The 37th edition of the Dinard British & Irish Film Festival came to a close on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at the Palais des Arts et des Festivals. Chaired by Amira Casar, the jury—composed of Zoé Adjani, Thibault de Montalembert, Ben Hardy, and Stephen Woolley—announced a highly deserved list of winners. Given the exceptionally high caliber of the selection, the awards objectively recognize the four most accomplished films in the competition.
Here is the complete list of winners.
Golden Hitchcock, CINÉ+ OCS
I See Buildings Falling Like Lightning (Dir.: Clio Barnard, United Kingdom): With this new film, Clio Barnard continues—with remarkable consistency—the work she began with The Arbor and The Selfish Giant: the collective psychological drama, the focus on a specific social context, and the political critique of the divisions within British society, all while retaining the musical dimension already present in Ali & Ava. An award-winner at the Directors’ Fortnight, the film follows a group of childhood friends grappling with precarious living conditions and the impossibility of social mobility. Amira Casar hailed it as “a window into the soul of the subject.” A second, fully deserved Golden Hitchcock Award.
Best performance award
Clare Dunne and Flora Nicholson in The Education of Jane Cumming (Dir: Sophie Heldman, United Kingdom): The Best Acting Award, presented jointly, recognises the rare precision and intensity with which the two actresses respond to one another in this period drama inspired by a 19th-century Scottish news story. Zoé Adjani, who presented the award, highlighted their accuracy and sensitivity. Ben Hardy, for his part, hailed the screenplay as ‘a masterpiece’.
Special Jury Prize
Rose of Nevada (Dir: Mark Jenkin, United Kingdom): Following on from Bait and Enys Men, Mark Jenkin continues his exploration of marginalised territories and unsettling presences. The film sits somewhere between David Lynch and Jean Grémillon (Le Phare): an aesthetic that questions the nature of time, a narrative confusion that blurs the lines between dreams and memories, and a documentary-like quality that permeates the whole, extending beyond the mere temporal dimension. It thus evokes a sense of legend and mysticism. In a small, struggling port town, a boat that has been missing for thirty years resurfaces. Thibault de Montalembert described the film as ‘astonishing, dazzling’. Starring Callum Turner and George MacKay.
Hitchcock – Audience Award
(Dir: Kieron J. Walsh, Ireland/United Kingdom): The Audience Award is a fitting honour for this film, which is reminiscent of the energy of Trainspotting. Set in Enniskillen in the summer of 1994, just before the IRA ceasefire, it follows two friends who dream of leaving their town. The emotion stems from the simplicity of one of the two characters and the raw authenticity of their friendship. David Gleeson, director of the opening film, presented the award to producers Yvonne Donohue and Brendan J. Byrne.
Prix Shortcuts du public
Punt (Réal. : Nicky Larkin).
Prix Talent de Demain Ouest-France
Lady (Dir: Olive Nwosu): A portrait of a young independent female taxi driver in Lagos. The youth jury praised the film’s aesthetic quality and the gradual brightening of the image, which perfectly convey the message of hope it conveys.
Our interview of Clio Barnard
To mark the screening of I See Buildings Falling Like Lightning at the Directors’ Fortnight, we met Clio Barnard and the actor Jay Lycurgo. In this interview, the director discusses the adaptation of Keiran Goddard’s novel, her collaboration with Enda Walsh on the screenplay, filming in Birmingham, the casting process and the collective nature of the opening and closing sequences. It is a conversation that sheds particular light on the film’s place within the continuity of her body of work.
The ceremony in photos and videos
