Kneecap and Small Things Like These dominate IFTA nominations

Kneecap, the Irish-language biopic about the Belfast rap group of the same name, has emerged as the favorite of this year’s Irish Film & TV Academy (IFTA) awards.

The film, which saw the acting debut of the group — Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and DJ Próvaí — debuted last year at the Sundance Film and has since been met with widespread critical acclaim, being now tipped for both Oscar and BAFTA recognition, and receiving a raucous 17 nominations for the IFTA awards.

These included best film, director and script, among others, as well as each of the members getting the nod for lead actor.

Meanwhile, the Cillian Murphy-fronted and produced Small Things Like These scored 9 nominations, including lead actor for Murphy, who won the award last year for Oppenheimer.

We're proud to announce the nominations for the 2025 IFTA Awards, honouring exceptional achievements in Film and Drama across 29 categories

Award winners will be announced at the 22nd anniversary IFTA Awards Ceremony taking place on Friday, February 14th, 2025

Comhghairdeas! 💚 pic.twitter.com/wiAWtBO1Te

— Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) (@IFTA) January 14, 2025

Ali Abbasi’s Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice, which was co-produced by the Irish company Tailored Films, also received four nominations.

For TV, Disney+’s Say Nothing, the miniseries about Northern Ireland during the Troubles, takes the lead with 10 nominations, followed by the season second of the Sharon Horgan-starring Bad Sisters with 8 nominations.

Other nominees include Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun, Colin Farrell for The Penguin, Paul Mescal for Gladiator 2 and Barry Keoghan for Bird.

The IFTA awards ceremony Award will take place on Feb. 14, 2025 at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre.

FULL LIST OF NOMINEES

FILM CATEGORIES

BEST FILM
Kathleen Is Here
King Frankie
Kneecap
Small Things Like These
Spilt Milk
The Apprentice

DIRECTOR - FILM
Eva Birthistle - Kathleen Is Here
John Crowley - We Live in Time
Brian Durnin - Spilt Milk
Damian McCarthy - Oddity
Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor - Baltimore
Rich Peppiatt - Kneecap

SCRIPT - FILM
Eva Birthistle - Kathleen Is Here
Cara Loftus - Spilt Milk
Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor - Baltimore
Rich Peppiatt - Kneecap
Stephen Shields - Abigail
Enda Walsh - Small Things Like These

LEAD ACTOR - FILM
Peter Coonan - King Frankie
Paul Mescal - Gladiator II
Cillian Murphy - Small Things Like These
Naoise Ó Caireallain - Kneecap
J.J. Ó Dochartaigh - Kneecap
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh - Kneecap

LEAD ACTRESS - FILM
Carolyn Bracken - Oddity
Jessie Buckley - Wicked Little Letters
Hazel Doupe - Kathleen Is Here
Saoirse Ronan - The Outrun
Eileen Walsh - Small Things Like These
Alisha Weir - Abigail

SUPPORTING ACTOR - FILM
Peter Coonan - Kathleen Is Here
Michael Fassbender - Kneecap
Barry Keoghan - Bird
Brían F. O'Byrne - Conclave
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor - Baltimore
Steve Wall - Oddity

SUPPORTING ACTRESS - FILM
Zara Devlin - Small Things Like These
Clare Dunne - Kathleen Is Here
Fionnuala Flaherty - Kneecap
Simone Kirby - Kneecap
Saoirse Ronan - Blitz
Jessica Reynolds - Kneecap

DRAMA CATEGORIES

BEST DRAMA
Bad Sisters
Say Nothing
The Dry
Bodkin
Blue Lights
Crá

DIRECTOR - DRAMA
Paddy Breathnach - The Dry
Brian Kirk - The Day of the Jackal
Michael Lennox - Say Nothing
Lisa Mulcahy - Sanctuary
Hannah Quinn - The Boy That Never Was
Dearbhla Walsh - Bad Sisters

SCRIPT - DRAMA
Baz Ashmawy - Faithless
Ronan Bennett - The Day of the Jackal
Nancy Harris - The Dry
Sharon Horgan - Bad Sisters
Adam Patterson, Declan Lawn - Blue Lights
Kirsten Sheridan, Joshua Zetumer - Say Nothing

LEAD ACTOR - DRAMA
Anthony Boyle - Say Nothing
Colin Farrell - The Penguin
Michael Fassbender - The Agency
Ciarán Hinds - The Dry
Andrew Scott - Ripley
Aidan Turner - Rivals

LEAD ACTRESS - DRAMA
Elaine Cassidy - Sanctuary
Nicola Coughlan - Bridgerton
Siobhán Cullen - Bodkin
Roisin Gallagher- The Dry
Sharon Horgan - Bad Sisters
Lola Petticrew - Say Nothing

SUPPORTING ACTOR - DRAMA
Anthony Boyle - Masters of the Air
Liam Cunningham - 3 Body Problem
Michael Smiley - Bad Sisters
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor - Say Nothing
Chris Walley - Bodkin
David Wilmot - Bodkin

SUPPORTING ACTRESS - DRAMA
Siobhán Cullen - The Dry
Hazel Doupe - Say Nothing
Eve Hewson - Bad Sisters
Ruth Negga - Presumed Innocent
Fiona Shaw - Bad Sisters
Victoria Smurfit - Rivals

INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARD CATEGORIES

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Anora
Conclave
Dune Part Two
The Brutalist
The Outrun
The Substance

BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTOR
Adrien Brody - The Brutalist
Timothee Chalamet - A Complete Unknown
Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain
Ralph Fiennes - Conclave
Sebastian Stan - The Apprentice
Denzel Washington - Gladiator II

BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo - Wicked
Angelina Jolie - Maria
Mikey Madison - Anora
Demi Moore - The Substance
Florence Pugh - We Live in Time
Emily Watson - Small Things Like These

OTHER AWARD CATEGORIES

GEORGE MORRISON FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Face Down: The Disappearance of Thomas Niedermayer
Don't Forget to Remember
Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story
The Flats
Mrs Robinson
Brendan Gleeson's Farewell to Hughes's

LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
Clodagh
Farmers!?
Room Taken
Turnaround
Two Mothers
We Beg to Differ
Wife of the Future
Wrecker

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Dembaya
Every Other Weekend
Homebird
Nightpay

CRAFT CATEGORIES

CASTING
Baltimore - Emma Gunnery
Bodkin - Louise Kiely
Kneecap - Carla Stronge
Say Nothing - Lucy Amos, Nina Gold
Small Things Like These - Maureen Hughes

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Bird - Robbie Ryan
Fréwaka - Narayan Van Maele
Kneecap - Ryan Kernaghan
Say Nothing - Stephen Murphy
The Penguin - Darran Tiernan

COSTUME DESIGN
Abigail - Gwen Jeffares Hourie
House of the Dragon - Caroline McCall
Kneecap - Zjena Glamocanin
Spilt Milk - Gwen Jeffares Hourie
Vikings Valhalla - Susan O'Connor-Cave

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Abigail - Susie Cullen
Bodkin - Paki Smith
Kneecap - Nicola Moroney
The Tourist - Philip Murphy
Vikings Valhalla - Tom Conroy

HAIR & MAKE-UP
Abigail - Linda Gannon, Liz Byrne
Kneecap - Liz Boston
Small Things Like These - Lorraine Glynn, Lynn Johnston
The Apprentice - Sandra Kelly, Tom McInerney
Vikings Valhalla - Joe Whelan, Tom McInerney

SOUND
Abigail - Hugh Fox
Blackshore - John 'Bob' Brennan, Mark Henry, Fionan Higgins
Kneecap - Aza Hand, Brendan Rehill, Chris Woodcock
Oddity - Aza Hand, Hugo Parvery
Small Things Like These - Hugh Fox, Senjan Jansen

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Fréwaka - Die Hexen
The Apprentice - David Holmes
The Dry - Sarah Lynch
The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa's Sleigh - Eimear Noone, Craig Stuart Garfinkle
The Song Cycle - Ray Harman

EDITING
Bad Sisters - Derek Holland
Kathleen Is Here - Colin Campbell
Kneecap - Julian Ulrichs & Chris Gill
Paddington in Peru - Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
Say Nothing - Edel McDonnell

VFX
3 Body Problem - Ed Bruce, Liam Neville
Bodkin - John Kennedy, Lisa Maher
Sanctuary - Dan Cullen
IFTA - Ed Bruce, Andrew Barry