03/03/2025 - Other prominent winners include Maura Delpero’s Vermiglio and Ross Whitaker’s Beat the Lotto, in receipt of the prizes for Best Director and Best Irish Film, respectively

It’s a wrap for this year’s Dublin International Film Festival, which unspooled in the Irish capital from 20 February-2 March.

As per tradition, the prizes were handed out by the Dublin Film Critics Circle. On this occasion, the prize for Best Film went to Laura Carreira’s On Falling [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Carreira
film profile], an acclaimed exploration of a Portuguese immigrant’s struggles while working in a Scottish warehouse. 

Next, the award for Best Irish film was claimed by Ross Whitaker’s Beat the Lotto, a documentary revisiting a remarkable 1990s lottery syndicate. Meanwhile, the Michael Dwyer Discovery Award, named after the late film correspondent, was given to Ruby Conway Dunne, Molly Byrne, and Alicia Weafer, the three young stars of Ready or Not, Claire Frances Byrne’s social-realist drama which portrays the struggles of teenage girls navigating male-dominated spaces in Dublin in 1998. 

Éamon Little’s Born That Way, an insightful documentary on the life of Irish-American Patrick Lydon, took best Irish documentary. Moreover, Carrie Crowley, known for her work on The Quiet Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Colm Bairéad
film profile] and Damian McCann’s Aontas, received the George Byrne Maverick Award. Presenting the honour, Dublin Film Critics Circle president Tara Brady described Crowley as “a genuine national treasure.”

Other prominent winners included Maura Delpero, awarded Best Director for Vermiglio [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maura Delpero
film profile], and Shahana Goswami, named Best Actress for her role in Santosh [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sandhya Suri
film profile]. Best Debut went to India Donaldson for her coming-of-age drama Good One, while best documentary was awarded to Andres Veiel for Riefenstahl [+see also:
film review
interview: Andres Veiel
film profile], a film examining the controversial Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.

This year’s festival, which was closed by Darren Thornton’s Four Mothers [+see also:
film review
film profile], welcomed international talent such as Ed Harris and Jessica Lange, who presented a new adaptation of Long Day’s Journey into Night, and Ralph Fiennes, who starred as Odysseus in The Return [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], opposite Juliette Binoche’s Penelope. 

Here is the list of this year’s award winners:

Best Film
On Falling [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Carreira
film profile] – Laura Carreira (UK/Portugal)

Best Director
Maura Delpero – Vermiglio [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maura Delpero
film profile] (Italy/France/Belgium)

Best Editing
Ramon Zürcher – The Sparrow in the Chimney [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ramon and Silvan Zürcher
film profile] (Switzerland)

Best Actress
Shahana Goswami – Santosh [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sandhya Suri
film profile] (UK/Germany/France/India)

Best Actor
Albrecht Schuch – Peacock [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bernhard Wenger
film profile] (Austria/Germany)

Best Ensemble
Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil Benkirane – Backstage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil Be…
film profile] (Morocco/Tunisia)

Best Documentary
Andres Veiel – Riefenstahl [+see also:
film review
interview: Andres Veiel
film profile] (Germany)

Best Cinematography
Sverre Sørdal – Sister Midnight [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Karan Kandhari
film profile] (Norway)

Best Debut
Good One – India Donaldson (USA)

Best Screenplay
Tracie Laymon – Bob Trevino Likes It (USA)

Michael Dwyer Discovery Award
Ruby Conway Dunne, Molly Byrne, Alicia Weafer – Ready or Not (Ireland)

George Byrne Maverick Award
Carrie Crowley (Ireland)

Best Irish Film
Beat the Lotto – Ross Whitaker (Ireland)

Best Irish Documentary
Born That Way – Éamon Little (Ireland)

Special Jury Prize
Latina Latina – Adrian Duncan (Ireland)