Draft:Irish Women in Film

Irish Women in Film

Irish women have been established in various areas of the film industry such as acting, screenwriting, producing and directing. As a whole, women in film play a significant role in the film industry. Yet, there have been cases of underrepresentation and inequality upon women in the film industry. Irish women in film are often not represented or go undiscussed in the media. They are often an underrepresented group within the industries. This can involve rates of pay or being cast in lesser roles than their fellow male colleagues Furthermore, the expectations of Irish women are often larger, regarding longer and fixed working hours typically catered to men .

Whilst women play a major role in the film industry, Irish women in particular are seen as a smaller group even when they have accomplished just as much as their male counterparts. In saying that, below is a more descriptive view on Irish women in the industry and the work they have contributed. Historically these women have played roles in major productions, have been nominated for awards, and extensively have had a huge impact on the film industry in recent years.

Notable Irish Actresses

Saoirse Ronan at the BAFTA Awards in 2016

• Saoirse Ronan has been nominated for four Academy Awards, five British Academy Film Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, winning one in 2018 for her role in Lady Bird, alongside three Screen Actors Guild Awards. She has been the seventh youngest actress to gain an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress when she was just thirteen years old . At the age of twenty-one she was the eight youngest actress to be nominated as Best Actress for her role in Brooklyn .

Nicola Coughlan for Vogue Taiwan, 2021

• Nicola Coughlan received the Rising Star Award in the Irish Film and Television Awards in 2021. She has been nominated for another award the same year in the category for Best Actress in a Supporting Drama Role for her role as Penelope Featherington in the Netflix series Bridgerton. She has been nominated for awards from 2011 in categories such as Ones to Watch, Best Actress in a Play, Outstanding Performance by and Ensemble in a Drama Series and an Irish Star Award. Coughlan received a Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Award for her television acting in 2024 .
• Eve Hewson began appearing in roles for film and television in 2005 to currently. She has been nominated four times for her role in Bad Sisters and won in 2022. She has been nominated in the Irish Film and Television Awards in 2021,2023 and for the Peabody Award in 2022. Hewson starred in the Netflix mini series The Perfect Couple where she plays a leading role as Amelia Sacks.

Fiona Shaw pictured as she leaves a performance of Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

• Alisha Weir began her career by starring in plays and on stage performances. At the age of eleven, she was cast in a break-out role as Matilda in Matilda the Musical. In 2024 she once again hit a major role in the horror film Abigail. She has been nominated for three awards between 2022 and 2023. In 2022 she won an award in the Dublin Film Critics Circle for her role in Matilda the Musical. Her two other nominations being in the London Film Critics Circle and the Irish Film and Television Awards.

• Fiona Shaw has been nominated for nineteen awards from 1986 to 2023. Shaw has won seven awards during this time. She won for her roles in Andor, Killing Eve, Medea, The Waste Land, Machinal and the Oliver Award for Best Actress in 1990. Shaw's most recognisable role is her portrayal of Petunia Dursley, Harry Potter's aunt throughout the film franchise.

Listed above are just some of the most recognisable Irish actresses, however, it is to be noted that numerous Irish actresses have successfully infiltrated the film industry for decades and have made an impact by doing so .

Irish Female Screenwriters

Derry Girls mural in Derry- Londonderry

• Kirsten Sheridan has been nominated for seven awards between 1998 and 2004. She won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Writer in 2004 for the film In America. In 1998 she won the Young Irish Talent Award from the Film Institute of Ireland.

• Lisa McGee has television writing credits for The Things I Haven't Told You, from BBC Three and the Irish television series Raw. McGee is most known for being the creator and writer of the sitcom Derry Girls. Following its success, Netflix is producing another television series from Lisa called How to Get to Heaven from Belfast.
• Denise Deegan
• Mary McGuckian
• Aishling Walsh

Irish Female Producers and Directors

• Mary McGuckian
• Aishling Walsh
• Kirsten Sheridan

Irish Female Cinematographers

• Alba Fernandez

The IFTA's

IFTA stands for the Irish Film and Television Academy and was first presented in 1999 . They nominate and reward people of the industry with the IFTA Film and Drama Awards. They include categories for women such as Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. In 2021, woman dominated the Rising Star category, as only one man was nominated .

WFT Ireland

Women in Film and Television International logo

Women in Film and Television is a voluntary foundation promoting greater representation of women on screen and behind the camera . Ireland has its own branch of the Women in Film and Television Industry . With members volunteering from all over the country with different backgrounds and specialities in media, they represent women both on screen and behind the camera . The Chairperson is Dr. Susan Liddy with Siobhán Farrell as the Vice Chairperson.

Dublin Feminist Film Festival

Dublin Feminist Film Festival (DFFF) is an independent annual event which was founded in 2014. The organisation was created "to promote and celebrate female filmmakers, and to draw more women to get involved in filmmaking" . Unfortunately, as of June 2022 the festival has not gone ahead, however, they are working on their comeback . This further highlights the lack of coverage that women receive in the media, especially in Ireland.

Further Readings

• Women, Inequality and Media, by Anne O'Brien, 2019, Routledge
• Khatchatourian, Maane (7 February 2014). "Female Movie Stars Experience Earnings Plunge After Age 34 - Variety". Variety.
• Buckley, Cara (11 March 2014). "Only 15 Percent of Top Films in 2013 Put Women in Lead Roles, Study Finds". New York Times.