Kneecap's DJ Próvaí has said it is "massive" that their titular music biopic has been shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars.
The rap trio have also been shortlisted in the Best Original Song category for their track Sick In The Head.
The musician, whose real name is J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, said that the band heard about their film being shortlisted for an Oscar after getting a "big golden letter in the post".
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Kneecap is the second-ever Irish language film and the third Irish film in general to make the shortlist for for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars.
DJ Próvaí commented: "It’s massive for the Irish language community, and it's great that minority languages and cultures are having a bit of a revival now, and people are getting back to their roots.
"People from indigenous cultures and communities around the world have been resonating with it and reconnecting with their own heritage, and using the film as a stepping stone to learn their own languages".
The musician said that acting was "really easy" and that his message to the Academy was that they needed to "up their game" if three working-class men from Derry and Belfast could get nominated on their first try.
He said that he hoped they had nice goody bags at the awards, and that if Kneecap go to Hollywood, they’ll "teach them the wrongs of their ways".
"It'll be good to get over there and rub shoulders with some of these people," he said.
"I’d look forward to meeting Samuel L Jackson, he’d be good craic I’d say. We’d get him over and tell him to get a ticket for the next Kneecap show".
He added that he had no regrets at all about giving up his job as a teacher.
"People who I was working with in the school, and a lot of the students have gone on to be Irish teachers themselves now... they've been saying that they've been showing some of the clips to students, and it's been inspiring them. So job done on that front.
"I think we're reaching more people doing what we're doing at the minute".
The comedy-drama, which depicts the rise of the West Belfast hip-hop trio, has had a spectacular year after winning the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and sweeping seven gongs at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).
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