THE Irish language film Kneecap has been longlisted in seven categories for the British Academy Film Awards 2025.
Written, produced and directed by Rich Peppiatt, the film is a semi-autobiographical offering, which follows hip-hop trio Kneecap, from west Belfast, on their mission to save the Irish language.
It has been longlisted for BAFTA’s Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer, Film not in English Language, Original Screenplay, Best Casting and Best Editing awards.
Rich Peppiatt, Móglaí Bap, DJ Provaí and Mo Chara of Kneecap at the British Independent Film Awards in DecemberIn December the film dominated at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) scooping the Best British Independent Film title at the glitzy ceremony held at the Roundhouse in Camden, north London.
The bandmates also received the award for Best Joint Lead Performance, while Peppiatt won the Best Debut Screenwriter award on the night – taking their total BIFA 2024 haul to seven when including their previously announced BIFA craft award gongs for Best Casting, Best Editing, Best Original Music and Best Music Supervision.
Irish-produced film The Apprentice has also appeared in six of BAFTA’s longlist categories, including Best Film.
Elsewhere in the longlist Irish actor Saoirse Ronan features in the Leading Actress category for her role in The Outrun, while the Irish short film Clodagh, directed by Portia A. Buckley and starring Bríd Ní Neachtain and Katelyn Rose Downey, has made the longlist for best British Short Film.
Saoirse Ronan as Rona in The OutrunReleased this week, BAFTA’s longlist confirms some 80 titles which are currently in the running for gongs at the annual awards ceremony.
BAFTA Film Committee Chair, Anna Higgs, said: “Huge congratulations to the 80 feature films that have been longlisted, it is an incredible achievement to progress from 235 movies under consideration in this year’s EE BAFTA Film Awards.
“It’s been an exceptional year for filmmaking featuring bold creative voices and inspiring stories from independent films to global blockbusters, highlighting the incredible breadth of talent working in our industry today.”
All of the longlisted films will now continue to the next stage, where BAFTA members will select their final nominees from each category’s longlist.
The final nominations will be announced on January 15 ahead of the BAFTA Film Awards ceremony, which will take place on February 16 at London’s Royal Festival Hall.