It’s the highlight of the Irish showbiz calendar and the biggest names of the small and big screen graced the red carpet in the Capital for the IFTAs last night.
Hosted by actor/director Simon Delaney and MTV’s Laura Whitmore, the 11th annual Irish and Film Television Awards was a star-studded ceremony with VIPs such as Michael Fassbender, Colin Farrell, Jamie Dornan, Steve Coogan, and even President Michael D Higgins making an appearance.
The biggest winners on the night were the films Calvary, Byzantium and Philomena which all picked up three awards each.
Calvary took the highest accolade, Best Film, along with Best Actor for Brendan Gleeson and Best Script for its writer-director John Michael McDonagh.
Touching true story Philomena won the award for Best International Film and Actress for Judi Dench along with Costume Design for Consolata Boyle. Philomena Lee, whose true life story inspired the film, was at the ceremony herself.
Vampire horror Byzantium’s awards included the Best Director for Neil Jordan, Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan and Makeup & Hair.
A-Lister Michael Fassbender was also a winner, taking the award for Best Film Supporting Actor for his Oscar-nominated role in 12 Years A Slave.
Amy Huberman lost out to Sinead Cusack for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the adaptation of John Banville’s The Sea.
Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan saw off competition from Love/Hate’s very best to scoop two gongs on the night.
The former Calvin Klein model was named Best TV Actor as well as Rising Star for his chilling role as a serial killer in drama The Fall.
He beat stars such as Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, who plays Nidge in Love/Hate, to the award.
The Fall was also named Best TV Drama, beating Love/Hate, Game of Thrones, Quirke and Vikings.
After sweeping the boards last year, Love/Hate settled for Best Supporting TV Actor for Peter Coonan who plays Fran.
IFTA 2014 winners:
- Best Actor TV – Jamie Dornan, The Fall
- Rising Star – Jamie Dornan, The Fall
- Best TV Drama – The Fall
- Best Film – Calvary
- Best Actor, film – Brendan Gleeson, Calvary
- Best Supporting Actor, film – Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
- Best Actress, Film – Saoirse Ronan, Byzantium
- Best Supporting Actress, Film – Sinead Cusack, The Sea
- Best Actress, TV – Eva Birthistle, Amber
- Best Supporting Actor, TV – Peter Coonan, Love/Hate
- Best Supporting Actress, TV – Michelle Fairley, Game of Thrones
- Best Current Affairs – Breach of Trust
- Best Reality – Operation Transformation
