The Galway Film Fleadh has been accepted as a qualifying festival in the Academy Awards Short Film category, meaning short films shown at the fleadh have a chance at an Oscar nomination.
Short films which win Oscars has started out at a film festival, as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences selects nominees from a list of festival winners around the world. Out of 7,000 film festivals worldwide only 68 have Oscar-qualifying accreditation.
Recipients of the Fleadh’s James Horgan Award for Best Animation and the Tiernan McBride Award for Best Short Drama will qualify for consideration in the Oscar’s Short Films Category, without the standard theatrical run and provided the film otherwise complies with Academy rules.
“We are very pleased to join the list of qualifying festivals,” said Miriam Allen, managing director of the Galway Film Fleadh. “This is a great opportunity for Irish filmmakers and has firmly placed the Galway Film Fleadh on the international stage.”
James Hickey, chief executive of Bord Scannán na hÉireann, said the Bord is “delighted to see the fleadh win this important accreditation which will increase the opportunity for Irish filmmakers to compete for the highly competitive Academy Awards”.
