The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) has announced that Irish language feature Kneecap has been selected to represent Ireland in the Oscar® International Feature Film category at the upcoming 97th annual Academy Awards.
The film, written and directed by Rich Peppiatt (One Rogue Reporter) stars the members of the West Belfast rap trio Kneecap (Móglai Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Provaí) alongside an ensemble cast including Oscar® nominee Michael Fassbender, Simone Kirby, Josie Walker, Fionnuala Flaherty, Jessica Reynolds and Adam Best.
Kneecap was selected by IFTA’s 2024 Selection Committee, including Oscar® nominated actor Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, The English); award-winning directors Colm Bairéad (The Quiet Girl) and Lisa Mulcahy (Lies We Tell, Ridley Road); award-winning actors Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones, Hunger) and Bríd Ní Neachtain (Róise & Frank, The Banshees of Inisherin); and award-winning producer Rebecca O’Flanagan (Flora & Son, Viva).
Set in West Belfast in 2019, when fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ into the orbit of Naoise and Liam Óg, the needle drops on a hip hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, the trio create their own genre of Irish punk rap, melding the Irish and English language with electrifying energy.
Their writing and performance reimagine what rap can be as a creative and cultural force, rooted in community. Kneecap ultimately become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue, upending preconceptions about language and place and spearheading a cultural revival and interest from their legions of young followers.
Kneecap was produced by Trevor Birney and Jack Tarling for Fine Point Films and Mother Tongues Films, with Patrick O’Neill at Wildcard acting as Co-Producer. Funding for the film was provided by Northern Ireland Screen, the Irish Language Broadcast Fund, Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Coimisiún na Meán and TG4, Dias Feld and Kamila Serkebaeva, with backing from Great Point Media.
Sony Pictures Classics are releasing Kneecap in the US on Friday 2nd August, and it will hit Irish cinemas from Wildcard Distribution on Thursday 8th August. Curzon will release the film in the UK on Friday 23rd August.
Kneecap has been described as “One of the best music biopics ever made” (NME); “Big, Booming and Fearless” (RogerEbert.com); “Bursting with unruly energy that practically escapes the confines of the screen” (Variety); “Clearly destined for cult status” (Screen Daily); “Riotous and Rebellious” (Hot Press); and “A must-see film that has it all” (Today FM). The film received its World Premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in January this year, where it won a NEXT Audience Award, the first Irish language film to win at the festival. It went on to play at Sundance London, and was the opening film of Galway Film Fleadh, where it won three prizes including the Audience Award.
Kneecap joins a stellar list of Irish-made films selected by IFTA to represent Ireland in the Oscar International Feature category over the years. In 2023, An Cailín Ciúin/The Quiet Girl (Irish language) became Oscar Nomination; and in 2016 Viva (Spanish language) was Oscar shortlisted.