The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) has unveiled the nominations for the 2026 IFTA Awards, recognising work across Film and Drama in 29 categories.
Winners will be announced at the 23rd IFTA Awards Ceremony on Friday, 20 February at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre, hosted for a second year by comedian, actor and broadcaster Kevin McGahern.
Cork-set coming-of-age drama Christy leads the film categories with 14 nominations, including in the Best Film, acting and directing races. Saipan follows with 12 nominations, while Blue Moon has eight, Four Mothers has seven and Irish-language feature Aontas has six.
Watch: Trailer for Christy
Chloé Zhao's Hamnet has four nominations, including Jessie Buckley in the Lead Actress category for her performance as Agnes Hathaway, Paul Mescal in Supporting Actor, International Film and a screenplay nomination for Maggie O’Farrell with Zhao, adapted from O’Farrell’s novel.
In the drama categories, the Best Drama nominees include Blue Lights (Season 3), Leonard and Hungry Paul, Trespasses, The Walsh Sisters, Wednesday (Season 2) and The Young Offenders (Season 4).
IFTA said there is a record number of women nominated in directing categories this year, including Rachel Carey (Obituary), Megan K Fox (Video Nasty), Oonagh Kearney (The Au Pair), Mia Mullarkey (Hidden Assets), Aisling Walsh (Showkids), debut director Myrid Carten (A Want in Her), and Lisa Barros D’Sa, who co-directed Saipan with Glenn Leyburn.
Watch: Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal talk to RTÉ Entertainment
The male directing nominees include debut filmmakers Brendan Canty (Christy) and Edwin Mullane and Adam O’Keeffe (Horseshoe), alongside Lorcan Finnegan (The Surfer), Ruán Magan (Báite) and Hugh O’Conor (Showkids).
The Academy also noted seven first-time acting nominees this year, including Daniel Power, Emma Willis and Jamie Forde (Christy), Cal O’Driscoll (Video Nasty), Louisa Harland (The Walsh Sisters), Eleanor O’Brien (Báite) and Katherine Devlin (Blue Lights).
This year, actor Ciarán Hinds will receive the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to film and television.
Speaking on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1, academy CEO Áine Moriarty said it is "a fantastic time for the Irish screen industry right now".
"Our talent here at home is doing so well, and we can see production at a very high level here in Ireland," she said. "But our talent - as you can all see in the home industry, the home audience will know - is also doing so well internationally, with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, and so many others, Cillian Murphy and all these people blazing a storm for us internationally."
Moriarty added that it will be terrific to have the actors back in Ireland next month to mark their success and achievements.
"It's wonderful to have them all back home in February to celebrate the industry and the success of what we’ve been doing," she said.
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Further details of the ceremony, including guest presenters, Rising Star nominees and international guests, are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
The Irish Academy Awards are funded by Screen Ireland and Coimisiún na Meán.
Full list of nominees:
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
