Organizer Information
The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon is Ireland's national government agency for funding, developing, and promoting the arts, established under the Arts Act of 1951 by the Government of Ireland, following a 1948 government-commissioned report that found the arts in Ireland suffering from neglect. Headquartered at 70 Merrion Square, Dublin, the Council is an agency of the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and functions as the main distributor of state funding to individual artists and arts organisations in Ireland, while also advising government on arts policy. It funds work across visual art, music, performance, literature, and film, and also supports the artists' association Aosdána. Within its film funding remit, the Authored Works Award — the subject of this call — sits alongside the Council's other film supports, such as the Reel Art Award for documentary work; applicants cannot receive both an Authored Works Award and a Reel Art Award in the same calendar year.
Title & Description
Authored Works Award 2026
The Authored Works Award provides film artists with creative and editorial freedom to make a feature-length, authored cultural film from a strong, artistic point of view for cinema exhibition. Films must be led by a film artist who has a practice of making work specifically for cinema, and proposals must be for feature-length films between 70 and 90 minutes' duration. One film will be supported in this round. The award is now offered on a biennial basis, with the next round expected in 2028. A total fund of up to €247,500 is available to the successful applicant, made up of a production budget of up to €230,000 and further exhibition support of up to €17,500, considered separately following completion of the film. The successful film must premiere at the Irish Film Institute (IFI), or at a festival in association with the IFI, on an agreed date in 2028, with no public screenings permitted before that premiere.
Categories
- Video/Film
- Art
Eligibility
- Applicants must be film artists applying as individuals or through their own production company
- A "professional film artist," per the Arts Council's definition, actively pursues a career as a film artist making work for cinema, considers their arts practice their main profession or career (even if it is not their main source of income or they hold other employment), and is recognised by peers as a professional practising film artist making work for cinema
- Must be resident in the Republic of Ireland; applicants who are not Irish-resident may be considered if they explain in the application how their proposal would benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland — eligibility in this case is determined by the Arts Council based on that explanation
- Cannot apply if: applying through a production company that is not their own; a film producer who is not themselves a film artist; lacking a demonstrable track record as a professional film artist; currently in undergraduate or postgraduate education, or will be during the award period; or a member of the Council of National Cultural Institutions (CNCI) directly funded by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport
- Applicants cannot apply for more than one Authored Works Award in a single funding round, and cannot receive both an Authored Works Award and a Reel Art Award within the same calendar year
- The Arts Council states it encourages applicants from all areas of the community, including but not limited to gender, sexual orientation, civil or family status, religion, age, disability, race, membership of the Traveller community, and socio-economic background — framed as an inclusion commitment, not a mandatory eligibility criterion
Program Benefits & Awards
- Production budget: up to €230,000 (proposals must be feasible within this cap; no completion funding is offered)
- Exhibition support: up to €17,500, considered separately after the completed film and an approved exhibition strategy
- Total fund available: up to €247,500
- Personal disability access costs available in addition to the maximum award amount, for artists or participants with disabilities involved in delivering the proposal (e.g. ISL interpreter, access support worker, additional rehearsal/studio time); costs of €1,500 or more require a short usage report after drawdown
- IFCO pilot partnership: the Irish Film Classification Office has agreed to view the final cut to provide an education classification certificate; where granted, the film incurs no classification fee and can be included in public-screening programmes in cinemas nationally
- This is a cash grant, not a reimbursement or in-kind offer; note that in-kind support the applicant expects to receive must be separately valued and recorded as both expenditure and income in the applicant's own budget, not provided by the Arts Council itself
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 10 September 2026
- Shortlisting Notification: October 2026
- Shortlisted applicant panel discussions: expected before the end of October 2026
- Film completion deadline: on or before 1 December 2028
- Premiere: agreed date in 2028, at the IFI or an IFI-associated festival
- Next round of this award: 2028 (award is now offered on a biennial basis)
Location
Republic of Ireland
Additional Details
- This is an extremely competitive award; the Arts Council states it receives many more applications than it can fund
- Not eligible: script or project development costs; completion funding; major capital buys; ongoing core costs; conventional/mainstream short film or television drama; arts documentaries (directed instead to the Reel Art Award); moving-image work for gallery exhibition (directed to the Visual Arts Project Award); activities in a formal education setting, including PhD programmes; activities focused on the business of filmmaking; already-completed activities; activities that would start before a funding decision is made; charity fundraising for other organisations; competition-entry activities; or for-profit activities
- Recipients of film production awards are required to deposit copies of their films with the IFI Irish Film Archive, including specific unencrypted DCP, Hard of Hearing subtitle, and Audio Description deliverables (details provided with the letter of offer)
- The Arts Council's Paying the Artist policy requires applicants to set out their approach to fair pay and conditions for artists involved; this is assessed as part of the Feasibility criteria, and proposed rates that are too low may reduce a proposal's feasibility score
- Applications are assessed via a selection panel process, with declaration-of-interest procedures in place; unsuccessful applicants may make an appeal
- Technical support is available for the application portal (email onlineservices@artscouncil.ie, or phone 01 618 0200 / 01 618 0243); the Arts Council notes it may not be able to resolve support calls received after 2:00 pm on the deadline date
- Disability access support for the application process itself (separate from disability access cost funding) is available via the Disability Access Team (disabilityaccess@artscouncil.ie, phone 01 618 0200 or 01 618 0243)