“Kneecap” — the Irish-language music biopic that became one of the buzziest indie films of 2024 and is now tipped for both Oscar and BAFTA recognition — has, perhaps unsurprisingly, emerged far ahead of the pack of nominees for the 2025 Irish Film & TV Academy (IFTA) awards.
Rich Peppiatt’s raucous comedy, about (and starring) the Belfast rap trio of the same name, has landed an astonishing 17 nominations for the awards, including best film, director, three of the six slots for lead actor, three of the six for supporting actress and one for Michael Fassbender in the supporting actor category.
“Small Things Like These,” the considerably quieter Irish drama fronted (and produced) by Cillian Murphy has nine nominations, including lead actor for Murphy, who won the award last year for “Oppenheimer.”
Having been co-produced by Irish company Tailored Films, Ali Abbasi’s Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice” is also in the mix, with four nominations.
On the TV side, “Say Nothing,” Disney+’s critically lauded miniseries about Northern Ireland during the Troubles, leads the way with 10 nominations, followed by the second season of “Bad Sisters,” with 8.
Other names in the running include Paul Mescal (“Gladiator 2”), Saoirse Ronan (“The Outrun”), Barry Keoghan (“Bird”), Colin Farrell (“The Penguin”).
“The 2025 nominees shortlisted for Irish Academy Awards this year is an incredible showcase of skill and talent in front and behind the camera,” said Academy CEO, Áine Moriarty. “There is absolutely no doubt that Irish talent is amongst the best in the world, delivering such high standards of acting, filmmaking, and storytelling. The Irish Academy is proud to showcase this industry’s great work and to reward their achievements.”
The IFTA awards ceremony Award will take place on Feb. 14, 2025 at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre.
See the full list of nominees below:
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
“Shögun” – Ed Bruce, Andrew Barry