), his tarty wife (Orla O’Rourke) and her occasional lover (Isaach de Bankole). Further encounters follow with a semi-reclusive American writer (M. Emmet Walsh), a smug financier (Dylan Moran) and an atheistic, coke-snorting doctor (Aiden Gillen). There’s also the police inspector (Gary Lydon) and the cop’s regular rent boy (Owen Sharpe).

McDonagh’s crackling dialogue makes the priest’s exchanges with the townsfolk so frequently hilarious that you don’t really notice the sobering shift that has taken place. Each of the parishioners goes out of his or her way to challenge Father James’ convictions. Whether generalized or personal, their goading remarks seem designed to remind him that the Catholic Church as an institution is at best obsolete, at worst morally broken, and that his religious compassion can do little to fix anyone’s messy lives.

Absorbing the constant criticism with forbearance and only rarely rising to the bait, James is a firmly centered man, and Gleeson etches a lifetime’s worth of knowledge, experience and hard-won serenity into the ruddy face behind his snowy beard, even if he's not without acknowledged flaws. “You’re just a little too sharp for this parish,” the butcher’s wife tells him. And it’s true, his worldly intelligence and gentle philosophical bent stick out, especially next to the lightweight younger priest (David Wilmot).


READ MORE HERE: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/calvary-sundance-review-672450

Brendan Gleeson Gets Threatened For Being Too Nice In Calvary Trailer

CINEMA BLEND
Author: Nick Venable | published: December 12, 2013 8:44am PST



With his second film, director John Michael McDonagh has quite a task in trying to create something that was half as memorable as his first: 2011’s howlingly funny comedy The Guard. And it probably didn’t help that his brother, Martin, followed up In Bruges with last year’s excellent ensemble crime comedy, Seven Psychopaths. Judging from the above trailer, though, McDonagh is headed in a more introspective direction with the dark comedy Calvary, and I can’t wait to be a part of its flock.

For Calvary, Brendan Gleeson reteams with the director to play Father James Lavelle, a priest with nothing but inspiration and hope to pass to his overly troubled parishioners without appearing sanctimonious. Trouble comes to him in the oddest of ways when someone walks into the other side of the confession window and threatens to murder him for being too kind to people, giving him a week to get his affairs in line. But in order to try and get his life spared, Father Lavelle must enter the lives of his troubled churchgoers to discover their moral centers in trying to figure out the identity of his soon-to-be murderer.

Gleeson could win over audiences in a film all on his own, but he’s got a stellar cast of mostly Irish actors whose characters make the priest’s life all the more complicated. Chris O’Dowd (Thor: The Dark World) plays an oafish butcher, while Aidan Gillen (The Wire) plays a much more intense hospital worker. The middle ground is filled out by characters played by Dylan Moran (Black Books), Domnhall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), David Wilmot (Ripper Street), Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes), Marie-Josée Croze (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) and Isaach De Bankolé (24).

READ MORE HERE: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Brendan-Gleeson-Gets-Threatened-Being-Too-Nice-Calvary-Trailer-40663.html

Kelly Reilly: Gleeson is like another dad (BELFAST TELEGRAPH)

Kelly Reilly has revealed that Brendan Gleeson has become like a part of her family.

After playing the Irish star's screen daughter in the upcoming drama Calvary, the Flight actress joked that she now sees him as another father.

"He's like my new dad. I've got two dads now," she quipped.

"What a beautiful bear of a man. I adore him," she added.

Kelly, who has starred in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films, said she is "really excited" about the release of John Michael McDonagh's movie, which also stars Chris O'Dowd and Aiden Gillen and was shot in Ireland.



Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/reilly-gleeson-is-like-another-dad-16269390.html#ixzz2JrufoNPp

Domhnall Gleeson, 'Anna Karenina' Star, On The Worst Thing For An Actor (HUFF POST)

Christopher Rosen Become a fan
Christopher.Rosen@huffingtonpost.com

Gleeson is having a bit of a moment. The erstwhile Bill Weasley in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" plays the big-hearted Konstantin Levin in "Anna Karenina," Joe Wright's ambitious adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel.

"I would have never considered myself for a romantic role, that was something Joe decided I was able to do," Gleeson told HuffPost during a recent interview. "He made a big step forward for me in that way, just by trusting me."

Gleeson, 29, has been working as an actor since he was a teenager, but it's only now that he's ready to ascend up the ranks. In addition to "Anna Karenina," Gleeson's next run of movies find him starring opposite Rachel McAdams (in the time-travel romance "About Time"), Michael Fassbender (in the comedy "Frank") and even his father, actor Brendan Gleeson (in the star-studded drama "Cavalry").

HuffPost Entertainment chatted with Gleeson about "Anna Karenina" and his burgeoning career.

How did you get involved with "Anna Karenina"?
I came onboard after somebody else dropped out. I had auditioned for a small part in "Hanna" for Joe, but didn't get it. So we kept in touch, because he's just sort of one of those guys. He said, "Do you want to come and audition?" I couldn't believe that he was letting me audition for it at all. I read the book in four days and went down to meet him and did a five-hour audition. I left the audition thinking, "Well, even if it doesn't happen, I feel like I've gotten better by having him direct me for a few hours." Then I did a table read, and after that, Joe asked me to do the part. I did a little dance in the street. It was one of the great moments.

THERE'S LOTS MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/16/domhnall-gleeson-anna-karenina_n_2141779.html

Brendan Gleeson & Co Are Blessed With Irish Locations for 'Calvary' 31 Oct 2012 : By Steve Cummins (IFTN)

'Calvary' cast on set in The Carlyan pub in Rush

It may be a typically dull and dreary day in north Co Dublin but the small, seaside town of Rush is alive with activity. In off the main street four or five heavy duty lorries are parked beside a number of trailers and temporary dressing rooms.
Men in high-visibility vests, equipped with buzzing walkie-talkies roam up and down the street, past The Carlyan pub and on down to a newly-built temporary wooden church. John Michael McDonagh’s ‘Calvary’ is in town and excited locals are trailing the streets, pen and paper in hand, hoping for a glimpse of the film’s stars, Chris O’Dowd, Aidan Gillen, Kelly Reilly and, of course, Brendan Gleeson.

It’s the reunion of Gleeson and writer and director McDonagh, following the huge success of ‘The Guard’, that is the cause for much of the excitement. From the chatter among the locals to the media invitation to visit the set, comparisons aplenty are made to McDonagh’s surprise 2011 hit. The priest Gleeson is playing in ‘Calvary’ is, we are told, “the flipside to ‘The Guard’s Sergeant Gerry Boyle” and, like ‘The Guard’, the film is set in the west of Ireland. Cast and crew may now be stationed in Rush, but the bulk of the five-week shoot has taken place in Co Sligo.

Described as a dark, comedy-drama, the plot of McDonagh’s ‘Calvary’ follows Gleeson’s priest, a good-natured man who has become increasingly shocked at the behaviour of the locals in his small country town. After being threatened during confession, he’s forced to battle the dark forces closing in around him.

“I think that it’s got the best ensemble cast that’s ever been assembled for an Irish movie,” McDonagh says from inside The Carlyan pub where he’s just completed filming a pub scene with Gleeson, Gillen, O’Dowd and Reilly. The rest of the ensemble cast he speaks of include a number of well-known Irish names - from Dylan Moran, David McSavage and Pat Shortt, to Domhnall Gleeson and David Wilmot.

“I wanted it to feel, not only Irish, but sort of international as well,” continues McDonagh as he explains his casting decisions. “So you’ve got Isaach De Bankolé, who’s been in ‘Casino Royale’ and Jim Jarmusch films, and Marie-Josée Croze, who’s been in ‘The Diving Bell & The Butterfly’. So I don’t want it to feel like a small film, or a parochial film. I want it to feel like a film that could play on an international circuit.”

Cutting a relaxed figure, the English-born filmmaker says he always had Gleeson in mind for the lead role. Indeed, the idea for ‘Calvary’ stemmed from a bar room conversation between the two towards the end of shooting ‘The Guard’.

“It was the last night in Galway so there was a lock-in in the pub,” McDonagh remembers. “All the cast were there, and that, and at a certain point in the evening I said ‘I bet that loads of people are planning scripts about bad priests and dealing with the whole subject in a really depressing way’. I thought that it would be good to do the opposite – to do a film about a good priest - because it’s quite difficult to do films about good people. Usually, the hero is flawed in a major way or they’re an anti-hero.

“Brendan just said, drunkenly, ‘I’ve always wanted to play a good priest’. So that’s where the idea hatched. The editing of ‘The Guard’ went on so long that I wrote the script during it. So when that was finished I had the next one ready to go and Brendan really liked it. So then you’ve already got your lead actor.”

READ MORE: http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4285536&tpl=archnews&force=1

Brendan Gleeson always wanted to play a priest (INDEPENDENT)

By Laura Butler
Saturday October 20 2012

DIRECTOR John Michael McDonagh has told of how casting Brendan Gleeson in his latest movie, 'Calvary', was easy because the actor told him he'd always wanted to play a priest.

Last year, the filmmaker enjoyed huge box-office success with 'The Guard', starring Gleeson.

The pair have now teamed up for another film, set for release in 2013, and McDonagh admitted that the idea arose during a conversation after 'The Guard' had just wrapped.

"Brendan said jokingly, 'I've always wanted to play a good priest'. So I wrote it while editing 'The Guard' and Brendan luckily agreed to do it.

"He's a very committed actor and very detailed in his preparation.

"When other actors see that commitment, they come to the film in the same way."

Gleeson noted that while his character in 'Calvary' is very different to that in 'The Guard', there is a subtle underlying similarity.

"There are obviously elements that come from a certain McDonagh person and certain bits of me that go flying in a different direction."

READ MORE: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/brendan-always-wanted-to-play-a-priest-3265669.html

Production starts on new Brendan Gleeson movie Calvary (ENTERTAINMENT IE.)

 Production has started on 'Calvary' John Michael McDonaghs follow up to the box office hit 'The Guard'. Filming has currently got under way in Sligo for the upcoming movie and will see McDonagh team up again with Brendan Gleeson.

Gleeson will play an entirely different character to 'The Guards' drunk and corrupt cop Gerry Boyle in the role of priest Father James Lavelle a man with good intentions who wishes to make the world a better place but is continually shocked and saddened by the inhabitants of the small town he lives in. life soon turns a dark corner for him when he is threatened in confession.

The dark comedy will star Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids), Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes, Eden Lake), Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, Shadow Dancer), Dylan Moran (Run Fat Boy Run, Shaun of the Dead), Marie Josée Crozé and Isaach De Bankolé . Other well known irish actors to grace our screens will include Domhnall Gleeson Pat Shortt and David Wilmot.

Speaking about film McDonagh said 'It is with great excitement, bordering on tumescence, that I am looking forward to collaborating once more with Ireland's greatest actor, Brendan Gleeson, and working with the finest ensemble cast ever assembled in the history of Irish cinema.

Brendan Gleeson will star alongside his son Domhnall when he teams up next month with director John Michael McDonagh to shoot new movie Calvary.

Shadow Dancer star Domhnall Gleeson (29) has landed a part opposite his dad's lead role in the €5m production which will be filmed over five weeks in Sligo and the east coast of Ireland.

Gleeson - probably best known for his role as Mad-Eye Moody in the Harry Potter films - will portray Fr James Lavelle, who is tormented by various members of his Sligo parish.

READ MORE: http://www.rte.ie/ten/2012/0825/gleesonb.html