The father of An Irish Goodbye star James Martin, has described the film’s Oscar victory as “unbelievable”.
Directed by Ross White and Tom Berkeley, the film won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film, which saw actor James Martin become the first star with Down’s Syndrome to win at the Academy Awards ceremony.
The ceremony also saw Everything Everywhere All At Once and All Quiet On The Western Front scoop up most of the accolades. More on this here.
“An amazing feat”
An Irish Goodbye shows two estranged brothers played by Seamus O’Hara and James Martin, who reunite after their mother’s death to help fulfill her bucket list.
Speaking on this achievement, James Martin’s father Ivan called it an “amazing feat”.
“It’s an amazing feat. It’s something that nobody can ever take away from him. When you’re the first to do anything, it’s there for life and that’s how it is with him”, he said.
Ivan Martin also revealed that when his son was born, there were fears that he would be unable to speak.
“So here we are – James not only speaks, once he started speaking he hasn’t shut up since”, Mr Martin joked.
“All I ever wanted was for James was that he’d be happy and, I tell you what, he’s happy now”, he added. “It’s been a journey”.
“You get to the Oscars and everybody keeps saying the prize is getting there but, truth to tell, you want to win”.
Ivan Martin also admitted that he had his doubts about the film’s potential.
“And I had my doubts about it because one of the opposition films was a Disney film and they had in the last week… they had really been ramping up the promotion for it”, he said. “But calm heads won it in the end and An Irish Goodbye (is) a film we can all be proud of”.
“It’s just crazy. But there were a few tears shed but what an achievement, just delighted”, he added.
