The movie, directed by Rich Peppiatt, also earned him the award for Best Debut Screenwriter. The trio’s members—Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh—shared the Best Joint Lead award.

Additional wins included Best Casting, Best Editing, Best Original Music, and Best Music Supervision.

The comedy, featuring Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender, follows the Belfast group as they fight to preserve the Irish language through music.

The accolades come after Kneecap’s legal victory over UK Conservative leader and former business secretary Kemi Badenoch. The UK government admitted it was “unlawful” to deny the group a £14,250 Music Export Growth Scheme funding award, resolving the discrimination case in their favour.

Other notable BIFA winners included Rungano Nyoni, who won Best Director for On Becoming A Guinea Fowl, a film exploring secrets and grief in a Zambian middle-class family. Santosh, a thriller, took Best Screenplay, while Marianne Jean-Baptiste won Best Lead Performance for her role in the comedy-drama Hard Truths.

Franz Rogowski claimed Best Supporting Performance for his role in Bird, and black comedy Wicked Little Letters received Best Ensemble Performance. Christopher Andrews was awarded Best Debut Director for Bring Them Down, a story about two feuding families in rural Ireland.

In the documentary category, Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane won both Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary and The Raindance Maverick Award for Grand Theft Hamlet, a Shakespearean performance staged entirely within the video game Grand Theft Auto.

Best British Short Film went to the stop-motion animation Wander To Wonder, while Sean Baker’s Anora, a tale about a dancer and her oligarch love interest, won Best International Independent Film.

Sophie Okonedo received the 2024 Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film, presented by her close friend and collaborator Ben Daniels.