Discoveries from Ireland World Cinema

The story of a writer who returns to Ireland, after spending twenty five years in New York, to confront the ghosts of his past.

A documentary about the life and activism of Jaha Dukureh, a Gambian anti-female genital mutilation campaigner who returns to her country of birth to confront the harmful tradition that she and 200 million women and girls have undergone globally.

The tale of a young Irish Catholic bride who is devastated when her pregnant mother miscarries and dies on her wedding day. The young woman, one of seven children, blames her father’s lust for the death. When her own wedding night arrives she is terrified and refuses to consummate the marriage with her husband. Her parish priest forbids her to accept her doctor’s suggestion that she should use contraception and she is driven to desperate measures.

A couple's marriage falls apart under the canopy of a much darker secret.

Éabha is a short drama about Ciarán, who is on a hiking date with Michael and suddenly experiences a regression to a previous life. He feels images of a young woman that start to intensify. While Michael is trying to understand, Ciarán goes deeper into his past life and experiences a woman's domestic violence and a miscarriage. In the turmoil of this regression, he finds the burial place of the woman's child and realizes: Not only has the woman lost her child, he has lost his Éabha, too.

Though released from prison Desmond is still in turmoil from the past events that lead him there. As he carves out the path for his new life Desmond struggles between the man he wants to become and the man he was.

Criminal psychologist Cathrin Blake is called to an emergency in the middle of the night: A young woman is threatening to throw herself to her death from a high-rise building. Cathrin knows the disturbed woman – Moon Flynn was in therapy with Cathrin a few years ago for a borderline disorder, but stopped it prematurely.

Set on the desolate west coast of Ireland, the film explores a Polanski-like plot in which three surveyors find themselves stuck in a remote hotel with a French girl photographer.

While on her way to confess a secret to her husband in prison, a woman reflects on the recent years in her life. Set in Belfast during the Troubles, newlywed Sheila Molloy is awoken suddenly one morning when her husband is arrested and sent to prison for 20 years. From then on, her life is changed forever, and she struggles to come to terms with her new situation. Sentenced to a solitary life, Sheila attempts to redefine her identity. She begins an affair with another man and must choose whether to remain loyal to her husband.

Born in London to single mum Bridget, Austin Byrne returns with her to her hometown in Ireland as a very young boy and learns that, from family to neighbours to the Church, no-one has a good word to say about either of them.

When Brer Rabbit learns that Brer Fox is planning to evict Brer Bear on Christmas, he decides to teach the fox a lesson. Brer Rabbit gets the townspeople to stage their own version of "A Christmas Carol" and trick Brer Fox into thinking that the ghost of his friend, Brer Wolf, has returned. The ghost warns Brer Fox to reform his miserly ways by showing him his past, present and future Christmases. Brer Fox is so terrified by these visions he vows to change his ways, and throws a big Christmas party for the whole town.

When a delusional woman is fired from her work in a corporate building, she seeks out the help of a mad doctor with suicidal revenge on her mind.

A gang of desperate criminals seek refuge in what appears to be a perfectly ordinary house - but discover it houses something much more sinister, and much more otherworldly, than they'd initially thought...

On 24th March 1968 an Aer Lingus plane carrying 61 passengers and crew crashed into the sea just off the Tuskar Rock lighthouse off the Wexford coast. There were no survivors. Family and friends of those onboard tell their story of loss and the theories of what happened.

A young factory worker forever dreams in colour of escape from a black-and-white world, where one’s every thought is on display. Until she meets someone who dreams in colour too…

Since 2008 the recession has been the biggest story in Ireland. Nobody has gone untouched by the catastrophic collapse of house prices, the banking system and the Celtic Tiger feelgood factor. The Break is a story about how Tim, a father of two, tried to cope for the first few months after everything went wrong.

Five woman spend a night together at a secluded house, to celebrate the future nuptials of the bride to be. During the course of the night, alliances are formed, confrontations erupt and festivities become tense and the women quickly learn that every sacrifice has a cost. The darkness of their terrible act fractures those responsible, trapping them in a perpetual loop oscillating endlessly between hope and despair.

Leo is 8. His best friend is a giant shark that his dad, an artist, built in their roof. Leo escapes to fantasy worlds to process his peculiar reality until a spirited au pair challenges him to embrace the wild, wonderful mess of real life.

A young driven female relay runner begins to question her sexuality when a new member joins the team.

The name of the documentary comes from Drew's recording of "September Song", the Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson song made popular through recordings by a number of artists. With the founding of his revolutionary folk band, The Dubliners in 1962, Ronnie Drew has become synonymous with his native Dublin. September Song (2008) is an intimate portrayal of the legendary singer in which he recalls growing up in his granny's house in Dun Laoghaire, the founding of The Dubliners in O'Donoghue's pub on Merrion Row, his days of touring the world, the poignant loss of his wife of forty years, and his own battle with cancer. Featuring interviews with son Phelim, daughter Cliodhna and friends and fans Bono, Billy Connolly and Damien Dempsey.

When downtrodden 1980s Ireland inaugurated a National Lottery, the people began to dream. For Stefan, it was an obsession. Seeing a flaw in the system, he attempted to fix the draw but the heist became public and the lottery tried to stop him, dividing the nation on a very public caper.

Haunted by his father’s accidental death thirty years ago, Stephen leads a masked kidnapper to his childhood home instead of just talking to his wife.

In 1947, a test pilot who will risk his life to break the sound barrier, is forced to question his reasons and abilities by a strange yet familiar man.

Kanto, a small time drug dealer trying to get off the streets whose long absent father Cormac, an industrial school survivor, returns home looking for forgiveness and reconciliation.

An emotional look at the struggle for marriage equality in Ireland.

Starting as an old-school sleuth story, young Noreen begins investigating the suspicious circumstances surrounding her father's death, uncovering a shocking and sinister conspiracy that has been wreaking havoc in her hometown for years.

Rez lost his wife sometime in the past, now he is a man abandoned by society, trying to survive, and provide for his daughter. He possesses a gift: the perfect photographic memory, but having perfect recall isn't all it's cracked up to be. He finds himself involved with dangerous people from his past who persuade him into testing their stolen time machine "Titus" that has the ability to send someone hours into the future. When he leaps forward in time and witnesses a nuclear explosion, he returns to his own time and has only eight hours to discover the cause and save the city from destruction.

Two strangers. Two personalities. One hand-made secret.

A documentary on the historic first-ever visit of a Palestinian National team to Europe, following the Palestinian women's team as they arrive in Ireland to a heroes' welcome and play a solidarity friendly against Bohemian FC on May 15th, 2024. The sold-out match marked the 76th anniversary of the Nakba and highlighted the ongoing genocide and human rights violations happening every day in occupied Palestine. It was one of the most emotional and important games ever held at Dalymount Park in its long and storied history since 1901, and the event raised over €100,000 for three Palestinian humanitarian organizations.

By the early 1980s, after two decades of violence and unrest, the situation in Northern Ireland took a sudden and profound turn inside the infamous Maze Prison. Seeking the right to be treated as political prisoners rather than common criminals, Irish Republicans led by Bobby Sands began a prison hunger strike that would draw international attention to the conflict. In the 66 days that he refused food, Sands would be elected to the British Parliament, put the Irish Republican struggle centre stage on the world news agenda, and pay the ultimate price for his political convictions. The film combines a powerful mosaic of archival materials, reconstructions and the illuminating accounts of former prisoners, commentators and key players in the drama. With Sands's evocative prison diary at its core, the film brings fresh insight to an iconic figure who single-handedly created a transformative moment in Ireland's history that had global aftershocks.

Sergeant wakes up alone with only a widescreen TV for company, in a place designed for him to relax in peace and tranquility, for all eternity...

Facing job loss and a best friend’s emigration, Benny forms a ragtag Sunday league football team to cling to the past, sparking a messy romance with his lost-in-life housemate, Laura, only to confront heartbreak and fading hope on and off the pitch.

Jess and her husband need a new start. So when the chance to buy a rambling old house in the Suffolk countryside comes up, they leap at it. But not everyone in Suffolk is welcoming. The locals know a secret about the Maple House, and soon, Jess realises they’ve made a huge mistake. Something bad happened in that house. Something nobody wants to talk about. Something to do with the people before…

While indoors alone, a disabled woman reflects on a recurring social phenomenon she encounters when outside. The implications regarding self identity, her otherness and the right to opacity are questioned whilst she moves through poses from Artemisia Gentileschi’s historical works.

A psychology student isolates himself for an experiment for college to see how long the human mind can endure without social contact. As isolation and loneliness stretch on, reality begins to blur. Strange sounds, unsettling thoughts, and visions invade his mind. What was meant to be a simple study becomes a terrifying journey into his own psyche, forcing him to confront the dark effects of solitude. Alone in a house with only his thoughts, he realizes the mind might not be as controlled as he once believed.

The close-knit community of Brackenmore is harboring a secret. After the untimely death of an uncle she never knew she had, Kate (Sophie Hopkins) is forced to return to her ancestral home, a tiny rural village in the South of Ireland. Soon after her arrival she meets Tom (D.J. McGrath), a mysterious young local who helps her to rediscover her long-neglected roots and forget about the anxieties of her life in London. The longer Kate stays in Brackenmore, the more she begins to realize that the eccentricities of its self-protective residents, may be more ominous than she first thought and the secluded family estate is harboring a dark and ancient secret. From the opening scenes of a fateful car crash to the shocking ending Brackenmore weaves its ways under your skin shifting between classic horror to the mysteries of the occult. Cinematographer Justin McCarthy keeps a steady hand as he captures the silent fear that begins to grow as Hopkins uncovers the dark horror that is Brackenmore.

A group of friends go for a walk through a forest. Years before, it was the scene of a cult that held a mass suicide ritual. When one of the friends is killed by an unseen entity, everything goes wrong fast.

Teens stuck in the dark

An overworked man finds a new way to get through the day.

Documentary focusing on the tens of thousands of letters that were written to Gay Byrne over three decades - and how they changed lives - and Ireland.

Kelvin's quiet life is turned upside down when a new neighbour turns out to be a beautiful woman.

A spare and deeply felt story of a daughter's homecoming.

The story of four young Europeans who caused fatal road accidents and the subsequent repercussions on their psyche.

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

Riverdance--The Show is a cultural phenomenon that defies criticism for the enthusiastic and leaves everyone else scratching their heads. The wonderfully talented cast, headed by the Riverdance Irish Dance Company, bewitchingly spins (and stomps) its Celtic folk choreography featuring numerous breathless solos by Michael Flatley (since departed) and Jean Butler. The mellifluous Riverdance Orchestra boasts Davy Spillane, who coaxes plaintive lamentations out of a peculiar instrument that resembles a bagpipe in a metal leg brace. For Enya fans, there is the sound-alike choral group Anuna, who casts a similarly New Age-style vocal spell. Also thrown into the mix are such disparate folk traditions as American gospel and Spanish flamenco. Though it's only 70 minutes long, Riverdance is repetitive by half. But judging from the ecstatic audience ovations and the continued foot-stomping during and after the curtain calls, too much is still not enough. --Richard Natale

A clean freak's war with her noisy neighbour unlocks a shattering memory.

A found footage horror starring Cillian Egan who plays a young aspiring youtuber who comes across a terrifying and unexplainable horror while exploring a derelict location that was rumoured to have once been the home of many cultish activities.

In Cinque Terre on Italy’s northern Riviera, fewer than 3,000 locals endure over four million tourists each summer. Across one chaotic season, six very different lives play out in parallel, revealing a sharply funny and surprisingly tender story of paradise under pressure in the age of social media driven tourism.

Commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, commissioned for its 50th anniversary.

Relationships are strained to breaking point by an obsession with conspiracy theories surrounding JFK's assassination.

Becky and her Dad are invincible chip robbers. Nothing can stand in their way. Nothing that is except her brother Tom.

Interlocking interviews of 4 women interred in various Magdalene asylums and/or orphanages because of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, being sexually assaulted, or just being "too pretty".

Waves is a visually breathtaking film about the power of the sea. Capturing the Atlantic Ocean in various moods as it crashes against the Irish coasts, the film is a hymn to the relentless power and endless beauty of this elemental force of nature. With coastal scenes harking back to the majesty of Flaherty’s Man of Aran (1934), Carey offers a unique sea-centred depiction of the islands as his painterly cinematography offers mesmerising images of roiling seas, waves crashing against the Aran rocks, sunsets and a golden full moon. John Taylor, friend and colleague of Carey, had originally worked on Man of Aran and filmed some of the additional photography in Waves.

Teenager Isabel Mann is seduced by a violent sect of day-walking vampires. Her classmates start to go missing, attracting two detectives.Things get weird as the disturbed teenager kills at will in the nearby woods. She's aided by head vampire Alejo, and eerily by Isabel's lost mother, an earlier recruit. She's trained in the art of the kill with horrifically bloody results for those she loves.

A young woman struggling with Borderline Personality Disorder goes about her day until something goes terribly wrong.

Angie returns home after finishing college and gets a job teaching at her old school. Now that she's back, she will have to readjust to the life she left behind and figure out how to move forward.

What happened in the land of Oz after Dorothy returned to Kansas? Based on the original book by L. Frank Baum “The Tin Woodman of Oz” (TWO) follows the adventures of the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the little boy 'Woot' as they search for the Tin Woodman's first love, Nimmie Aimee. What they find is not what they expected! TWO is the first CG-animated feature to be produced entirely as an Internet collaboration. 100+ artists around the world contributed to TWO.

A BAFTA award nominated drama about a young boy's memories of his first communion, set in Dublin in 1950.

A festive, musical enchantment featuring vocalists Chloë Agnew, Lisa Lambe, Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, and fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt. The concert features timeless holiday favorites ( Silent Night , I ll Be Home for Christmas , It Came Upon a Midnight Clear , Joy To The World ) with the group's signature Celtic Woman flair under the distinct musical direction of Emmy-nominated Music Director, David Downes. This large-scale one-hour production is complimented by Ireland's finest musicians comprised of a 36 piece orchestra and 40-member Philharmonic Choir.