Christy and Saipan lead 2026 IFTA nominations
Posted: 20th January 2026
The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) has unveiled the nominations for the 2026 IFTA Awards, honouring exceptional achievements in Film and Drama across 29 categories. Culminating months of dedicated viewing and deliberating by Academy Members and expert juries, this year's nominees reflect Ireland's unparalleled storytelling on the global stage throughout the past year.
Award winners will be announced at the 23rd anniversary IFTA Awards Ceremony taking place on Friday, February 20th, 2026 at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre, hosted for the second year running by comedian, actor and broadcaster Kevin McGahern. This prestigious event will welcome Irish and international industry luminaries, celebrating artistic and technical brilliance while spotlighting the profound impact of Irish filmmaking craft and storytelling both domestically and globally. This year, actor Ciarán Hinds will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his extraordinary contributions to cinema and television.
The Awards are proudly supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Coimisiún na Meán.
Academy CEO, Áine Moriarty said:
What a superb lineup of Nominees this year shortlisted for Irish Academy Awards. This incredible showcase of work reinforces the fact that Irish talent is truly amongst the best in the world, working both in front and behind the camera across the globe. We look forward to rewarding their work and achievements at the Ceremony on February 20th."
The Screen Ireland supported Cork-set drama Christy leads the film categories with 14 nominations, followed closely by Saipan with 12 nominations. Blue Moon, Four Mothers and Aontas are also leaders in the film categories, while TV nominees include Leonard and Hungry Paul, The Walsh Sisters and Wednesday Season 2. Several Screen Ireland supported films also feature in the short films categories, including Nicky Larkin's Punt and the Oscar-shortlisted Retirement Plan and Éiru. Our sincere congratulations to all the nominees.
Find the full list of nominees below:
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 S2
- 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
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 SHORT FILM AWARD
- 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
- Saipan - Aine O'Sullivan
COSTUME DESIGN
- Blue Moon - Consolata Boyle
- Christy - Hannah Bury
- Four Mothers - Joan O'Cleary
- 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, Kevin Downey
- Christy - Martin Goulding
- Saipan - John Leslie
- Wednesday - Philip Murphy, Neville Gaynor
- Video Nasty - Tara O'Reilly
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