The team behind Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap, the fictionalised biopic of the incorrigible west Belfast rap outfit, has yet more cause for celebration with a huge 17 nominations for the upcoming Irish Film and Television Academy (Ifta) awards.
Tim Mielants’s Small Things Like These, a much-admired Claire Keegan adaptation featuring Cillian Murphy, has secured the second most nominations with 10.
Ifta retains its eccentric habit of presenting TV drama and film at the same ceremony. To no great surprise, FX Productions’ acclaimed Say Nothing, a searing tale of the Troubles derived from a Patrick Radden Keefe book, tops the television rankings with 10 nominations. The popular comedy-drama Bad Sisters is in second place there with eight mentions.
The news comes as Kneecap waits to see if its shortlisting for best international film at the Oscars turns into a nomination. The announcement was originally due to be made on January 17th, but this was delayed in response to the fires still troubling Los Angeles to January 19th and then January 23rd. Most Oscar pundits reckon the film has a strong chance of making the final five.
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The film’s performance at international awards has been astonishing. A strong showing at the Iftas was more predictable, but the scale of Kneecap’s dominance remains notable. Seven of the film’s actors are up for awards: Naoise Ó Caireallain, JJ Ó Dochartaigh and Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh in lead actor; Michael Fassbender in supporting actor; Fionnuala Flaherty, Simone Kirby and Jessica Reynolds in supporting actress.
One would, nonetheless, not bet too strongly on it beating Small Things Like These to the best film prize. Since its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival a year ago, that subtle Christmas story, detailing a Wexford coal merchant’s traumatic engagement with a Magdalene laundry, has been picking up rave reviews throughout the globe. It looks to have slipped below the Oscar radar, but Murphy, who won here last year for Oppenheimer, feels like favourite to take the Ifta.
The other titles up for best film – restricted to Irish productions – are Eva Birthistle’s Kathleen Is Here, a domestic drama starring Hazel Doupe; Dermot Malone’s King Frankie, a tale of financial upheaval with Peter Coonan; Brian Durnin’s Spilt Milk, a 1980s Dublin drama starring young Cillian Sullivan, and Ali Abbasi’s Donald Trump origin story The Apprentice. That last film qualifies as a co-production from the Irish company Tailored Films.
It was further announced that Colm Meaney, much-loved actor, is to be presented with the Irish Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement, noting his outstanding contribution to the Irish and international industries.
“The 2025 nominees shortlisted for Irish academy awards this year, is an incredible showcase of skill and talent, in front and behind the camera,” said Áine Moriarty, head of Ifta. “There is absolutely no doubt that Irish talent is among the best in the world, delivering such high standards of acting, filmmaking, and storytelling. The Irish academy is proud to showcase this industry’s great work and to reward their achievements. Congratulations to all the nominees.”
Over the last two years the Ifta ceremony has taken place long after the Oscars in a quiet corner of May or April, but, this year, for the 22nd edition, it moves back to the core of awards season on February 14th at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre. That puts the show two days before the British Academy of Film and Television awards (Bafta) where Kneecap, longlisted in seven categories, should also be competing. The final nominations for those awards are announced Wednesday.
2025 Ifta awards nominations
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
- JJ 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
TV 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
- Timothée 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
- Don’t Forget to Remember
- Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story
- The Flats
- 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 Strange
- 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
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