The film Kneecap has received 17 nominations in the 2025 Irish Film & Television Academy Awards, which were announced today (14 January). As well as Best Film, Script and Director nominations, each member of the band – Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí – received a Lead Actor nomination.

Kneecap, which is also on the longlist for the 2025 BAFTA awards, is a semi-fictional biopic of the Belfast Irish-language rap group. It has already won several British Independent Film Awards, the Audience Award at Sundance, and Best Irish Film at the Galway Film Fleadh.

Commenting on the nominations, Proinsias Ní Ghráinne, Commissioning Editor of TG4, Kneecap’s broadcast partner, said:

Kneecap’s astonishing 17 IFTA nominations in best film and in various performance and craft categories is indicative of the powerful creative channel that the Irish language and Irish language production is today. TG4 is privileged to be part of Kneecap’s global success and delighted that this very Irish story will have its Irish home on TG4 for years to come. Comhghairdeas Kneecap, ó neart go neart.

ITMA traditional music documentary
Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s, which was produced by the Irish Traditional Music Archive and premiered at last year’s Dublin International Film Festival, was nominated in the George Morrison Feature Documentary category. The film, directed by Ciarán Ó Maonaigh and presented by Brendan Gleeson, explores the role of Hughes’s pub in Dublin, which has now closed, and includes interviews with musicians who played there over the years.

Original music
In the Original Music category, composers Eímear Noone and Craig Stuart Garfinkle have been nominated for their music for the Christmas film The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh Trailer, directed by Kari Juussonen; Ray Harman was nominated for The Song Cycle, a film directed by singer Nick Kelly that documents his cycling to Glastonbury to perform, exploring issues of sustainability and live music; Sarah Lynch was nominated for her music for the comedy series The Dry, produced by Element Pictures and directed by Paddy Breathnach; David Holmes was nominated for his music for the Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice; and Die Hexen was nominated for her music for the Irish-language horror Fréamhacha/Fréwaka.

The singer Steve Wall was also nominated in the Supporting Actor category for his role in the horror film Oddity.

The full list of categories and nominees can be seen below. The winners will be announced at the 22nd IFTA Awards ceremony taking place on Friday 14 February at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre. For more, visit https://ifta.ie. 

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IFTA Nominees 2025

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 and 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 – Eímear 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
Shögun – Ed Bruce, Andrew Barry