The 2026 GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival came to a close on Monday, August 3, with the jury announcing this year’s award recipients across four categories. A number of Irish productions and creatives came out on top, recognised for their work in bringing queer stories to the big screen.
The jury included four brilliant voices from across Ireland’s film, arts and LGBTQ+ communities, including Amanda Adé, Aoife Barry, Seán Delaney and Liath Hannon. Together, they watched all nominated productions and selected their winners for Best Feature, Best Irish Short, Best International Short and the new Craft Award, which celebrates talent behind the camera.
At GAZE’s 2026 Closing Gala in the Irish Film Institute (IFI) on Monday, Barry, Delaney and Hannon announced the award recipients, before the audience was treated to a screening of Mexican documentary Jaripeo.
The Best Irish Short award went to Queen Lizzy by director David McDonagh. The film follows a Traveller woman who creates a safe space for spoken word and rap artists, after her same-sex relationship causes a divide between her and her father. There was also an Honourable Mention in this category, which went to Out of Shadows by Pradeep Mahadeshwar.
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Best International Short was awarded to Upon Starvation, directed by Saurav Mahind. It follows a 30-something-year-old pickpocket in Pune, India, who uses seduction as a distraction to steal from men and satisfy his desires.
Irish documentary Lesbian Lines took home the Best Feature award, after having its Dublin Premiere at the festival. Directed by Cara Holmes, the film blends documentary with dramatic performance to uncover a hidden chapter of Irish LGBTQ+ history through an underground network of telephone helplines.
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Finally, the Craft Award was presented to Irish filmmaker Niamh Barry for their work on Something in the Air. The short documentary follows Raychel Sanner, a trans storm chaser and environmental advocate living in the US state of Oklahoma.
The winner of the Audience Award is still to be announced after the team gathers all submissions from festival attendees.
The 2026 edition of GAZE was a resounding success, with 12 sold-out screenings across the week. In their first year as Festival Director and Manager, Sam Ahern concluded, “I don’t think it could have gone better. There were so many films that people loved and responded to. It’s the kind of thing that you hope for but you never really know if it’s going to actually end up that way. So yeah, I’m really, really happy.”
© 2026 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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