Dublin Film Critics’ Circle – Annual Awards Announced for 2024

The Zone of Interest; Kneecap; Conclave and Anora among main winners – full poll announced

Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, icy study of life next to Auschwitz, was the runaway winner of best film of 2024 at the annual Dublin Film Critics Circle (DFCC) Awards. Released in Ireland back in February, the loose adaptation of Martin Amis’s titular novel ­– winner of two Oscars® and second prize at Cannes – stayed fresh enough in the mind to defeat more recent releases such as, in second place, Sean Baker’s screwball gem Anora and, bronze medal winner, Coralie Fargeat’s ruthlessly revolting satire The Substance. The Zone of Interest is the first British film to win the DFCC prize since I, Daniel Blake in 2016 and only the second since the awards were established in 2006.

There was a proper ding-dong in a strong year for the Irish feature prize, but Kneecap, an antic-fictionalised biopic of the titular West Belfast rap group, came out just ahead of two quieter titles. Tim Mielants’s Small Things Like These, starring Cillian Murphy as a coal merchant discovering unhappy truths about the Magdalene Laundries in 1980s Wexford, secured second place. Just behind was Pat Collins’s lyrical translation of John McGahern’s great novel That They May Face the Rising Sun. Kneecap wins with the critics days after news emerged that it had made the shortlist for Best International Feature at the Oscars®.

The capital’s film critics revealed a taste for the personnel behind Edward Berger’s papal thriller Conclave. Ralph Fiennes, star of that film, slipped past Cillian Murphy – oddly, not much in the Oscar® conversation for Small Things Like These – to win best actor. Stéphane Fontaine’s luscious interiors in the same picture were impressive enough to secure him the win for best cinematographer. Mikey Madison’s dynamite turn in Anora won her best actress. Will and Harper, a Netflix film detailing Will Ferrell’s road trip with a trans-gender friend, took the prize for best documentary.

The DFCC gathers votes from the capital’s professional film critics once a year. Previous winners of best film have included An Cailín Ciúin, The Power of the Dog, Boyhood and Brokeback Mountain.

DFCC POLL 2024

BEST FILM

1. The Zone of Interest
2. Anora
3. The Substance
4. Perfect Days
5. The Wild Robot
6. Emilia Pérez
7. Touch
8. Conclave
9. All We Imagine as Light
10. Robot Dreams

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
2. Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
3. Pablo Berger, Conclave
4. Sean Baker, Anora
5. Wim Wenders, Perfect Day

BEST DOCUMENTARY

1. Will and Harper
2. Dahomey
3. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
4. Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
5. Grand Theft Hamlet

BEST ACTOR

1. Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
2. Cillian Murphy, Small Things Like These
3. Sebastian Stan, A Different Man
4. Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
5. Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers

BEST ACTRESS

1. Mikey Madison, Anora
2. Demi Moore, The Substance
3. Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
4. June Squibb, Thelma
5. Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun

BEST SCREENPLAY

1. Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
2. Peter Straughan, Conclave
3. Sean Baker, Anora
4. Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
5. Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. Stéphane Fontaine, Conclave
2. Greig Fraser, Dune Part Two
3. Łukasz Żal, The Zone of Interest
4. Eric K. Yue, I Saw the TV Glow
5. Hélène Louvart, La Chimera

BEST IRISH FILM

1. Kneecap
2. Small Things Like These
3. That They May Face the Rising Sun
4. Oddity
5. One Night in Millstreet

BEST BREAKTHROUGH

Nykiya Adams