Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Jessie Buckley among winners at virtual IFTAs

Culture
19 Oct 20

Tom Vaughan-Lawlor picked up an award for Best Actor in 'Rialto'. The film, about a man grieving the death of his father, also saw Mark O'Halloran awarded for Best Scriptwriter.

Sunday night's IFTAs were a little different, with A-listers beaming in virtually to accept and present awards for excellence in the Irish Film & TV industry.

Among those presenting at the awards were Normal People stars Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones, Liam Neeson, and Pierce Brosnan.

Edgar-Jones and Mescal presented the award for best Short Film and best Animated Short, noting the excellent track record of Ireland's short filmmakers at Hollywood awards ceremonies like The Oscars. Mescal announced that this year's winner was Welcome to a Bright White Limbo, while the award for Best Animated Short went to The Dream Report.

Pierce Brosnan presented an award to Niamh Algar, for Best Supporting Actress in a Film for Calm with Horses.

Accepting the award Algar praised the increased representation of women on screen: "I got into acting because I wanted to bring representation to women on screen. And every female actress here tonight is doing that. And it makes me incredibly proud to be an Irish actress so thank you very much IFTA."

Aisling Franciosi won the Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland Rising Star Award for her standout performance in The Nightingale.

Accepting the award, she said: "This is actually a huge surprise and I'm honoured to be next to Niamh, Lee, Andy and Ryan. I'm always really proud of the work and the talent coming out of Ireland, and to get this award from home is really, really lovely".

Jessie Buckley won two awards, including Best Actress in a Film, for her work in Wild Rose, and Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for Chernobyl.

Andrew Scott Zoomed into the ceremony to accept an award for his role in Black Mirror: Smithereens.

Ordinary Love, starring Liam Neeson and Leslie Manville picked up the award for Best Film, which was presented by Martin Scorsese. The legendary director also presented the Best Film 2019 IFTA to Black '47, which is set during the Famine and stars James Frecheville.

Look at the complete list of winners below:

BEST FILM 2020: Ordinary Love

BEST FILM 2019: Black '47

DIRECTOR FILM: Paddy Breathnach - Rosie

SCRIPTWRITER FILM: Mark O'Halloran - Rialto

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE - FILM: Tom Vaughan-Lawlor - Rialto

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE - FILM: Jessie Buckley - Wild Rose

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - FILM: David Wilmot - Ordinary Love

ACTRESS SUPPORTING ROLE - FILM: Niamh Algar - Calm with Horses

GEORGE MORRISON FEATURE DOCUMENTARY: The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid

IRISH FILM BOARD RISING STAR: Aisling Franciosi

SHORT FILM – LIVE ACTION: Welcome to a Bright White Limbo