IFTA Film Awards: Our tips to win later tonight

The Irish film industry's big night takes place in Dublin tonight, as the movers, shakers and makers celebrate the work of homegrown talent both here and abroad.

This year, cocaine caper The Young Offenders leads the shortlist with seven nominations, while A Date for Mad Mary and The Siege of Jadotville have also received multiple nods.

Some of Ireland's biggest acting names are also in the running. Oscar nominee Ruth Negga is up for awards in both the film and TV categories for her roles in the movie Loving and TV drama Preacher, while Michael Fassbender is nominated for his role in the drama The Light Between Oceans and Colin Farrell (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) and Brendan Gleeson (Trespass Against Us) are going head-to-head in the Best Supporting Actor category.

Here's who we think will be reeling in the cheers in the Mansion House on Saturday night. For more on IFTA's Drama Award nominees click here.

Best Film
The nominees:
A Date for Mad Mary
Love & Friendship
The Secret Scripture
The Siege of Jadotville
Tomato Red
The Young Offenders
Six films shortlisted but a two-horse race: will it be Mad Mary or those Young Offenders taking home the big gong? In terms of box office clout, the lads from Cork really did show that crime pays last year and for all the emotional excellence of A Date with Mad Mary, we think that momentum will ensure that it's their night at the IFTAs too. They're nominated in seven categories, so don't be surprised to see a wheelbarrow on the red carpet afterwards.

Actor in a Lead Role Film
The nominees:
Jamie Dornan (The Siege of Jadotville)
Michael Fassbender (The Light Between Oceans)
Colm Meaney (The Journey)
Alex Murphy (The Young Offenders)
Mark O'Halloran (History's Future)
With the exception of Young Offenders star Alex Murphy, every nominee here is a previous IFTA winner, so perhaps the Cork newcomer's breakout performance in the comedy will be one of the surprise wins at Saturday's awards show. That said, it's tough to see past Colm Meaney in The Journey, the new film about how the late Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley proved the impossible was possible. It's in cinemas from May 5.

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Actress in a Lead Role Film
The nominees:
Caoilfhionn Dunne (In View)
Seána Kerslake (A Date for Mad Mary)
Aisling Loftus (Property of the State)
Ruth Negga (Loving)
Catherine Walker (A Dark Song)
No disrespect to any of the other nominees, but this was done and dusted before the shortlist was even announced. After Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for her brilliant work in Loving, Ruth Negga will round off a very memorable couple of months by receiving her just reward on home ground. That said, there would be no justice if A Date for Mad Mary's Seána Kerslake went home empty-handed, so we reckon she's a shoo-in for the Rising Star award.

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Actor in a Supporting Role Film
The nominees:
Colin Farrell (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)
Brendan Gleeson (Trespass Against Us)
Ciarán Hinds (Bleed for This)
Jason O'Mara (The Siege of Jadotville)
Chris Walley (The Young Offenders)
Two first-time nominees, Jason O'Mara and Chris Walley, up against three of the biggest names in Irish acting - all IFTA winners in the past. If Young Offenders star Alex Murphy wins - or even misses out on - Best Actor, then perhaps luck will rub off on his movie partner-in-crime Walley too. If not, then Brendan Gleeson's chilling turn in Trespass Against Us is the likely winner for us.

Actress in a Supporting Role Film
The nominees:
Charleigh Bailey (A Date for Mad Mary)
Simone Kirby (Notes on Blindness)
Susan Lynch (Bad Day for the Cut)
Hilary Rose (The Young Offenders)
Fiona Shaw (Out of Innocence)
Susan Lynch is a three-time IFTA winner for Nora, Any Day Now and 16 Years of Alcohol; Simone Kirby was nominated for Jimmy's Hall, with Charleigh Bailey, Hilary Rose and Fiona Shaw all receiving their first nominations this year. That's hard to believe in the case of stage and screen veteran Shaw, and that would appear to give her the edge here.

Director Film
The nominees:
Peter Foott (The Young Offenders)
Jim Sheridan (The Secret Scripture)
Richie Smyth (The Siege of Jadotville)
Darren Thornton (A Date for Mad Mary)
If The Young Offenders wins Best Film does it follow that the man behind the lens, Peter Foott, will win Best Director? In recent years the Oscars have differed in their choice of winners and, if the IFTAs follow suit this year, Foott's strongest challenge comes from A Date for Mad Mary's Darren Thornton. Still, we're plumping for Foott, with Thornton deservedly sharing the Best Screenplay IFTA with his brother Colin.

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International Film
The nominees:
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Both Hidden Figures and Loving deserved to receive a nod instead of Hacksaw Ridge, so we're putting Mel Gibson's film to one side for this shake-up. La La Land, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight would all be deserving winners for different reasons, and along with International Actress this category is the toughest to call - a different answer every day, guaranteed. Right now, we just have the feeling that the La La Land backlash won't have rubbed off too much on IFTA voters and that they'll make a song and dance of it. One thing's for sure: there'll be no bother with the envelope!

International Actor Film
The nominees:
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Denzel Washington (Fences)
As with the Oscars in February, this feels like it's between Casey Affleck and Denzel Washington. Despite a late surge from Washington with a win at the Screen Actors' Guild Awards, Affleck won the Academy Award for his role as the man lost in the fog of grief, and that momentum looks set to continue here.

International Actress Film
The nominees:
Amy Adams (Arrival)
Viola Davis (Fences)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Where do we start? Viola Davis and Emma Stone won the Oscars for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress respectively; Natalie Portman was nominated and Amy Adams didn't even get a look in! This really is the most wide open category, where sticking even a euro on a winner would feel like money thrown away. Cash still in back pocket, we've just a sense that Adams' recent awards luck might turn in Dublin of a Saturday night, and that she'll have an IFTA to go with the two Golden Globes on the mantelpiece. Then again...

IFTA Film Awards: Our tips to win later tonight

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