Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap leads the nominations for the 2025 Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) Awards with 17, including Best Film. Also nominated for Best Film are Kathleen Is Here, King Frankie, Small Things Like These, Spilt Milk, and The Apprentice.
Nominated for Best International Film are Anora, Conclave, Dune Part Two, The Brutalist, The Outrun, and The Substance.
In the Lead Actor in Film category, J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh and Naoise Ó Caireallain of Kneecap are nominated along with Peter Coonan for King Frankie, Paul Mescal for Gladiator II, and Cillian Murphy for Small Things Like These.
Nominated for Lead Actress in Film are Jessie Buckley for Wicked Little Letters, Hazel Doupe for Kathleen Is Here, Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun, Eileen Walsh for Small Things Like These, and Alisha Weir for Abigail.
Award winners will be announced at the 22nd anniversary IFTA Awards Ceremony taking place on Friday, February 14th, 2025. This year, actor Colm Meaney will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his extraordinary contributions to cinema and television.
Academy CEO, Áine Moriarty said, “The 2025 Nominees shortlisted for Irish Academy Awards this year, is an incredible showcase of work that reinforces the fact that Irish talent is now amongst the best in the world, delivering such high standards of filmmaking, storytelling and performances that resonate with audiences worldwide. The Irish Academy is proud to showcase their great work and reward their achievements. Congratulations to all the Nominees – so well deserved!”
Irish Academy Awards – Nominations 2025
FILM CATEGORIES
BEST FILM
Kathleen Is Here
King Frankie
Kneecap
Small Things Like These
Spilt Milk
The Apprentice
DIRECTOR – FILM
Eva Birthistle – Kathleen Is Here
John Crowley – We Live in Time
Brian Durnin – Spilt Milk
Damian McCarthy – Oddity
Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor – Baltimore
Rich Peppiatt- Kneecap
SCRIPT – FILM
Eva Birthistle – Kathleen Is Here
Cara Loftus – Spilt Milk
Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor – Baltimore
Rich Peppiatt – Kneecap
Stephen Shields – Abigail
Enda Walsh – Small Things Like These
LEAD ACTOR – FILM
Peter Coonan – King Frankie
Paul Mescal – Gladiator II
Cillian Murphy – Small Things Like These
Naoise Ó Caireallain – Kneecap
J.J. Ó Dochartaigh – Kneecap
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – Kneecap
LEAD ACTRESS – FILM
Carolyn Bracken – Oddity
Jessie Buckley – Wicked Little Letters
Hazel Doupe – Kathleen Is Here
Saoirse Ronan – The Outrun
Eileen Walsh – Small Things Like These
Alisha Weir – Abigail
SUPPORTING ACTOR – FILM
Peter Coonan – Kathleen Is Here
Michael Fassbender – Kneecap
Barry Keoghan – Bird
Brían F. O’Byrne – Conclave
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor – Baltimore
Steve Wall – Oddity
SUPPORTING ACTRESS – FILM
Zara Devlin – Small Things Like These
Clare Dunne – Kathleen Is Here
Fionnuala Flaherty – Kneecap
Simone Kirby – Kneecap
Saoirse Ronan – Blitz
Jessica Reynolds – Kneecap
DRAMA CATEGORIES
BEST DRAMA
Bad Sisters
Say Nothing
The Dry
Bodkin
Blue Lights
Crá
DIRECTOR – DRAMA
Paddy Breathnach – The Dry
Brian Kirk – The Day of the Jackal
Michael Lennox – Say Nothing
Lisa Mulcahy – Sanctuary
Hannah Quinn – The Boy That Never Was
Dearbhla Walsh – Bad Sisters
SCRIPT – DRAMA
Baz Ashmawy – Faithless
Ronan Bennett – The Day of the Jackal
Nancy Harris – The Dry
Sharon Horgan – Bad Sisters
Adam Patterson, Declan Lawn – Blue Lights
Kirsten Sheridan, Joshua Zetumer – Say Nothing
LEAD ACTOR – DRAMA
Anthony Boyle – Say Nothing
Colin Farrell – The Penguin
Michael Fassbender – The Agency
Ciarán Hinds – The Dry
Andrew Scott – Ripley
Aidan Turner – Rivals
LEAD ACTRESS – DRAMA
Elaine Cassidy – Sanctuary
Nicola Coughlan – Bridgerton
Siobhán Cullen – Bodkin
Roisin Gallagher- The Dry
Sharon Horgan – Bad Sisters
Lola Petticrew – Say Nothing
SUPPORTING ACTOR – DRAMA
Anthony Boyle – Masters of the Air
Liam Cunningham – 3 Body Problem
Michael Smiley – Bad Sisters
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor – Say Nothing
Chris Walley – Bodkin
David Wilmot – Bodkin
SUPPORTING ACTRESS – DRAMA
Siobhán Cullen – The Dry
Hazel Doupe – Say Nothing
Eve Hewson – Bad Sisters
Ruth Negga – Presumed Innocent
Fiona Shaw – Bad Sisters
Victoria Smurfit – Rivals
INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARD CATEGORIES
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Anora
Conclave
Dune Part Two
The Brutalist
The Outrun
The Substance
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTOR
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothee Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice
Denzel Washington – Gladiator II
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Angelina Jolie – Maria
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance
Florence Pugh – We Live in Time
Emily Watson – Small Things Like These
OTHER AWARD CATEGORIES
GEORGE MORRISON FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Face Down: The Disappearance of Thomas Niedermayer
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story
Mrs Robinson
Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s
LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
Clodagh
Farmers!?
Room Taken
Turnaround
Two Mothers
We Beg to Differ
Wife of the Future
Wrecker
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Dembaya
Every Other Weekend
Homebird
Nightpay
CRAFT CATEGORIES
CASTING
Baltimore – Emma Gunnery
Bodkin – Louise Kiely
Kneecap – Carla Stronge
Say Nothing – Lucy Amos, Nina Gold
Small Things Like These – Maureen Hughes
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Bird – Robbie Ryan
Fréwaka – Narayan Van Maele
Kneecap – Ryan Kernaghan
Say Nothing – Stephen Murphy
The Penguin – Darran Tiernan
COSTUME DESIGN
Abigail – Gwen Jeffares Hourie
House of the Dragon – Caroline McCall
Kneecap – Zjena Glamocanin
Spilt Milk – Gwen Jeffares Hourie
Vikings Valhalla – Susan O’Connor-Cave
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Abigail – Susie Cullen
Bodkin – Paki Smith
Kneecap – Nicola Moroney
The Tourist – Philip Murphy
Vikings Valhalla – Tom Conroy
HAIR & MAKE-UP
Abigail – Linda Gannon, Liz Byrne
Kneecap – Liz Boston
Small Things Like These – Lorraine Glynn, Lynn Johnston
The Apprentice – Sandra Kelly, Tom McInerney
Vikings Valhalla – Joe Whelan, Tom McInerney
SOUND
Abigail – Hugh Fox
Blackshore – John ‘Bob’ Brennan, Mark Henry, Fionan Higgins
Kneecap – Aza Hand, Brendan Rehill, Chris Woodcock
Oddity – Aza Hand, Hugo Parvery
Small Things Like These – Hugh Fox, Senjan Jansen
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Fréwaka – Die Hexen
The Apprentice – David Holmes
The Dry – Sarah Lynch
The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh – Eimear Noone, Craig Stuart Garfinkle
The Song Cycle – Ray Harman
EDITING
Bad Sisters – Derek Holland
Kathleen Is Here – Colin Campbell
Kneecap – Julian Ulrichs & Chris Gill
Paddington in Peru – Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
Say Nothing – Edel McDonnell
VFX
3 Body Problem – Ed Bruce, Liam Neville
Bodkin – John Kennedy, Lisa Maher
Sanctuary – Dan Cullen
Shögun – Ed Bruce, Andrew Barry