Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Stone, Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley, Among Irish Film & TV Awards Winners

Christy won the best film and three other honors at the Irish Film & Television Awards 2026 during a ceremony in Dublin on Friday. 

The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) also honored Hamnet as the best international film and in three additional categories. Christy director Brendan Canty was named the best director. Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Leonardo DiCaprio, Éanna Hardwicke and Kerry Condon were among the award winners in the acting categories.

Meanwhile, in IFTA’s TV categories, Blue Lights was honored as the best drama series.

The nominations had been led by David Michôd‘s boxing drama Christy, starring Sydney Sweeney, with 14 noms, soccer drama Saipan, co-directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn and starring Steve Coogan, Éanna Hardwicke, and Alice Lowe, with 12, as well as Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon with Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley with eight.

At the end of Friday’s IFTA ceremony, hosted by comedian and actor Kevin McGahern, iconic, Oscar-nominated Irish actor Ciarán Hinds (Belfast) was honored with the Irish Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement for his “outstanding Irish and international acting achievements, and his contribution to the screen industry across 50 years.” 

Below is the full list of honorees at the IFTAs 2026, with winners highlighted in bold.

FILM CATEGORIES

BEST FILM

Aontas

Blue Moon

Christy

Four Mothers

Saipan

Steve

DIRECTOR – FILM

Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn – Saipan

Brendan Canty – Christy

Myrid Carten – A Want in Her

Lorcan Finnegan – The Surfer

Ruán Magan – Báite

Edwin Mullane, Adam O’Keeffe – Horseshoe

SCRIPT FILM

Sarah Gordon, Damian McCann – Aontas

Maggie O’Farrell, Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Alan O’Gorman – Christy

Sheena Lambert – Báite

Darren Thornton, Colin Thornton – Four Mothers

Enda Walsh – Die My Love

LEAD ACTOR – FILM

Steve Coogan – Saipan

Daniel Day-Lewis – Anemone

Colin Farrell – Ballad of a Small Player

Éanna Hardwicke – Saipan

Cillian Murphy – Steve

Daniel Power – Christy

LEAD ACTRESS – FILM

Jessie Buckley – Hamnet

Carolyn Bracken – Horseshoe

Carrie Crowley – Aontas

Fionnula Flanagan – Four Mothers

Eleanor O’Brien – Báite

Fiona Shaw – Hot Milk

SUPPORTING ACTOR – FILM

Liam Cunningham – Palestine 36

Jamie Forde – Christy

Paul Mescal – Hamnet

Diarmuid Noyes – Christy

Seán T. Ó Meallaigh – Aontas

Andrew Scott – Blue Moon

SUPPORTING ACTRESS – FILM

Brid Brennan – Aontas

Kerry Condon – F1

Sarah Greene – Trad

Dearbhla Molloy – Four Mothers

Kerry Condon – Train Dreams 

Emma Willis – Christy

DRAMA CATEGORIES

BEST DRAMA

Blue Lights

Leonard and Hungry Paul

Trespasses

The Walsh Sisters

Wednesday season 2 

The Young Offenders

DIRECTOR DRAMA

Rachel Carey – Obituary 

Megan K Fox – Video Nasty

Oonagh Kearney – The Au Pair

Mia Mullarkey – Hidden Assets 

Hugh O’Conor – Showkids

Aisling Walsh – Miss Austen

SCRIPT DRAMA

Peter Foott – The Young Offenders

Ailbhe Keogan – Trespasses

Declan Lawn, Adam Patterson – Blue Lights

Cara Loftus – Hidden Assets

Stefanie Preissner – The Walsh Sisters

Hugh Travers – Video Nasty

LEAD ACTOR – DRAMA

Anthony Boyle – House of Guinness

Pierce Brosnan – MobLand

Domhnall Gleeson – The Paper

Martin McCann – Blue Lights

Aaron Monaghan – Hidden Assets

Alex Murphy – The Young Offenders

LEAD ACTRESS – DRAMA

Niamh Algar – The Iris Affair

Caitriona Balfe – Outlander

Siobhán Cullen – Obituary

Louisa Harland – The Walsh Sisters

Nora-Jane Noone – Hidden Assets

Lola Petticrew – Trespasses

SUPPORTING ACTOR – DRAMA

Jack Gleeson – House of Guinness

Cal O’Driscoll – Video Nasty

Dónall Ó Héalai – Hidden Assets

Fionn O’Shea – House of Guinness

Aidan Quinn – The Walsh Sisters

Chris Walley – The Young Offenders

SUPPORTING ACTRESS – DRAMA

Cathy Belton – Hidden Assets

Ruth Bradley – Slow Horses

Katherine Devlin – Blue Lights

Danielle Galligan – House of Guinness

Alison Oliver – Task

Genevieve O’Reilly – Andor

RISING STAR AWARD

Carolyn Bracken (Actor – Horseshoe, Oddity)

Brendan Canty (Director – Christy, Gealtra)

Myrid Carten (Director – A Want in Her)

Louisa Harland (Actor – The Walsh Sisters, Derry Girls)

INTERNATIONAL CATEGORIES

INTERNATIONAL FILM

Bugonia 

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Palestine ’36

Sentimental Value

Sinners

INTERNATIONAL ACTOR

Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another

Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

Michael B Jordan – Sinners

James McArdle – Four Mothers

Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

Jesse Plemons – Bugonia

INTERNATIONAL ACTRESS

Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another

Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love

Margaret Qualley – Blue Moon

Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

Emma Stone – Bugonia

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

DOCUMENTARY & SHORT FILM CATEGORIES

GEORGE MORRISON FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

A Want in Her

The Essence of Eva

Listen To The Land Speak

Sanatorium

Testimony

Útoipe Cheilteach

Redbreast Unhidden SHORT FILM

The Ban

No Mean City

No Time Wasters

Nostalgie

Punt

Three Keenings

ANIMATED SHORT

Éiru

Inside, The Valley Sings

Rerooted

Retirement Plan

CRAFT CATEGORIES

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Bugonia – Robbie Ryan 

Christy – Colm Hogan 

Die My Love – Seamus McGarvey 

Saipan – Piers McGrail 

Severance – Suzie Lavelle 

CASTING

Christy – Amy Rowan 

Four Mothers – Louise Kiely 

The Rainmaker – Emma Gunnery 

Ready Or Not – Maureen Hughes, Alison Crosbie 

Saipan – Aine O’Sullivan

COSTUME DESIGN

Blue Moon – Consolata Boyle

Christy – Hannah Bury 

Four Mothers – Joan O’Clery 

Saipan – Lara Campbell 

Video Nasty – Joanne O’Brien 

EDITING

Blue Lights – Helen Sheridan 

Christy – Allyn Quigley 

House of Guinness – Ben Yeates 

Saipan – John Murphy, Gavin Buckley 

The Surfer – Tony Cranstoun

Sculpted by Aimee MAKE-UP & HAIR

Blue Moon – Linda Gannon, Liz Byrne 

Christy – Jennie Readman, Edwina Kelly

Saipan – Polly McKay 

Trespasses – Natalie Reid

Wednesday – Lynn Johnston

ORIGINAL MUSIC

Aontas – Daithí Ó Drónaí 

Báite – Eimear Noone, Craig Stuart Garfinkle

Christy – Daithí Ó Drónaí 

Saipan – David Holmes, Brian Irvine

Video Nasty – Die Hexen

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Blue Moon – Susie Cullen (Production Designer), Kevin Downey (Set Decorator) 

Christy – Martin Goulding (Production Designer) 

Saipan – John Leslie (Production Designer)

Wednesday – Philip Murphy (Production Designer), Neville Gaynor (Set Decorator) 

Video Nasty – Tara O’Reilly (Production Designer) 

SOUND

Anemone – Steve Fanagan 

Blue Moon – Hugh Fox 

Saipan – Tim Harrison, Andrew Graham, Paul Maynes 

The Surfer – Aza Hand 

Video Nasty – Patrick Downey

VFX

Anemone – Tom Fagan

Foundation – Ed Bruce, Andrew Barry

House of Guinness – Eoin O’Sullivan, David Sewell

One Battle After Another – Ed Bruce, Amrei Bronnenmayer

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