OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Robert Kaplow for Blue Moon

Mary Bronstein for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident

Ryan Coogler for Sinners

Eva Victor for Sorry, Baby

AND THE WINNER:

EVA VICTOR FOR SORRY, BABY

This is the first win and nomination for Eva Victor.

Eva Victor's Sorry Baby a sensational debut feature film is a feat in screen writing that should not be overlooked when thinking of the best films of 2025. Victor's script includes well written one character scenes, a well rounded female supportive female friendship, moments of past reflection and truly some of the most memorable movie moments from the whole year.

I love this film and look forward to whatever future film Eva Victor will make as their first film was so well conceived.

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

Malgosia Turzanska for Hamnet

Lindsay Pugh for Hedda

Colleen Atwood and Christine Cantella for Kiss of the Spider Woman

Ruth E. Carter for Sinners

Manon Rasmussen for The Ugly Stepsister

AND THE WINNER:

LINDSAY PUGH FOR HEDDA

This is the first win and nomination for Lindsay Pugh.

Hedda will remain one of the most overlooked great films from 2025 for me. I knew immediately once the film begun I was in for a thrill ride. Speaking specifically about the films costume design each new outfit we witness a character wear is so gorgeous to look at and especially plays a part in the story which makes the craft heightened and easily my best choice of the year. I can't decide on what my favourite creation is in the whole film instead loving all the costumes whether worn by men or women throughout.

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT

Miles Caton (Sinners)

Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another)

Abou Sangaré (Souleymane’s Story)

Tonatiuh (Kiss of the Spider Woman)

Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby)

AND THE WINNER:

CHASE INFINITI (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)

Chase Infiniti really is a star to be reckoned with her One Battle After Another really announcing her as a force. In the film her character may not speak much but her performance speaks loudly physically. Having seen her before on Presumed Innocent she was a stand out with her leading turn in this PTA announcing her so extremely well.

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

100 Meters (Directed by Kenji Iwaisawa)

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Directed by Pete Browngardt)

KPop Demon Hunters (Directed by Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans)

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (Directed by Maïlys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han)

Zootopia 2 (Directed by Jared Bush & Byron Howard)

AND THE WINNER:

LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN (DIRECTED BY MAÏLYS VALLADE & LIANE-CHO HAN)

These are the first wins and nominations for co-directors Maïlys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han

Admittedly 2025 wasn't the strongest year overall for animated films is why even though I'm a fan of all the films I've nominated I can't say many of them are gonna stay with me for many years to come. Little Amélie or the Character of Rain once I saw the film was something I immediately fell in love with appreciating it's unique story telling and beautiful animation throughout. There were many stand out moments I'm glad another international animated film has claimed it's prize as my favourite of the year.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR

Ebrahim Azizi as Eghbal in "IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT"

Benicio del Toro as Sergio St. Carlos in "ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER"

Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim in "SINNERS"

Jack O'Connell as Remmick in "SINNERS"

Andrew Scott as Richard Rodgers in "BLUE MOON"

AND THE WINNER:

DELROY LINDO AS DELTA SLIM IN "SINNERS"

This is the second win and nomination for Delroy Lindo. He previously won for Da 5 Bloods (2020). He wins for his performance as Delta Slim in Sinners.

Unlike 5 years where when I announced Delroy Lindo as my Leading Actor winner I can refer to Lindo as an Academy Award nominated actor as me and the Academy agreed Lindo's performance was worthy of high recognition. Lindo a legendary actor has really shown himself to be unstoppable in the last decade or so between his great film and television with his supporting turn in Sinners being another outstanding achievement.

Lindo's performance like most other elements of Sinners continues to grow in my mind as being great as I notice each brilliant scene he must play doing so like only the best character actors would be capable of. From the minute Delta is introduced Lindo plays it cool with an element of desperation which makes his role such a loveable part of this film.

Lindo's standout moment comes in a beautifully delivered monologue regarding a tragic part of his past. Coogler rather than showing the horror of the story instead allows Lindo to devastatingly tell his story alongside sound elements of the tragedy discussed with Lindo brilliantly delivering the dialogue making this moment having stayed with me since my first viewing and every other one since.

Lindo is a classic actor I love watching in great movies like Sinners so knowing his name and this film will always be linked historically because of his major Oscars citation and my believe he delivered the strongest supporting actor performance of the year will always bring me joy. Lindo manages to deliver one of the years most exciting comic and effecting dramatic turns conqurently.

OUTSTANDING CASTING

Áine O'Sullivan & Olivia Scott-Webb for Blue Moon

Nina Gold for Hamnet

Gayle Keller for The Mastermind

Cassandra Kulukundis for One Battle After Another

Francine Maisler for Sinners

AND THE WINNER:

FRANCINE MAISLER FOR SINNERS

This is the first win and nomination for Francine Maisler. In line with the Academy Awards awarding casting directors for the first time this year I am also choosing to award great film casting.

Like with most films one can only really partially judge a production element of a film without all the information. Casting is gonna be a tricky one to discuss it's greatness as I was not in the room with the casting directors who cast all the actors yet what I found so brilliant about Francine's regardless of my lacking of being in the room is that there were many incredible cast members from the the likes of returning Coogler players (MBJ), respected veterans (Delroy Lindo) and incredible breakthroughs (Miles Caton) each actor cast played their part perfectly which has to be a credit to casting. All the actors felt correct in the parts they played no matter the shape of interaction they had with their fellow ensemble members.

2025 "An Irish Person" FILM Awards ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

To everyone new and old welcome to my blog. For the next few weeks I will be posting what I consider to be the best of film from 2025. I will present 24 separate categories as a sort of the lead up to the 98th Academy Awards on the 15th of March. I want to make a disclaimer before I start announcing nominees and winners starting on the 19th. I have seen a total of 241 films released in 2025 in the United States. That is a large number but sadly there were a couple of films I have not seen yet whether it's that I missed them during their release or the film hasn't become available for me to see. This year some of those films include Arco, Dead Man's Wire, Father Mother Sister Brother, My Father's Shadow, A Private Life, Resurrection & a few others that were acclaimed during the year. I'm sure I will see these films at some point in the future but to keep in time with the Academy Awards I would like to start announcing my favourites in film now.

I am excited to get into the greatness of cinema from the past year. On Thursday I'll start by announcing my nominees and winner for the category of "OUTSTANDING CASTING".