Artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen has received the Volta Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dublin International Film Festival. The Volta – named after Ireland’s first dedicated cinema in Dublin – is one of the highest recognitions in Irish film. Ahead of the award ceremony later today, McQueen will take part in the inaugural Tanqueray 0.0% Film Club, where he will be joined by Irish actor and screenwriter Mark O’Halloran.
Active in both general cinema and gallery spaces, McQueen is known for his visceral works – including the multi award winning 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Small Axe series (2021) – that confront issues of class, racism and various kinds of historical atrocities. Earlier this year his near five-hour documentary Occupied City (2023) went on general release in the UK which examines the daily realities of Amsterdam during Nazi occupation; while a new immersive, installation commission that meditates on our perception of time and space, as well as ourselves, will be unveiled at New York’s Dia Beacon this May and later travel to Schaulager in June 2025.
The award ceremony took place on 28 February.
