Fair play.

Irish drama Belfast has been shortlisted for an Academy Award ahead of the full list of nominees is released. Kenneth Branagh's semi-autobiographical film has been receiving great reviews before even hitting cinema screens and has since been shortlisted for the prestigious award. The film has been shortlisted in the Original Song category for Down to Joy by Van Morrison which plays as the film opens. It has also been shortlisted in the Sound category as well as the Original Song category, but while the 2022 nominations are yet to be announced, it is expected to nab a nice few awards. Belfast stars Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds and is set in the late 1960s Northern Ireland, telling the story of the impact of the Troubles. The shortlists have been announced for 10 different categories as Academy members are now set to vote on the ones that should receive nominations. So far Documentary Feature; International Film; Animated, Live Action, and Documentary Shorts; Makeup and Hairstyling; Music Score; Original Song; Sound; and Visual Effects have been shortlisted. No Time To Die and Dune are in the lead so far, being shortlisted in four categories each, with the James Bond film up for make-up and styling, music (original song), sound and visual effects while Dune is up for the same categories. Spider-Man: No Way Home is up for sound and visual effects alongside Black Widow, Eternals and Shang Chi: Legend Of The Ten Rings. The Power Of The Dog was shortlisted for music (original score) and sound while Billie Eilish is up for two, one for her The World's A Little Blurry and her Bond theme No Time To Die that she wrote along with her brother Finneas O'Connell. Official nominations are set to be announced on February 8th and the Oscars are expected to take place on March 27th.