{"id":298341,"date":"2026-01-22T21:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/298341\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T21:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:28:15","slug":"dubliner-says-oscar-nomination-for-his-short-film-is-a-dream-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/298341\/","title":{"rendered":"Dubliner says Oscar nomination for his short film is a \u2018dream\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dublin<\/a> native John Kelly was prepared to use the disappointment of his animated film not securing a nomination for an Oscar<\/a> as a learning curve for his two children.<\/p>\n

But that was not the case.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, he received the news that his film Retirement Plan was nominated for an Academy Award<\/a> for best animated short film.<\/p>\n

He was standing in his kitchen with his wife while on a Zoom call with his team when he heard the news.<\/p>\n

Kelly said the idea behind the film came from a \u201cquiet panic attack\u201d he had on an airplane where he had the same realisation as the main character: he couldn\u2019t do all the things he wanted to before he died.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly all these lists of things popped into my head and I thought it could be good for a short film,\u201d said Kelly, who directed Retirement Plan and co-wrote the film with Tara Lawall.<\/p>\n

It is narrated by actor Domhnall Gleeson<\/a>, produced by Julie Murnaghan and Andrew Freedman for Antidote Films.<\/p>\n

The short film follows Ray, who is \u201cin the throes of his overstimulated, energy poor midlife\u201d and \u201cfantasises about everything he\u2019d love to do in retirement, once he finally has the time\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"AA still from Retirement Plan, the animated film directed by Dubliner John Kelly that has been nominated for an Academy Award for best animated short film <\/p>\n

Kelly described the news of his Oscar nomination as a \u201cdream\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithin minutes of the announcement being made, I was talking on [RT\u00c9\u2019s] Liveline, it feels surreal,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how I\u2019ll cope at the Oscar luncheon, but I\u2019m very excited,\u201d he said, referring to the annual pre-ceremony event where all Academy Award nominees gather for a celebratory meal.<\/p>\n

He described the \u201cincredible\u201d nomination as \u201cvery unexpected\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made a very personal film \u2013 about paralysis. It\u2019s surreal it has found such momentum,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message behind it has struck a chord: living in the moment and not putting things off.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Oscars 2026: Jessie Buckley is in strong position to win Ireland\u2019s first best actress awardOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were never thinking of Oscars when writing it. It\u2019s such an amazing experience to get this far.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news was \u201cstill sinking in\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\"ActorActor Domhnall Gleeson, who narrates the animated film Retirement Plan. Photograph: Leon Farrell\/Photocall Ireland <\/p>\n

His children, aged 8 and 10, will be \u201cvery excited\u201d that \u201cmammy and daddy are going to the Oscars\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

Kelly lived in London for 15 years and moved back to Dolphin\u2019s Barn in Dublin five years ago.<\/p>\n

Retirement Plan is funded by Frameworks, F\u00eds \u00c9ireann\/Screen Ireland and RT\u00c9\u2019s flagship animation short film scheme. <\/p>\n

Kelly said he felt \u201cso fortunate\u201d to have had this funding. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt would not have happened without F\u00eds \u00c9ireann\/Screen Ireland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

F\u00eds \u00c9ireann\/Screen Ireland said it was \u201cdelighted\u201d to congratulate Kelly and the creative team behind the animated film.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The story behind the soup in Jessie Buckley\u2019s Golden Globe speech: \u2018I couldn\u2019t believe she said that\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Retirement Plan first premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2024 and since then has been nominated for and received a host of awards with screenings across the world.<\/p>\n

At seven minutes and 17 seconds long, this short film will receive its biggest showcase yet at the 98th Academy Awards ceremony on March 15th at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dublin native John Kelly was prepared to use the disappointment of his animated film not securing a nomination…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[33770,18,117,19,17,7012,35657],"class_list":{"0":"post-298341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-domhnall-gleeson","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-oscars","14":"tag-screen-ireland-fis-eireann"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115940878558967034","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}