An Cailín Ciúin and KIN the big winners at the IFTAs

The coming-of-age story An Cailín Ciúin and the RTÉ crime-drama KIN were the big winners at the virtual Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Film and Drama Awards on Saturday night, winning eight and six awards, respectively.

An Cailín Ciúin was named Best Film - the first time an Irish-language feature has taken the top honour - with its writer-director Colm Bairéad winning the Best Director and Rising Star awards and young star Catherine Clinch winning Lead Actress.

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An Cailín Ciúin - a recent winner at the Berlin International Film Festival - also took the awards for Cinematography (Kate McCullough), Editing (John Murphy), Production Design (Emma Lowney) and Original Music (Stephen Rennicks).

KIN was named Best Drama and had a clean-sweep in the television acting categories, with wins for stars Sam Keeley (Lead Actor), Clare Dunne (Lead Actress), Ciarán Hinds (Supporting Actor) and Maria Doyle Kennedy (Supporting Actress). Its writer-creator, Peter McKenna, was also honoured for his script.

Oscar nominee Hinds was a double IFTA recipient on the night, also winning the Supporting Actor award in the film categories for his performance in Belfast. The film's writer-director, Hinds' fellow Oscar nominee and Belfast man Kenneth Branagh, was honoured for his semi-autobiographical screenplay.

The Lead Actor Film award went to Nightride star Moe Dunford for his performance in the one-shot Belfast thriller. There were also wins for The Lost Daughter's Jessie Buckley (Supporting Actress Film), Young Plato (Feature Documentary), Vikings: Valhalla director Hannah Quinn (Director Drama) and the short films Nothing to Declare (Live Action) and Fall of the Ibis King (Animation).

Chris Pine, Nicola Coughlan and Colin Farrell were among the guest presenters for the Deirdre O'Kane-hosted ceremony. Joining them were Chris O'Dowd, Roma Downey, Michael Moore, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Cunningham, Fionnula Flanagan, Charlie Cox, Victoria Smurfit and John Connors, among others.

Fresh from his recent shoot on fantasy epic Dungeons & Dragons, which filmed in Ireland, Star Trek and Wonder Woman leading man Pine saluted Irish storytelling and screencraft as he presented the Best Film award to An Cailín Ciúin.

Chris Pine, Nicola Coughlan and Colin Farrell were among the award presenters on the night

"I've had the pleasure of performing in Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore," the American actor said. "I love your countryside, and I've had the pleasure of spending time in Galway, the Aran Islands and Dublin, and just recently I had the good fortune to do some filming in Antrim."

"Throughout tonight, you have seen first-hand the incredible films and filmmakers you have in Ireland," Pine added. "I salute and congratulate all of you."

His comments were echoed by British actor Cox, who starred alongside the cream of Ireland's acting talent in KIN.

Charlie Cox - seen here in KIN - paid tribute to his Irish co-stars

"I have such fond memories of my time spent in Dublin with my family while I was shooting KIN during lockdown," said the Daredevil star.

"We were there for seven months and had such an amazing time getting to know so many wonderful and talented people and to see first-hand the incredible artistry and craft within the industry there. I was fortunate to work with some brilliant Irish actors and actresses while I was there."

The night also saw some of the award presenters referencing the invasion of Ukraine.

Actress Flanagan, who presented Hinds with his Supporting Actor Film award for Belfast, paid tribute to the people of Ukraine.

"To the writers, the artists, the actors, the directors, the producers and everyone concerned with making film and theatre in Ukraine, our hearts go out to you," she said. "And we admire your courage, and we hope that someday soon you will have a peaceful future."

Oscar-winning director Moore (Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11), who presented the George Morrison Feature Documentary Award to the Belfast school story Young Plato, spoke about the importance of non-fiction filmmaking.

"I would encourage anybody out there who is interested in non-fiction films, because we live in a dark time right now and authoritarians around the world - we had our experience with the former guy - they are not truth-tellers," he said.

"The lies that they build their world on stick with us to this day and our hearts of course go out to the people in the Ukraine and having to suffer through being invaded by somebody again who does not believe in non-fiction. So all of you who are documentary filmmakers, keep going - it's important work."

The winners in full:

Film Categories

Best Film
An Cailín Ciúin

Director Film
Colm Bairéad - An Cailín Ciúin