A film about the IRA Hunger Strike of 1981 is among the Northern Ireland movie and TV projects up for prizes at the Irish Film and Television Awards.

Hunger, starring Michael Fassbender (pictured) as Bobby Sands, has already won a string of accolades, including the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Fassbender, who was born in Germany and grew up in Co Kerry, is nominated for the best leading actor prize. Northern Ireland actor Stuart Graham, who played prison officer Ray Lohan, is nominated in the best supporting actor category along with Liam Cunningham for his role as Father Moran.

Belfast DJ David Holmes is nominated for his score for Hunger and his score for Cherrybomb, shot in Northern Ireland and starring Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint.

Northern Ireland animation company Flickerpix received two nominations for Days Like This and On the Air, an animation inspired by Gerry Anderson’s weekday mornings Radio Ulster show.

BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight is nominated in the current affairs category for A Lost Boy, about the murder of 10-year-old Brian McDermott in Belfast in 1973.

City of Ember, a children’s science fiction film which was filmed in Belfast and starred Bill Murray and Tim Robbins, is also up for a gong with Co Wexford actress Saoirse Ronan nominated for her role in the movie.

Hunger was filmed in Northern Ireland and financed through the Northern Ireland Screen Fund, supported by Invest NI.

It will compete for the best feature film award against 32A, The Escapist, Kisses and A Film With Me In It, which starred comedian Dylan Moran.

Fassbender was also honoured by the British Academy for Film and Theatrical Arts (BAFTA) with a nomination for the Rising Star Award, sponsored by Orange.

Hunger is also nominated in the script, original score, production design and sound categories.