By David Hennessy
Portia A. Buckley’s Clodagh and TJ O’Grady Peyton’s Room Taken have made it to the Oscars short list.
The news was announced last week that both Irish shorts had been selected for the short list of 15 films advancing from a list of 180 qualifying short films.
Now both films will hope to secure Oscar nominations.
Nomination voting begins on Wednesday 8 January and concludes on Sunday 12 January – with the final list of Nominations for the 97th Oscars® announced on 17 January.
Clodagh and Room Taken hope to follow in the footsteps of An Irish Goodbye which took the Academy Award in 2023.
Portia A Buckley’s Clodagh follows a lonely, devout, and rigorously honest housekeeper Mrs Kelly, played by Bríd Ní Neachtain, who discovers a young Irish girl with an exceptional gift, Clodagh (Katelyn Rose Downey).
Katelyn Rose Downey is a rising star whose credits include The Princess, The Nun 2 and now the Blade Runner TV series.
Portia A Buckley told The Irish World: “We’re obviously thrilled.
“It’s just super news.”
I bet you couldn’t have foreseen all this when you set out to make the film?
“Not at all.
“It was made because we wanted to make it, without any kind of festival strategy.
“It was 16 minutes, normally 10 minute shorts are really successful on festivals.
“It’s just been really amazing how it’s been universally accepted: Spain, Japan, Australia, all over America. It just really resonates with people.
“It’s just very nice that it’s quite a small story from a rural setting in Ireland that seems to speak to people.”
What do you think it is about the film that people connect with?
“I think people really connect with the joy element of the film.
“Mrs. Kelly sees this girl dance and there is the sort of joy that can be created from watching artistic form of expression.
“I think people really respond to that especially when it’s from the talent of a child because there is something special about talented, gifted children.
“They’re so pure and they’re so passionate themselves and they’re so inspirational really.
“I think people feel inspired by it.”
Obviously Katelyn brings the part to life so well.
You had a real stroke of luck finding her, didn’t you?
“It was very fortuitous.
“We spoke to one of our friends in Ireland and they said, ‘Go and speak to the Watson Twin Academy’.
“And we were just looking for the background dancers really.
“We were looking for an actor to play Clodagh but we thought that was going to be a much longer search.
“And they said, ‘We’ve got the perfect girl for the role: Katelyn Rose Downey, my daughter’.
“And everyone thinks their daughter’s a star- Katelyn really is a star.
“It was incredibly lucky.
“We wrote the line, ‘She dances as if she’s touched by God’.
“And everyone always says, ‘Oh, so you found Katelyn first, then you wrote it..’
“And we’re like, ‘No’.
“We wrote it and then we were like, ‘We’ve got to find someone who is a brilliant actor and a brilliant dancer’.
“And in Katelyn we found that: Two time world Irish dance champion and, as you see on screen, an incredible actor.
“We were so lucky in discovering her.
“She really is a unicorn.”
“A lot of it is about intentions.
“We have just had our son, our first child.
“He was six months.
“We wrote it in a couple of days and we were like, ‘Let’s make this’.
“We needed to do something creative and we went for it.
“I think that was a big part of this film.
“It was a big collaboration between friends and family members.
“My brother was the assistant grip, my mum did the art direction.
“My friend, who is a very, very successful DOP, Jomo Fray- He shot Nickel Boys, I hope he’s gonna be nominated himself for best cinemaphotography at the Academy Awards.
“We worked together around seven years ago and we always wanted to work together again.
“There was a pulling together of lots of people that knew each other and were really passionate about making films.
“I feel it’s very special that it’s had this amazing life after it was filmed, I think it’s very much representative of the sort of the vibe there was on set and the feeling about the film and the excitement.
“Everyone was making it for the love of making films.
“People were into the story and liked the kind of funny pairing of Mrs Kelly and Clodagh.”
I bet the news is still sinking in, is it?
“Totally, I think there was about 24 hours where I couldn’t quite comprehend it.
“It’s just so nice to be in the mix with so many other fantastic filmmakers.
“I think what we loved about going on the festival circuit with it was seeing how different people responded to it.
“We won the Grand Prix at Cork Film Festival which is their big prize but to play in competition in Cork, it has to be an Irish premiere.
“We shot the film in Cork and Waterford.
“We really wanted to premiere there.
“It was quite funny that any sort of church-based joke had 10 times more laughs in Ireland than it did elsewhere.
“It’s interesting what different people pick up on and what resonates with them.
“We’re thrilled to be in the race and we’re proud to be in it with an Irish film that we made in rural Ireland with zero expectation of this kind of future for it.
“However with so many talented people involved, so why not?
“Looking forward to seeing what happens.”
Directed by TJ O’Grady-Peyton, Room Taken follows Isaac, played by Gabriel Adewusi, who is desperate for a place to stay and finds an unexpected answer to his temporary homelessness when he takes refuge in the home of Victoria, an elderly blind woman, without her knowledge.
Victoria is played by the great Irish actress, Bríd Brennan.
The film tackles pressing themes including the challenges faced by asylum seekers and the rising homelessness population in Ireland.
The film has also just had Colin Farrell come on board as executive producer.
TJ told The Irish World: “Completely buzzing. We’re delighted.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind.
“It was just amazing news to get and it’s only sinking in now.
“When you first hear it, it’s a bit surreal, and now it’s starting to feel a bit more real.
“You kind of always, in the back of your mind, hope to achieve great things when you make something but you’re just taking things one step at a time.
“With this project, I suppose it’s snowballed favourably.
“It’s kind of got momentum behind it.
“Then Colin Farrell comes on board.
“It’s just crazy.”
What is it like to see people connecting with it?
“I’ve seen the film play in tiny community halls and I’ve seen it in big, epic cinemas.
“It’s a great feeling when you can feel the audience connecting or being engaged or laughing at the right time, or feeling suspense and emotion, it’s great.
“You can have people who are from very different backgrounds, whether it’s culturally, whether it’s age, whether it’s ability or inability, whether it’s by ethnicity, all these different things, but there’s a theme of human connection and hope in the film which I think resonates with people.
“Also maybe they’ve been moved by the grief theme in the storyline because you empathise with these characters and they’re going through a difficult moment and the fact that they’re persevering, and things- spoiler alert- work out in some kind of positive way for them, that is giving people a nice feeling, a hopeful message.”
You just mentioned Colin Farrell who of course has come on board as executive producer, what does that mean to you?
“It’s hard to describe because he’s someone I’ve admired for two decades maybe.
“He’s just an amazing actor and a really passionate actor and he loves cinema, you can tell.
“He’s very smart guy and a very generous guy.
“Briefly getting to know him but also just working alongside him on this is, that is mad. I never envisioned this happening.
“In the back of your mind, you kind of hope that things will go well with festivals or you’ll win one and get long listed for the Oscars and all that stuff.
“But I never thought that Colin Farrell in a million years would join this project.
“The fact that he was so interested in the story and it resonated with him really made us feel proud that we did a good job.”
We asked both film makers how they would love to follow in the footsteps of An Irish Goodbye..
Portia said: “An Irish Goodbye is such a special film.
“Ross White and Tom Berkeley are obviously amazing filmmakers.
“Obviously they brought home the big cajuna.
“That would be wonderful but I’m superstitious, I never like talking about these things until you’re a bit closer down the line.
“But yes, that would be great.”
TJ adds: “We would feel so happy to follow in their footsteps, considering what they achieved.
“They’re just talented lads and they’re very smart and articulate.
“They’re just so charismatic.
“If we could follow in their footsteps, that would be unbelievable.
“The film is somewhat similar, kind of a drama element but also a comedic element.
“They’re not a million miles apart.
“I would call ours a comedic drama.
“Maybe theirs is like a dramatic comedy.”
The nominations will be announced on 17 January 2025.