Cameron vs Bigelow for Oscar gold

With a whopping nine nominations each for their films Avatarand The Hurt Locker, former husband and wife film directors James and Kathryn will be battling it out at the Oscars ceremony next month – and the Irish contingent will be holding its breath too

THERE WERE FEW gasps in the auditorium when Anne Hathaway read out the Academy Award nominations yesterday. The LA press were predicting a showdown between directors James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow – formerly husband and wife – and that is how things have turned out.

Mr Cameron's Avatarand Ms Bigelow's The Hurt Lockerlead the pack with nine nominations each. Jim's science fiction epic remains favourite for best picture, but Kathryn's tough Iraq War drama is coming up on the rails.

By way of contrast, there was whooping and hollering in the Irish film community as two domestic pictures received nominations in animation categories. Tomm Moore's The Secret of Kells, an ornate fantasy focusing on the creation of the Book of Kells, outpaced such fancied pictures as Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyoand the hugely successful Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballsto secure a nod in the best animated feature category. Nicky Phelan's Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty,from the distinguished Brown Bag Films, edged out Pixar's Partly Cloudyto pick up a nomination as best animated short.

“We were never expecting it,” Tomm Moore, co-founder of the Cartoon Saloon studio, said from his premises in Kilkenny. “I was in the other room talking to a co-producer about our new feature at the time. It was so unlikely I wasn’t watching the TV. Then I heard these screams from the other side of the office. I thought somebody had seen a mouse.” This is a genuinely astonishing achievement for Irish animation in general and, in particular, for Ballyfermot College of Further Education’s animation school.

"It is unbelievable. Tomm Moore is a good friend," Darragh O'Connell, founder of Brown Bag and producer of Granny O'Grimm, said after hearing the news. "This has been building for a few years. There was a golden class in Ballyfermot about 10 years ago. Tomm was there. Also Richie Baneham has been nominated for visual effects for Avatar.

"Richie and I made our first film together in Ballyfermot." This is the second nomination for Brown Bag. The Dublin-based studio received a nod for its short Give Up Yer Aul Sinsback in 2001.

"It really opens doors for you," O'Connell says. "We are now making a feature and this really, really helps. It's amazing." There was further Irish joy in the live-action short film category with Juanita Wilson's The Doorpicking up another deserved nomination.

The picture, an Octagon Pictures production, has already triumphed at the Bilbao International Festival and at the Irish Film and Television Awards.

Back in Los Angeles, Oscar pundits were trying to work out the impact of the Academy's decision to increase the number of best picture nominees from five to 10. The intention was, following decreasing viewing figures for the ceremony, to allow in a few more mainstream pictures. Well, Avatar, the most successful film of all time, would have made the list anyway, but nominated pictures such as District 9, a rather brilliant South African science fiction allegory, and The Blind Side, a sports drama featuring best actress favourite Sandra Bullock, would surely have missed the bus in previous years.

Still, most Oscarologists are sticking with their view that the real best picture nominees remain those whose directors received nods. Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, Lee Daniels's Preciousand Jason Reitman's Up in the Airjoined Avatarand The Hurt Lockerin achieving that feat and it would be truly astonishing if the best film winner did not come from among those five.

Two runners are, however, comfortably at the front of that pack. The battle between Avatarand The Hurt Lockerthrows up several diverting contrasts. The fact that Cameron and Bigelow were once married is certainly interesting.

Note also that, whereas Avatarwould (Duh!) be the most successful film ever to win best picture, The Hurt Lockerwould, by many estimations, be the least successful ever to take the prize. Indeed, a recent report in the Los Angeles Timesargues that it could be the first best picture winner to actually lose money on its theatrical release.

Then there is the issue of gender. No woman has won the best director Oscar and none has ever come as close as Ms Bigelow now stands. Even if, as expected, Avatartakes top prize, the Academy could still hand Kathryn the director gong.

There were no surprises at all in the acting categories. Sandra Bullock confirms her astonishing comeback by securing a nomination for best actress in The Front Lineand, after winning awards at the Screen Actors Guild, The Golden Globes and elsewhere, appears several lengths ahead of rivals such as Precious's Gabourey Sidibe and An Education's Carey Mulligan.

Jeff Bridges, nominated for his role as a washed up country singer in Crazy Heart,leads the best actor race. George Clooney, mentioned for Up in the Air, and Colin Firth, recipient of a nod for A Single Man, will have to enter hyper-drive to defy the sentimental swell of affection buoying up good old Jeff.

At any rate, the Academy should enjoy significantly increased viewing figures when the awards are handed out on March 7th. Remember Titanic? The most-watched ceremony ever took place in 1998 when 55 million people tuned in to observe James Cameron grab the best picture prize for what was already the most successful picture ever made. Ring any bells?