Oscars: Ireland Selects ‘Aontas’ as Its Best International Feature Film Submission

Ireland has selected the film Aontas, directed by Damian McCann, as its submission for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The country’s entry is described as a heist thriller, with Carrie Crowley starring. Crowley is noted in the report for appearing in The Quiet Girl, a performance that helped drive Ireland’s first-ever nomination in the international feature category.

The selection matters in part because the Best International Feature Film category is determined through a formal country-by-country submission process, with each nation limited to a single entry. Once submitted, the Academy’s rules allow eligible films to move through the awards body’s viewing and shortlisting stages before nominations are announced, with final eligibility tied to the film’s adherence to the Academy’s international feature requirements.

For Ireland, the choice represents an effort to build on the milestone described by the publication: the previous breakthrough that resulted in the country’s first nomination in the category. Crowley’s earlier recognition, as summarized in the report, is framed as a key career context for Aontas as it attempts to translate attention around Irish films into a renewed awards campaign.

Aontas is presented in the report as a heist thriller, a genre that can affect how international audiences and Academy members assess a film’s pacing, set pieces, and narrative structure within the category’s framework. Beyond genre, the film’s selection also highlights the continuing role of Irish film institutions and local industry decision-makers in identifying projects with both national significance and international distribution potential.

Damian McCann’s direction is central to Ireland’s submission, and the report places Crowley’s presence alongside that creative leadership. The combination suggests Ireland’s selection committee weighed factors such as performance, story accessibility, and overall production polish when choosing a single title to represent the country at the Oscars.

After a submission is announced, the next procedural steps are handled through the Academy’s eligibility and screening processes, including Academy review of submitted works and the category’s later shortlist and nomination steps. Ireland’s choice therefore places Aontas on the timeline of the 2027 awards cycle, where it will compete for inclusion among the year’s nominated international films.

No additional details about the film’s release dates, supporting cast, or Ireland’s internal selection body were included in the report excerpt used for this coverage, and those points are not confirmed here. The core development is the formal Irish selection of Aontas as the country’s official entry for the Academy Awards category.

Aontas now becomes the focal title for Ireland’s Best International Feature Film push in the 2027 cycle, with the Academy’s rules and screening schedule set to determine whether the film advances beyond submission to the shortlist and nominations stage.