Northern Irish actor Jude Hill has received a nomination for Best Actor in the Film category at this year's Irish Film & TV Awards.
The 11-year-old acting newcomer won international acclaim for his role in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast, where he plays the main character Buddy.
With the Northern Irish film currently up for an incredible 7 Academy Awards at this year's Oscars, Jude Hill missed out on a Best Actor nomination.
However, this has been put right with the news that the young thespian has been nominated for Lead Actor (Film) at the 2022 Irish Film and TV Awards.
Jude will go up against other Irish stars, including Aaron Monaghan (for the film Redemption of a Rogue), Dónall Ó Héalai (Foscadh), Moe Dunford (Nightride) and Peter Coonan (Doineann).
Belfast received 7 IFTA nominations in total at the IFTAs. These include: Best Film, Best Director (Kenneth Branagh), Best Script (Kenneth Branagh), Supporting Actor (Jamie Dornan and Ciaran Hinds), and Supporting Actress (Caitriona Balfe), as well as Jude Hill's nomination.
Commenting on the news, Jude Hill said: "Thank you Irish Film & Television Awards for this very special nomination. I am honoured and honestly so grateful, it means the world. Congratulations to Ken and my Belfast family for their nominations, so proud of you all!
"Congratulations to all the other nominees on their incredible work."
Jude's manager Shelley Lowry added: "This is wonderful news. All the accolades that the film is getting are wonderful, not only for Jude, but for the rest of the cast and the crew as well, and for Northern Ireland. We're so proud of Jude and Lewis McAskie and the work they've done. It feels like every day there's something to celebrate with this film."
Irish actress and comedian Deirdre O'Kane will host the IFTAs virtually, with an awards event which will be broadcast on Virgin Media One on March 12.
