BROADCASTING AUTHORITY OF IRELAND SPONSORS BEST DRAMA CATEGORY
The Irish Film & Television Academy is delighted to announce that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has partnered again with IFTA for the 2013 Irish Film & Television Awards Ceremony, as sponsor of the BEST DRAMA category.
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is the body responsible for the regulation of broadcasting in Ireland. 2013 is its third year sponsoring the Best Drama category at the annual Irish Film & Television Awards.
The Television Drama award in association with the BAI is a highly prestigious category with former winners including ‘The Tudors’ and ‘Whistleblower’. This year’s nominees for drama series are ‘Love/Hate’, ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘The Borgias’ and ‘Titanic: Blood and Steel’.
This year, The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has provided funding through Sound & Vision II to over 20 of the titles nominated at the Awards, including ‘Rásaí na Gaillimhe’, ‘Lón sa Spéir–Men at Lunch’ and ‘John Ford: Dreaming the Quiet Man’.
Michael O’Keeffe, Chief Executive of the BAI said: “The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) is delighted to once again partner with IFTA to showcase the rich talent, creativity and dedication that exists in the Irish Film, Television and Animation sectors. A key strategic objective of the BAI is to implement funding schemes which support the production of high quality programming. Drama is an important aspect of this objective and we are delighted to support this category which recognises the very best of Irish Drama. We are also happy to see a number of projects that received production funding from the BAI through the Broadcasting Funding Scheme – Sound & Vision II being recognised and nominated for Awards in other categories.”
In 2012, The BAI offered a total of €14m in funding across four rounds of Sound & Vision II. BAI-funded projects that took home an IFTA statuette at the 2012 Awards include feature film ‘Stella Days’, TG4 series ‘Corp+Anam’, RTÉ programme ‘The Only Viking In The Village’, RTÉ Arts show ‘The Writing In The Sky’, and documentaries ‘Waterways’, ‘Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey’, and ‘The Irish of 9/11’.
In 2013, The BAI will allocate up to €13 m in funding to the Irish film and television industry through broadcasting funding schemes and will launch a Broadcast Archive Scheme. BAI-funded projects have been nominated in the Acting, Directing and Craft categories in both Film and TV this year.
The Irish Academy’s Chief Executive Áine Moriarty said:
“IFTA’s partnership with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is a vital part of the Academy’s partnership programme with the industry, which enables us to deliver the annual Awards, now in its significant 10th year. BAI has shown support to IFTA since its inaugural year in 2003, and we gratefully acknowledge their support of our work.”
The 10th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards take place at the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) on Saturday 9th of February and will be broadcast on RTÉ One that evening at 9.30pm.
The Borgias
Neil Jordan, James Flynn, Octagon Films
Rodrigo Borgia's scheming to acquire the papal robes in Season 1 may contribute to the downfall of his family in Season 2. Having tricked the King of France to enter disease-ridden Naples, Rodrigo has time to consolidate his power, remove his enemies and re-build Rome according to his own wishes... but for how long?
Game Of Thrones
HBO
Based on the popular books by George R.R. Martin, this hit Emmy-winning fantasy series on Sky Atlantic chronicles an epic struggle for power in a vast and violent kingdom. Members of the ensemble cast for the second season included Emmy and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kit Harington, Liam Cunningham, Aiden Gillen and Richard Madden.
Love/Hate
Suzanne McAuley, Steve Matthews, Octagon Films
This is the reign of King Nidge. But the peace is shattered when one of the gang is mistakenly shot by a rival organisation. Nidge plays diplomat, but as tensions old and new spill over the gang fragments... and Nidge will need all of his cunning and ruthlessness to survive.
Titanic: Blood and Steel
Paul Myler, Roberto Minni, Ciaran Donnelly, Epos Films
A dramatic 12 hour series charting the extraordinary story of RMS Titanic's construction in the shipyards of Edwardian Belfast, 'Titanic: Blood and Steel' is an epic chronicle of the lives of the people who built the ship and whose fates were inextricably bound to her destiny. Titanic is a flawed ship created by the flawed human condition.
The Irish Film & Television Awards are sponsored by Irish Film Board/Bord Scannán na hÉireann; Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, RTÉ, IFTN, and has Partners MAC, BMW, Moët & Chandon, JC Decaux, Walt Disney Studios (Ireland), TG4.
For information about the BAI: visit www.bai.ie / www.twitter.com/baitweets
For further information visit www.ifta.ie, www.facebook.com/iftaonline, www.twitter.com/ifta
