Published: Wednesday, 3rd February, 2010 4:48pm

'Secret Of Kells' nominated for Oscar

by John Donohoe

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'The Secret of Kells', the animated film based on the Book of Kells, was yesterday (Tuesday) nominated for an Academy Award in Best Animated Feature Film category.

Directed by Tomm Moore and produced by Kilkenny-based company Cartoon Saloon, it beat off stiff competition from major US studios to be nominated.

'The Secret of Kells', which features the voice talent of Brendan Gleeson and Mick Lally, tells the story of an orphan named Brendan who is set the task of completing the Book of Kells. The task sees him called to a new life of creativity and imagination where adventure, danger and action await him. The film has already picked up a large amount of awards over the past 12 months, including the Jury and Audience Awards in Kecskemet in Hungary, the Audience Award in Annecy, France, and a Special Mention at the Zagreb Animation Festival in Croatia.

Produced by European Producers of the Year, Cartoon Saloon, 'The Secret of Kells' received funding from the IFB, BAI, France 2 Cinema, Eurimages, Media programme, Canal+ Cine Cinema, Conseil General de la Charente, Piste Rouge, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique et des Télédistributeurs Wallons, Promimage and Wallimage.

Irish short films 'The Door', directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Juanita Wilson and 'Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty' directed by Nicky Phelan, have been nominated in the Best Short Film categories. Other Irish nominations include Richard Baneham in the Best Visual Effects category and Peter J Devlin who has been nominated in the Best Sound Achievement category.