‘Christy’ Takes Top Film Prize At IFTAs; Jesse Buckley & Paul Mescal Win Acting Awards
The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) have crowned their winners at a ceremony in Dublin last night.
The evening featured appearances from talent including Jessie Buckley, Cillian Murphy, Steve Coogan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anthony Boyle, Niamh Algar, Aidan Quinn and Alison Oliver.
Cork-based drama Christy won a number of the top awards including Best Film, with director Brendan Canty taking home Director – Film, Allyn Quigley winning for Editing and Amy Rowan winning for Casting.
Christy, starring Daniel Power and Diarmuid Noyes, follows a young Cork man who leaves the foster system and seeks independence as he discovers his calling as a hairdresser.
Jessie Buckley won Lead Actress for her performance in Hamnet, for which she is also nominated at the upcoming Oscars and BAFTAs, while Chloé Zhao’s film also won Best Supporting Actor for Paul Mescal, and International Film and Script Film (shared between Irish author Maggie O’Farrell and Zhao).
Jessie Buckley said: “Growing up in Ireland, the very nature of storytelling, of music, of art, was the source that I grew up from. It was a way of life. It is a way of community. It was such a dream to step into the soul of this incredible woman, Agnes, who I really recognised in the women that I grew up around in Ireland – women who have a language on to their own, bodies that are rooted from the ground and a fierce tenderness to love and be loved.”
Cork actor Éanna Harwicke took home the Award for Actor in a Lead Role for his performance as Roy Keane in Saipan, while Kerry Condon won Actress in a Supporting Role for her role opposite Brad Pitt in F1.
On the TV Drama side, Belfast police drama Blue Lights won Best Drama for its third season, with Rachel Carey winning Best Director – Drama for Obituary and Ailbhe Keogan winning Best Script – Drama for Trespasses.
Last year’s Rising Star Winner, Anthony Boyle, won Lead Actor in a Drama for House of Guinness, while Lola Petticrew won Lead Actress in a Drama for Trespasses. Alison Oliver, star of Wuthering Heights, won Supporting Actress in a Drama for HBO crime series Task, while Chris Walley won Supporting Actor in a Drama for the fourth season of The Young Offenders.
Iconic Irish actor Ciarán Hinds was presented with the Irish Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, for his outstanding contribution to the Irish and international screen industry, across both film and television.
Louisa Harland, star of The Walsh Sisters and Derry Girls, was announced as the 2025 Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland IFTA Rising Star.
International Actress went to Emma Stone in Bugonia, produced by Ireland’s Element Pictures, and International Actor went to Leonardo Di Caprio in One Battle After Another.
The George Morrison Feature Documentary Award went to A Want in Her, with Best Cinematography awarded to Seamus McGarvey for his work on Die My Love.
Best Live Action Short Film was awarded to Nostalgie, while Retirement Plan won Best Animated Short.
Eoin O’Sullivan and David Sewell won VFX for House of Guinness, with Natalie Reid winning Hair & Makeup for her work on Trespasses.
The award for Original Music went to Eimear Noone and Craig Stuart Garfinkle for Báite, and Consolata Boyle won Costume Design for Blue Moon, while Philip Murphy (Production Designer) and Neville Gaynor (Set Decorator) won in the Production Design category for the Ireland-shot second season of Netflix’s Wednesday; and Steve Fanagan and Stevie Haywood won Best Bound for Anemone.
