Producers, craft talent and locations from the UK and Ireland have left their mark on the 2026 Oscar nominations.
However, no films by UK or Irish directors have been nominated in the best film or director categories.
UK producers have fared better. Hamnet has eight nominations, produced out of the UK by Liza Marshall’s Hera Pictures and Pippa Harris’ and Sam Mendes’ Neal Street Productions, including best picture, directing for China-US filmmaker Chloe Zhao and screenplay for Zhao and Northern Ireland writer Maggie O’Farrell.
The film shot in Wales and Herefordshire.
Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe’s Dublin and London-based Element Pictures has a respectable four nods for Bugonia, in best picture, best actress in a leading role (Emma Stone), best adapted screenplay (Will Tracy) and best original score, for UK composer Jerskin Fendrix.
Bugonia also shot in the UK.
International feature film nominee The Voice Of Hind Rajab will mark a return to the Oscars for UK producer Jim Wilson, after 2023’s Oscar winner The Zone Of Interest. The Voice Of Hind Rajab is the Tunisian nomination and received backing from Film4.
European co-production Sentimental Value secured nine nominations, and while it does not have a UK producer, it did receive funding from BBC Film, which pre-bought UK TV rights.
In the acting categories, Ireland’s Jessie Buckley has been nominated for best actress for Hamnet, and UK-Nigerian actress Wunmi Mosaku has been nominated for Sinners in the supporting actress category. London-born Delroy Lindo has a supporting actor nomination for Sinners.
Locations
Four out of the 10 best picture nominees shot in the UK: Hamnet, Bugonia, F1 and Frankenstein.
Jurassic World Rebirth, nominated in visual effects, also partly shot in the UK.
Blue Moon, nominated for actor in a leading role (Ethan Hawke) and original screenplay, was filmed in Ireland.
In craft categories, the visual effects field is particularly strong for UK and Ireland technicians. Ireland’s Richard Baneham has been nominated for Avatar: Fire And Ash; British Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson for F1; the UK team of David Vickery, Stephen Aplin and Neil Corbould for Jurassic World Rebirth; and the UK’s Charlie Noble and David Zaretti with Ireland’s Russell Bowen for The Lost Bus.
Additionally, UK-born Mike Hill has been nominated for best make-up and hair for Frankenstein, and in the music (original score) category is Bugonia’s Fendrix, German-UK Max Richter for Hamnet and lead guitarist of British band Radiohead Jonny Greenwood forOne Battle After Another.
In music (original song), Australia-born and UK-based Nick Cave has been nominated for Train Dreams and Nicholas Pike has been nominated for Sweet Dreams Of Joy. The nominees for production design include the UK’s Alice Felton for Hamnet, and in sound, F1’s Gareth John has been nominated.
Further nominations include UK casting director Nina Gold for Hamnet; Ireland’s Retirement Plan, directed by John Kelly, for best animated short; and the UK’s A Friend Of Dorothy, directed by Lee Knight, for best live action short film.
The 2026 Oscars will take place on March 15.
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