A debut film that became the most successful independently funded Irish movie ever has won the Guardian First Film Award. The Guard, directed by John Michael McDonagh, is a black comedy about a cynical, boozy policeman played by Brendan Gleeson, who takes on three drug dealers. Gleeson was nominated for a Golden Globe for the role.

Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw, one of the judges, said it was a work of "originality and wit … horribly funny, deliciously incorrect, with an unexpectedly stirring, old-fashioned friendship between two lawmen."

In a strong year for film debuts, The Guard beat the Tyrannosaur, Submarine, and Attack the Block to win the prize. McDonagh, who was born in London but made his film in Ireland, described his win as terrific. "I read over the long list and thought there were a lot of very strong films there, so to come out on top, I'm pretty surprised and very pleased." He is working on a more "arthouse" film, Calvary, about clerical child abuse, with Gleeson in the lead role.

The Guardian First Album Award was taken by Glass Swords, a "maximalist" dance record by Rustie. It combines a dizzying patchwork of influences from 1980s power ballads to hip-hop into what one critic described as "the sound of uninhibited, unironic hands-in-the-air joy". Glass Swords was created by Russell Whyte, 29, who said his album aimed to create on record the "sense of euphoria" he got from going out in Glasgow's club scene.

Stephen Christian, head of A&R at Rustie's label Warp Records, said the record has "an inherent energy you don't find in a lot of electronic music. He's creating music out of these scraps of pop past."

Rustie beat albums by artists including Anna Calvi, James Blake, the Vaccines and Wu-Lyf. He said: "It feels great and surreal to win the first album award from the Guardian, one of the few decent newspapers out there."

The First Album Award judges included Guardian music critics Nicky Wire of the Manic Street Preachers, and last year's winner, Gold Panda.

Now in their fourth year, the Guardian First Film and First Album awards aim to throw a spotlight on emerging talent that may not have received the recognition it deserves.