Glanmire actor Éanna Hardwicke to get special award at Cork Film Festival

As Cork International Film Festival reveals its programme, it has been announced that the event will pay tribute to one of the city's emerging stars

Wed, 14 Oct, 2026 - 13:26

Denise O’Donoghue

Cork Film Festival (CIFF) has unveiled its full programme for next month and it includes an award for a local actor’s contribution to Irish cinema.

Now in its 71st year, CIFF 2026 sees more than 200 films being screened across the city, as well as events with Irish and international filmmakers, actors and distinguished guests.

At the screening of Ancestors on Friday, November 20, Éanna Hardwicke will be presented with the Honorary Puttnam Award, which is named in honour of the festival's patron, Oscar-winning producer and film education luminary, David Puttnam. Hardwicke will also participate in an ‘In Conversation’ event on Saturday, November 21 in the Arc Cinema.

Best known for his roles in the adaptation of Sally Rooney's Normal People and RTÉ's Smother, Hardwicke grew up in Cork city before his family moved to Glanmire and recently portrayed Roy Keane in the film Saipan.He was among 10 Irish people to land a spot in this year's Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.

Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke in Saipan. Picture: Aidan Monaghan

Ancestors is written and directed by David Turpin and stars Hardwicke, with Rupert Everett and Christina Hendricks.

Other Irish films featured in the festival include Skintown, starring Jack Rowan, Chris Walley and Jamie Lee O’Donnell; The Body Is Water, written and directed by Vicky Wight, which features Isiah Whitlock in his final on-screen role, alongside Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Aidan Quinn and Eva Birthistle; and the documentary Tin Castle, which follows the O’Reilly family as they navigate life in a rundown trailer surrounded by the fields of rural Ireland.

Irish and international guests will include Éanna Hardwicke, Rupert Everett, Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Allen Leech, alongside filmmakers Lizzie Borden, Céline Sciamma, as well as Dónal Gallagher.

Borden will receive the Honorary Disruptor Award and take part in a discussion with fellow filmmaker Pat Murphy on Saturday, November 14 in the Triskel. Other awards to be presented during the festival include the Best New Irish Feature Award sponsored by the Irish Examiner.

On Monday, the festival confirmed its opening and closing gala films (Lucy Lost and The Debut, respectively), and announced the world premiere of Joe Bonamassa: The Spirit of Rory.