DERRY-born film-maker Stephen Fingleton has said he is "delighted" to have been nominated for a Bafta award for his feature debut The Survivalist.
The 32-year-old, who was born in Derry but grew up in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, was among the list of hopefuls announced on Friday morning by Stephen Fry and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in London.
Stephen's nomination in the Outstanding Debut category follows his success at the British Independent Film Awards where Stephen was named Best Debut Director and was presented an award in honour of director Douglas Hickox.
The Survivalist received critical acclaim following its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York with industry magazine Screen Daily calling Fingleton "a major discovery".
The film continues to wow audiences across various festivals ever since.
Mr Fingleton tweeted: "Very happy that The Survivalist has been nominated for a Bafta for best debut."
Very happy that THE SURVIVALIST has been nominated for a @BAFTA for Best Debut! @survivalistfilm
— Stephen Fingleton (@sfingali) January 8, 2016The Survivalist was developed with the support of the BFI Film Fund and Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus Scheme.
It was produced by Wayne Marc Godfrey (Silence, Cake), Robert Jones (The Usual Suspects, Babylon) and David Gilbery (Bone Tomahawk) through The Fyzz Facility.
Shot entirely in Northern Ireland the film was financed by The Fyzz Facility and BFI in association with Goldcrest.
The film received funding from the Northern Ireland Screen Fund supported by Invest NI and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Hailed by Indiewire as “Mad Max in the countryside”, the film boasts west Belfast actor Martin McCann (’71, Shadow Dancer, X+Y), Mia Goth (Nymphomaniac Part II, A Cure For Wellness) and Olwen Fouéré (This Must be the Place).
Richard Williams, chief executive of Northern Ireland Screen, said; "We are immensely proud of Stephen Fingleton and offer our huge congratulations to him and all the talented crew that made The Survivalist.
"A Bafta nomination, a BIFA win and incredible critical acclaim are amazing endorsements for a new writer/director.
"The Survivalist is a wonderful film and we are delighted to have been able to support it from its early script development stage.”
Congrats to @survivalistfilm director @sfingali for his #BAFTA nomination for Outstanding debut. #madeinNI
— NI Screen (@NIScreen) January 8, 2016The Survivalist will be released in cinemas and on demand on February 12, 2016.
The film will be previewing in the QFT in Belfast before general release from February 5, 2016.
The British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday, February 14 at the Royal Opera House,Covent Garden, London.
The ceremony will be hosted by Stephen Fry and will be broadcast exclusively on BBC One and BBC One HD, preceded by a red carpet show on BBC Three.
