Director Lenny Abrahamson has said that it's hard not to get swept away in the awards fever building up around his new film Room, including three nominations at tonight's Golden Globe awards.
The film, which is based on the book of the same name by Irish author Emma Donoghue, tells the story of a young woman and her five-year-old son who are held captive for six years in a tiny shed.
Lead actors Brie Larson and seven-year-old newcomer Jacob Tremblay have been universally praised by critics and the film has been nominated for a slew of awards, including three Golden Globes tonight and nods at the Screen Actors Guild - all of which are seen as strong indicators of potential Oscar nominations.
Speaking to TEN, Abrahamson said: "If I could have imagined myself a year ago and if I could have eavesdropped on some of these conversations I would have been totally blown away.
"The mood with me, Emma and the rest of the crew who worked on Room vacillates between total unreality that the film is getting this amount of attention, there is great excitement, a sense of great satisfaction, exhaustion and then when people start to talk about this stuff, it's hard not to get caught up in it but you have to manage your expectations."
However, Abrahamson himself has as yet not received any nominations for best director for the film. "As someone said to me, `you've made a film that's got a best picture nomination and a best actor nomination, best screenplay nomination - what did you do wrong?!'" he told TEN.
"It doesn't bother me and getting a best film nomination feels like as big a compliment as you can get so I'm pretty excited about the whole thing."
Click on the video link to watch Alan Corr's interview with Lenny Abrahamson.
Room is in cinemas on January 15. Look out for our interview with Brie Larson next week.
There is plenty of further Irish interest at tonight's Golden Globes with Michael Fassbender in the running for a Best Actor award for his lead role in Steve Jobs, Saoirse Ronan nominated for best actress for Brooklyn along with John Crowley, who is in the running for Best Director. The movie is also nominated for Best Drama.
Click on the video links to watch TEN's interviews with Ronan and Crowley.
It's Fassbender's third Golden Globe nomination having previously picked up nods for Shame (2011) and 12 Years A Slave (2013) and he is another hot favourite to secure an Oscar nomination next year. He said it was "lovely to be honoured" again.
Will Irish eyes be smiling tonight?
Rounding-off the Irish nominations is Monaghan actress Caitríona Balfe who was shortlisted for Best Actress in a TV Drama for her role as Claire Randall in Outlander.Tweeting after her nomination was announced in December, Balfe said she had only just managed to scrape her jaw off the floor.
Caitríona Balfe is nominated for Best Actress in a TV Drama for Outlander
Although there may be some disappointment that Brooklyn failed to pick up a nomination for Best Drama or a Best Director nod for John Crowley, the nominations cap a remarkable year for the Irish film industry.
James Hickey, CEO of the Irish Film Board said: "Irish film is enjoying a real 'coming of age' this year, with our writers, directors and actors all receiving unprecedented global acclaim - both with awards and from audiences. Today the industry is celebrating the Golden Globe nominations and coming next month are the Academy Award nominations, with Irish talent tipped to take centre stage."
The awards ceremony will take place tonight (January 10) and will be hosted by Ricky Gervais. TEN will be reporting and tweeting on the ceremony throughout the night.
For a full list of Golden Globes nominees click here.
