Anthony Boyle wins Best Actor at Rome Film Fest for I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

Irish actor Anthony Boyle won the award for Best Actor at the Rome Film Fest on Saturday, for his part in I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning - which also won Best Film.

He tied for the spot with Paolo Pierobon for his role in Italian drama Brianza.

Directed by Clio Barnard, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning is set in Birmingham and follows five childhood friends facing "adult struggles."

Boyle plays Patrick, whose relationship with Shiv, played by Lola Petticrew, "strains over a secret." Meanwhile, "Oli parties destructively, Conor awaits fatherhood with business dreams and wealthy Rian can't escape his past despite moving away," reads the official summary.

The Rome awards follow the film's world premiere in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, where it received the People's Choice Award.

Elsewhere in the competition, Rafiki Fariala received Best Director for Congo Boy, while Victoria Luengo won Best Actress for Saints. The Grand Jury Prize went to Tim Blake Nelson's The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd.

The jury was chaired by Polish director and screenwriter Jan Komasa, joined by actresses Alice Braga and Saja Kilani, alongside filmmakers Carlos Marques-Marcet and Alessio Rigo de Righi.

The film festival presented 194 films across 527 screenings. Its next edition will take place from October 19 to 31, 2027.

Meanwhile, Boyle is set to star in The Altruists, an eight-episode Netflix series about the real-life story of Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison, out November 19.

He will also feature on season two of House of Guinness, which is set to commence filming in January 2027.