Wexford make-up artist’s Oscar nod
The famous red carpet of the Oscars ceremony beckons for Ballyhealy, Kilmore woman Julie Caulfield who was a makeup artist on Detainment, the controversial film directed by Vincent Lambe which has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film (Live Action).
Julie is a freelance make-up artist and clothing designer and was the lead make-up artist on the 30-minute movie which was filmed in Dublin and released in January of last year. She is listed in the official credits alongside fellow make-up artist Aitana Silvana.
Detainment which won a Best Director Award for Lambe at Wexford Film Festival last August, is about the detention by police of two 10-year old boys on suspicion of abducting and murdering a toddler and is based on transcripts and records from the James Bulger murder case in 1993.
The two-year old toddler’s killers Jon Venables and Robert Thompson became the youngest convicted murderers in modern British history in an unforgettable case that shocked the world.
The film has proved controversial with James Bulger’s mother Denise complaining that she was not contacted for approval before the project went ahead and arguing that it should be exempt from award nominations.
His father Ralph has accused the film of being overly sympathetic to the killers and is reported as saying that it would be ‘horrific’ if it won an award.
Detainment won the Oscar-qualifying Grand Prix HCA Award at the 43rd Odense International Film Festival in Denmark, putting it on the longlist for the Academy Awards.
The jury said it had ‘a hard time sitting through the entire duration of this film’ and added: ‘It features some extremely clever and at the same time heartbreaking performances from two very young actors. Rarely does one come across a film with an impact such as this one. A look into the unfathomable darkness within us all. A tale of how we all long to be forgiven, long to be loved, no matter how heinous a crime we might have committed’.
Julie has worked as a makeup artist for the past 10 years and has looked after the makeup of well-known people such former American President Bill Clinton and MMA fighter Conor McGregor. She does commercial and film work and is currently in a feature film, Fairytale of New York, starring Jim Belushi and Colin O’Donoghue which is shooting in Dublin where she is based part of the time.
She has shop in Kilmore Quay under the name Julie Caulfield, where she designs and sells clothes including custom made outfits for special occasion.
Julie is planning to travel to Los Angeles for the Oscars ceremony on February 18 with the director and other members of the crew.