Irish Film & Television Awards
9th Irish Film & Television Awards
200px Award and Logo of the Irish Film & Television Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in film and television
Country	Ireland
First awarded	2003
Official website	http://www.ifta.ie/

The Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTAs) were first awarded in 2003. Annually honouring and celebrating Ireland's notably talented film and television community, the ceremony is considered to be Ireland's most prestigious Awards event, and can be viewed as the Irish equivalent to the American Oscars.

Irish Film & Television Academy[link]

In 2006 the Irish Film and Television Academy advertised membership openings in Academy to all professionals in the fields of Irish Television and Film. Its stated aim was "the stimulation of original and creative production work, and the encouragement of excellence through recognition, education and leadership in film and television." [1] The proposed ways to enforce this ideology were:

• Encouraging high standards of art and technique in persons engaged in production work and to celebrate excellence through the annual Awards Ceremony.
• Raising the profile of Irish talent & production, by actively promoting Irish excellence within the Academy and ensuring that achievements are recognised and respected throughout the world.
• Establishing an academic programme of activities to nurture and encourage emerging Irish talent.
• Safeguarding the integrity of the Irish Academy's annual Film and Television Awards.

Some of the Academy's programme of events include:

• The Academy has a number of feature film and television screenings for both Full and Associate Members.
• There are special Screenings of titles during Voting Season (for Full Members only) in the lead up to the annual Awards ceremony.
• Educational events; Lectures, debates, master-classes, Q&A's and workshop, along with networking evenings and social events.
• The Academy partners with IFTN to produce the Annual Awards ceremony.
• The Academy has extended its membership to international members and also invite a core group of international jury members in order to bring the work of Irish talent to the attention of prominent industry representatives across the world.
• The Academy establishes an official archive/catalogue of photography, publications, formal records of Nominees & Winners to ensure an accurate and comprehensive history of the Academy in the future.
• The Academy hosts the annual 'Academy Christmas Party', to celebrate the achievements of the year (for all members plus one guest).

The Irish Film and Television Awards[link]

The 1st Annual Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTA) took place in Dublin during November 2003 and having been running until 2012 when they took place in the Convention Centre in Dublin.

The Awards, presented by the Irish Film & Television Academy, are a platform to honour and celebrate outstanding Irish creativity, talent and achievement; to encourage a high standard of arts and technique in work produced.

The Awards are open to all Irish people working in the film and television industries in Ireland and internationally.

Past ceremonies[link]

The following is a listing of all IFTA Awards ceremonies since 2003.

Other Academy Events[link]

Aside from the annual awards ceremony, the academy host a number of regular events for its members including:

In Conversation With[link]

IFTA Tributes[link]

Masterclasses[link]

Industry Forums[link]

See also[link]

For complete nominations and winners, see individual years.

• 1st Irish Film & Television Awards
• 2nd Irish Film & Television Awards
• 3rd Irish Film & Television Awards
• 4th Irish Film & Television Awards
• 5th Irish Film & Television Awards
• 6th Irish Film & Television Awards
• 7th Irish Film & Television Awards
• 8th Irish Film & Television Awards
• 9th Irish Film & Television Awards

References[link]

• "Plenty to celebrate at annual Ifta shindig". The Irish Times. 2009-02-09. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0216/1233867938549.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27. 

External links[link]

• Official site
• Irish Film & Television Network

Michael Fassbender
Fassbender in March 2012.
Born	(1977-04-02) 2 April 1977 (age 35) Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Nationality	Irish, German
Alma mater	Drama Centre London
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present

Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish-German actor. He is perhaps best known for having played Lieutenant Archie Hicox in the war film Inglourious Basterds (2009), Magneto in the superhero film X-Men: First Class (2011), and the android David in the science fiction film Prometheus.

His other credits include the fantasy action film 300 (2007); the drama film Fish Tank (2009); the romantic drama film Jane Eyre (2011); the historical film A Dangerous Method (2011), directed by David Cronenberg, in which he plays psychologist Carl Jung; as well as the biographical film Hunger (2008) and the drama film Shame (2011), both directed by Steve McQueen. For his role in Shame, he won the Volpi Cup best-actor award at the 68th Venice International Film Festival held in August 2011 along with being nominated for a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA.

Early life and education[link]

Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany (now Germany). His mother is from Larne, County Antrim in Northern Ireland, and his father, Josef Fassbender, is German.^[1][2] According to Fassbender's "family lore", his mother is the great-great-niece of Michael Collins, an Irish leader during the War of Independence.^[1][3] When he was two years old, his parents moved to Killarney, County Kerry, in the Republic of Ireland, where they ran the West End House, a restaurant where his father worked as a chef.^[1][2] Fassbender was brought up as a Roman Catholic and served as an altar boy.^[4]

He attended St. Brendan's, Killarney (The Sem) and the Drama Centre London.^[5]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Fassbender first played the part of Burton "Pat" Christenson in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's award-winning television miniseries Band of Brothers. He played the character of Azazeal in both series of Hex on Sky One and he also starred as the main character in the music video for the song "Blind Pilots", by the British band The Cooper Temple Clause. In the video, he plays the part of a man on a stag night with his friends, only to slowly transform into a goat due to wearing a cowbell necklace.

Fassbender played the part of Jonathan Harker in a ten-part radio serialization of Dracula produced by BBC Northern Ireland and broadcast in the Book at Bedtime series between 24 November and 5 December 2003. He was also seen in early 2004 in a Guinness television commercial, The Quarrel, playing a man who swims across the ocean from Ireland to apologize personally to his brother in New York.

During the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Fassbender played Michael Collins in Allegiance, a play by Mary Kenny based on the meeting between Winston Churchill and Collins, of whom Fassbender's mother is a great-niece.^[6] In addition, he produced, directed and starred in the stage version of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, along with his production company.

He appeared in Angel (UK title: The Real Life of Angel Deverell), about the rise and fall of an eccentric young British writer (played by Romola Garai) in the early 20th century. Fassbender plays her love interest and average painter Esmé. The drama – the first English-language effort by French director François Ozon and based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor – premiered on 17 February 2007 at the Berlin International Film Festival and on 14 March 2007 in Paris. He then made a brief appearance in Wedding Belles as Barney, speaking with a Scottish accent.

Mainstream success[link]

Michael Fassbender at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival

In 2006, Fassbender played the role of Stelios, a young Spartan warrior, in 300, a fantasy action film directed by Zack Snyder. The film was a commercial success.^[7]

In preparation for his role as Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen's 2008 film Hunger, Fassbender underwent a crash diet that restricted him to 600 calories a day. He received the British Independent Film Award for his performance.^[8]

One year after his success at the Cannes Film Festival with Hunger, he appeared in two films. The first was Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, in which he played the British officer Lieutenant Archie Hicox. The other film was Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold. Both films were critically acclaimed and Fassbender's work in them also well received.

In 2010, Fassbender appeared as Burke in Jonah Hex, a Western film.^[9] In an interview at San Diego Comic-Con International, a comic book convention, Fassbender commented of the role: "I kind of developed this character and really pushed it – I’ll see how far I pushed it ... I had this idea about the character, he’s kind of psychotic, he gets his kicks in perverted ways. I didn’t want to make it very obvious or like something you’ve seen before".^[10] Hex received predominately negative reviews.^[11] Responding to criticism of Jonah Hex in 2011, Fassbender commented: "Pretty awful, was it? I haven't seen it myself."^[12]

He also portrayed Quintus Dias in Neil Marshall's war-thriller-drama film Centurion.^[13] and was cast as 'Richard Wirth' in the Joel Schumacher film Blood Creek alongside Dominic Purcell. The story centers on a West Virginia man who comes to terms with his moral qualms and helps his brother wipe out a family that had been protecting a Nazi occultist and who had kept his brother captive for him to feed off for years.

Fassbender played Edward Rochester in the 2011 film Jane Eyre, featuring Mia Wasikowska in the title role, with Cary Fukunaga directing.^[14]

Fassbender (right), Josh Brolin and Megan Fox promoting the 2010 film Jonah Hex at Comic-Con in 2009.

Fassbender portrayed Magneto in the superhero blockbuster X-Men: First Class, the prequel to X-Men. Set in 1962, it focuses on the friendship between Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. The film was released on 3 June 2011 to general acclaim and financial success and promoted Fassbender to being more of a popular movie star.

In 2011, Fassbender starred in A Dangerous Method by director David Cronenberg, playing Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Jung. The film premiered at the 2011 Venice Film Festival.^[15] He also starred in Shame, as a man in his thirties struggling with his sex addiction. Shame reunited him with director Steve McQueen and premiered at the 2011 Venice Film Festival, where Fassbender won a Volpi Cup best actor award for his portrayal of Brandon.^[16] Fassbender was a serious contender for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, but he was not nominated, and according to various sources his full-frontal nudity and depiction of sexual encounters inspired voters "to fantasize, and not actually vote."^[17][18] Fassbender achieved critical acclaim for his performance in Shame and received nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

In 2012, he appeared in Haywire, an action-thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh.^[19]

Future projects[link]

Due to a schedule conflict, Fassbender had to pull out of negotiations to work with Oscar-winning director, Danny Boyle, in his new film, Trance.^[20]

Fassbender signed to star in actor Brendan Gleeson's directorial debut of At Swim-Two-Birds,^[21] a film adaptation of Irish author Flann O'Brien's novel. He will also team up for a third time with McQueen to co-star in a yet-to-be-determined role, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, portraying Solomon Northup, in Twelve Years A Slave, filming to commence in late summer of 2012.

Together with a screenwriter Ronan Bennett, Fassbender formed a production company Finn McCool Films. Fassbender and Bennett are currently developing a film about the Irish mythological hero Cú Chulainn.^[22]

In February, Fassbender signed on to play a title role as a lawyer in The Counselor, a film directed by Ridley Scott and based on the Cormac McCarthy script, filming is to start in mid-June.^[23]

He is also going to play Thomas Wolfe in a movie Genius about a famous literary editor Max Perkins, to be played by Colin Firth.^[24]

In 2013, Fassbender is set to take on the role of Harry Flashman in a film adaptation of the books by George MacDonald Fraser.

Personal life[link]

Shifting between British films and American films, Fassbender resides in London, England where he has lived for the last 15 years, while making career-related visits to Los Angeles, California.

He speaks conversational German, though he has stated that he needed to brush up a bit on his spoken German before filming Inglourious Basterds, as it was a bit rusty.^[25][26] He has also expressed interest in performing in a German-language film or theater production one day.^[27]

Fassbender is currently dating his Shame costar Nicole Beharie. ^[28]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Fassbender was at the Top Gear studios in Surrey, England, on 8 February 2012 to film Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, where celebs try to set a fastest lap time of the Top Gear test track in a low-spec family hatchback. The lap and his interview with Jeremy Clarkson was aired on BBC2 on 19 February 2012.

See also[link]

• List of awards and nominations received by Michael Fassbender

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michael Fassbender

• Michael Fassbender at the Internet Movie Database

Armand Anthony Assante, Jr. (born October 4, 1949) is an American actor.

Personal life[link]

Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York, the son of Katherine (née Healy), a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist.^[1][2] His father was Italian and his mother was Irish,^[3] and was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family.^[4] Assante was married to Karen McArn from 1982 to 1994, and has two daughters, Anya and Alessandra.

Career[link]

During the 1970s, Assante was a regular on two NBC soap operas, How to Survive a Marriage as Johnny McGee and The Doctors as Dr. Mike Powers. His first film was The Lords of Flatbush (1974), although the title credits misspelled his last name as Assanti. A role that brought him greater attention came in 1980's Private Benjamin as a handsome Frenchman who becomes the love interest of a U.S. soldier played by Goldie Hawn.

Assante's somewhat sinister look has made him a popular choice for tough-guy heroes, as in his starring role as private eye Mike Hammer in the film I, the Jury (1982) or as Mafia gangsters like that of Michael Moretti in Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels. He portrayed the notorious Bugsy Siegel in a comedy, Neil Simon's The Marrying Man (1991), another mobster in Hoffa (1992) starring Jack Nicholson, and crime kingpin John Gotti in the 1996 made-for-television biopic Gotti, for which he won his Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.

Other notable film appearances include one as a Cuban bandleader in The Mambo Kings opposite Antonio Banderas and in the adaptation of the science-fiction story Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone, his co-star in two previous films. More recently he appeared in American Gangster (2007) with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. He has had a recurring guest star role in several episodes of NCIS, playing the international arms dealer René Benoit. Outside of the U.S., he has participated in several film projects in European countries like Macedonia, Turkey, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Awards and nominations[link]

Emmy Awards[link]

• 1989 - Nominated Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Richard Mansfield in Jack the Ripper
• 1996 - Won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Mafia Don John Gotti

Golden Globe Awards[link]

• 1989 - Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for Jack the Ripper
• 1991 - Nominated Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Q&A
• 1997 - Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for Gotti
• 1998 - Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for The Odyssey

Screen Actors Guild Awards[link]

• 1997 - Nominated - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie for Gotti

In 2010, Assante received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Canada.^[5]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

• The Lords of Flatbush (1974)
• First Ladies Diaries: Rachel Jackson (1975) (TV)
• Paradise Alley (1978)
• Human Feelings (a.k.a. Miles the Angel) (1978) (TV)
• Lady of the House (1978) (TV)
• The Pirate (1978) (TV)
• Prophecy (1979)
• Little Darlings (1980)
• Private Benjamin (1980)
• Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (1980) (TV)
• Love and Money (1982)
• I, the Jury (1982)
• Rage of Angels (1983) (TV)
• Unfaithfully Yours (1984)
• Why Me? (1984) (TV)
• Evergreen (1985) (TV)
• A Deadly Business (1986) (TV)
• Belizaire the Cajun (1986)
• Stranger in My Bed (1987) (TV)
• Hands of a Stranger (1987) (TV)
• Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987) (TV)
• The Penitent (1988)
• Jack the Ripper (1988) (TV)
• Eternity (1989)
• Passion and Paradise (1989) (TV)
• Animal Behavior (1989)
• Q&A (1990)
• The Marrying Man (1991)
• Fever (1991) (TV)
• The Mambo Kings (1992)
• 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
• Hoffa (1992)
• Fatal Instinct (1993)
• Blind Justice (1994) (TV)
• Trial by Jury (1994)
• Judge Dredd (1995)
• Kidnapped (1995) (TV)
• Striptease (1996)
• Gotti (1996) (TV)
• The Odyssey (1997) (TV) - Odysseus
• The Hunley (1999) (TV)
• The Road to El Dorado (2000) (voice) - Tzekel-Kan
• On the Beach (2000) (TV)
• Looking For An Echo (2000)
• Last Run (2001)
• After the Storm (2001) (TV)
• One Eyed King (2001)
• Federal Protection (2002)
• Partners in Action (2002)
• Citizen Verdict (2003)
• Tough Luck (2003)
• Consequence (2003)
• Casanova's Last Stand (2005)
• Children of Wax (a.k.a. The Killing Grounds) (2005)
• Dot.Kill (2005)
• The Third Wish (2005)
• Mirror Wars: Reflection One (2005)
• Two for the Money (2005)
• Confessions of a Pit Fighter (2005)
• Funny Money (2006)
• Dead Lenny (2006)
• Soul's Midnight (2006)
• Surveillance (2006)
• Mexican Sunrise (2007)
• California Dreamin' (2007)
• When Nietzsche Wept (2007)
• American Gangster (2007)
• Shark Swarm (2008) (TV)
• La Linea (2008)
• The Man Who Came Back (2008)
• The Lost (2009)
• Smile (2009)
• The Steam Experiment (a.k.a. The Chaos Experiment) (2009)
• Chicago Overcoat (2009)
• Breaking Point (a.k.a. Order of Redemption) (2009)
• Magic Man (2009)
• The Bleeding (2009)
• Shadows in Paradise (2010)
• Killer By Nature (2010)

Television[link]

• How to Survive a Marriage (1974–1975)
• The Doctors (1975–1977)
• Kojak (1977)
• Mrs. Columbo (1979)
• Jack the Ripper (1988)
• On The Beach (Remake - TV miniseries - Australia) (2000)
• Push, Nevada (2002)
• ER (2006)
• NCIS - René "La Grenouille" Benoit (2007)
• October Road (2008)
• Chuck - Alejandro Goya (2010)
• Human Target (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Armand Assante at the Internet Movie Database
• Armand Assante at the TCM Movie Database
• Armand Assante at AllRovi
• http://www.assantefansite.dk/index.html

Fionnghuala Manon Flanagan (born 10 December 1941) is an Irish actress who has worked extensively in theatre, film and television.

Early life[link]

Flanagan was born and reared in Dublin, the daughter of Rosanna (née McGuirk) and Terence Niall Flanagan.^[1] She grew up speaking both Irish and English fluently. Although her parents were not native Irish speakers, they wanted Flanagan and her four siblings to learn their indigenous language. Flanagan was educated in Switzerland and England. She trained at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and travelled throughout Europe before settling in Los Angeles in 1968.

Career[link]

Flanagan came to prominence in Ireland in 1965 as a result of her role as Máire in the Telefís Éireann production of the Irish Language play, An Triail. For her "outstanding performance" in the part, she won a Jacob's Award at the annual presentation ceremony in Dublin.^[2] With her portrayal of Gerty McDowell in the 1967 film version of Ulysses, Flanagan established herself as one of the foremost interpreters of James Joyce. She made her 1968 Broadway debut in Brian Friel's Lovers, then appeared in The Incomparable Max (1971) and such Joycean theatrical projects as Ulysses in Nighttown (as Molly Bloom) and James Joyce's Women (1977). It was subsequently filmed in 1983, with Flanagan both producing and playing all six main female roles (Joyce's wife, Nora Barnacle, as well as fictional characters Molly Bloom, Gerty McDowell, etc.). A familiar presence in American television, has appeared in several made-for-TV movies, among them The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975) starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Mary White (1977), The Ewok Adventure (1984) and A Winner Never Quits (1986). She won an Emmy for her work as Clothilde in the 1976 network miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man.

Flanagan's weekly-series stints have included Aunt Molly Culhane in How the West Was Won (1977), which earned her a second Emmy Award nomination. She did multiple appearances on Murder, She Wrote, one of them as Freida, a secretary aiding Jessica Fletcher in finding a murderer on the episode Steal me a Story (1987). She played Lt. Guyla Cook in Hard Copy (1987) and Kathleen Meacham, wife of a police chief played by John Mahoney in H.E.L.P. (1990). Fionnula Flanagan is also well known for her guest appearances in three of the Star Trek spin-offs. She guest starred in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode Dax, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Inheritance as Data's "mother", and she also appeared as the Vulcan Ambassador V'Lar in Star Trek: Enterprise. She also recently guest starred in several episodes of Lost playing recurring character Eloise Hawking.

Flanagan has also appeared in numerous films, most notably The Others opposite Nicole Kidman, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood as the eldest Teensy, and Waking Ned. She has also done television series and stage productions including the Emmy-nominated miniseries, Revelations, starring Bill Pullman and Natascha McElhone, and in Transamerica starring Felicity Huffman. From 2006 to 2008, Flanagan played Rose Caffee, the matriarch of an Irish-American Rhode Island family on the Showtime drama Brotherhood.

Personal life and politics[link]

Flanagan appeared with Helen Mirren in Some Mother's Son, written and directed by Terry George, as the militantly supportive mother of a Provisional Irish Republican Army hunger striker in 1981. Subsequently, she spoke at a memorial hosted by Sinn Féin at the Citywest Building in Dublin for Irish republicans and their kin who were killed during the latest installment of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Flanagan and her husband (since 1972), Dr. Garrett O'Connor, also an Irish nationalist, are known to give lavish parties at her Hollywood Hills home for people in the Irish community.

In July 2009, Flanagan joined Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams for a number of lectures across the USA supporting Irish Unity. In October 2011, Fionnula supported Sinn Féin politician Martin McGuinness in his bid for the Irish presidential election.^[3]

Filmography[link]

TV series[link]

• Gunsmoke (1972) - Sarah Morgan (credited as Fionnuala Flanagan)
• How the West Was Won (1977) as Molly Cullhane
• Beauty and the Beast (1990) as Jessica
• Murder, She Wrote: Episode: "Steal me a Story" (1987)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) - Enina Tandro
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993) - Juliana O'Donnell (Data's android mother)
• Murder, She Wrote: Episode: "A Killing in Cork" (1993)
• Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman: Episode: "The Circus - The Queen of Hearts" (1993)
• Star Trek: Enterprise (2002) - V'Lar
• Murder, She Wrote: Episode: "The Celtic Riddle" (2003) - Margaret Byrne
• Nip/Tuck (2004) - Sr. Rita Claire
• Paddywhackery (2007) - Peig Sayers
• Brotherhood (2006-2008) - Rose Caffee
• Lost (2007, 2009-2010) - Eloise Hawking

Awards and honours[link]

IFTA Lifetime Achievement gong at the 9th Irish Film and Television Awards. ^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fionnula Flanagan at the Internet Movie Database
• Fionnula Flanagan at the Internet Broadway Database
• Fionnula Flanagan at AllRovi
• Fionnula Flanagan at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)