Oscars excitement has hit Donegal as Art Parkinson’s Irish-language film is selected to represent Ireland at the upcoming Academy Awards.
The Moville native, 24, has a strong supporting role in Aontas, which has been chosen as Ireland’s submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.
Parkinson plays rookie garda Éamonn in the acclaimed heist thriller alongside Carrie Crowley, Bríd Brennan, Eva-Jane Gaffney, Seán T. Ó Meallaigh and Marcus Lamb.
Lead actress Carrie Crowley’s mother Nodhlaig was a teacher originally from The Rosses area in Donegal.
Aontas follows in the footsteps of the Oscar-nominated An Cailín Ciúin and the Oscar-shortlisted Kneecap as Irish-language cinema continues to make an impact internationally.
Art Parkinson as Éamonn in Aontas. TG4
The film opens with three unlikely thieves, led by a woman on the verge of a breakdown, rob a rural Irish Credit Union.
Opening in the tragic aftermath of the heist-gone-wrong, Aontas unfolds backwards, chapter by chapter to unravel the events that led to this point. What starts as a poorly executed robbery becomes a portrait of a wilful woman trapped in her own past.
It was filmed in March 2024 in Glenarm, County Antrim, and post-production was completed at Yellowmoon Postproduction in Holywood, Co. Down.
You may also be interested in
Parkinson is the son of Movania Parkinson and Finbar McCallion and grew up in Moville. He attended Irish-medium school Coláiste Chineál Eoghain in Buncrana and became an ambassador for Seachtain na Gaeilge in 2017.
Art Parkinson in a supporting actor role in Aontas
Parkinson became known internationally for playing Rickon Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones. He later voiced the title character in the BAFTA-winning animated film Kubo and the Two Strings, earning an Annie Award nomination for his performance.
His screen credits also include San Andreas, Dracula Untold, Love, Rosie, Zoo, The Bay and the FX series Say Nothing.
The Inishowen actor is continuing his work in Irish-language productions and has also joined the cast of the second series of the Donegal-set crime drama Crá.
Aontas is now in contention with films submitted by countries around the world. Each country may put forward only one film in the category.
The international feature shortlist will be announced on Tuesday, 15th December 2026, before the final five nominees are revealed on Thursday, 21st January 2027.
Director Damian McCann wrote Aontas with Sarah Gordon. Órfhlaith Ní Chearnaigh and Christopher Myers produced it for Púca Pictures, with funding from TG4, BBC Gaeilge and Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund, along with support from Yellowmoon.
The film premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and has since screened at 40 festivals around the world, collecting ten international awards. It also received six Irish Film and Television Academy Award nominations.