Set in Belfast in 2019, the film is a semi-fictionalised account of the raucous band’s formation amid a call for more protections for their mother tongue.
After picking up awards at the Sundance and Galway film festivals, it has been nominated for Bifas’ best screenplay and best British independent film gongs.
Band members Mo Chara, Moglai Bap and DJ Provai have received a nod in the best joint lead performance category for playing themselves, while writer-director Rich Peppiatt has been nominated for best director, the Douglas Hickox Award for best debut director and best debut screenwriter.
The film is also nominated in eight craft categories including best casting, best cinematography, best costume design, best editing, best music supervision, best original music, best production design and best sound.
Promoters say the film, which also stars Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender, chronicles how fate brings the trio together and how they then go on to “change the sound of Irish music forever”.
Love Lies Bleeding, a romantic thriller directed by Rose Glass which stars Twilight actress Kristen Stewart, follows behind with 12 nominations.
It has also been nominated for the best British independent film prize as well as best screenplay, best director for Glass and best joint lead performance for Stewart and The Mandalorian actress Katy O’Brian, alongside eight craft nods.
Saoirse Ronan has been nominated for the best lead performance award for her new drama The Outrun (Ian West/PA)
Saoirse Ronan has also been nominated for the best lead performance award for her new drama The Outrun, which has picked up a total of nine nods.
The film about self-discovery and sobriety has also picked up nods in the best British independent film category and best director for Nora Fingscheidt and best screenplay for Fingscheidt and Amy Liptrot, author of the book the film is based on.
Elsewhere, Irish Oscar-nominated actor Barry Keoghan has picked up a nod for best supporting performance for his role in Bird, which follows a teenager with a difficult homelife searching for a way to fly free.
The nominations were announced by actresses Mia McKenna-Bruce and Vivian Oparah on Tuesday at One Hundred Shoreditch, London
Winners will be announced at the Bifa ceremony at the Roundhouse on Sunday December 8.
