Discoveries from Ireland World Cinema

The Alexander Complex unravels a bizarre tale of intrigue, politics and money as an international group of ‘gentlemanly explorers’, all with pseudonyms to protect their identities, come together in a quest to solve the mystery of the missing tomb of Alexander the Great, one of the most significant figures in human history. An Algerian ex-soldier, code-named The Inventor, who practices amateur archaeology, claims to have found Alexander’s tomb in Jordan, and claims that it is filled with thousands of tons of gold and precious jewels.

In the barren west coast of Ireland, a rusted, iron cable car connects Dursey Island to the mainland, hanging precariously over a wild Atlantic Ocean. Between the waves and the wind, storms and secrets brew - dividing or reuniting family. For years, Ciaran has kept a relationship with his estranged father hidden. Following the death of their mother, his older brother Padraig returns to the island. Everyone knows everyone here, and secrets have a talent at getting out - This Town Still Talks About You is a universal story of human connection against a stark landscape, an atmospheric exploration of the Irish family identity.

After her one true love dies, Tessa is determined to continue living but when strange things start happening, she is convinced it is her dead lover, reaching out to her from beyond the grave.

Homo Sapiens Project (201) was completed in 2021 as part of re-envisioning and restructuring Rashidi's filmography. This nineteen-hour experimental feature is constituted from many feature films produced between 2002 to 2014. These experimental features were made as a type of test or trial experiment. Rashidi assembled the films from footage accumulated over the years, archival footage, found footage and rushes donated by his close collaborators.

Set in Varanasi, an ancient city of India, Tana Bana offers a rare look at the hidden world of Moslem weavers and Hindu traders and how their lives are interwoven through the production of the silk and the beauty it creates. However, as the technology advances, the trade is threatened by computerization and globalization.

David McDonagh discovered the art of photography and how it opened a whole new world for him. The importance of visual imagery played a major part in his early life, the fact that his grandparents could not read and write and relied on 'pictures' to communicate had a lasting effect on him and lead to his exploration of the visual. Now David wants to help someone to explore the medium of photography in the hope that they will benefit as he has himself.

This found footage project takes the form of four experimental films surrounding the mystery of the titular character. Rather than overtly appearing in each film, Johnny Kline is more a summation of the evils within the film as a whole: he is a monstrosity of cinema. By composing fragmented narratives and drawing on an array of found materials the films of Johnny Kline form a visceral and furious passage through the underbelly of found-footage cinema, where Kline is both a master of ceremonies and a spectre behind and betwixt each frame.

Set in 90’s Dublin, two young female DJ’s have their dreams of making it big in London crushed when one of them is diagnosed with HIV.

An independent little cloud finally finds a use for all the rain that he’s been carrying around. But even with the best of intentions, strange things can happen…

One year in the life of Albin and his family of shepherds in the North of Transylvania, their day to day routines, and their attempts to adapt to a new world where traditions are gradually replaced by modern values.

Dreaming Is Not Sleeping is an introspective essay film exploring the relationship between memory, existence, and time, narrated by a spectral voice drifting through ancient ruins. The film contemplates perception, clairvoyance, and whether the present can be seen through the lens of memory, blurring the lines between past, present, and future. As the voice moves through decaying structures, it reflects on human impermanence and defiance of time. Vignettes of past lives illustrate universal human experiences. The film concludes by pondering existence, consciousness, and humanity’s drive to create meaning amidst an indifferent universe, challenging viewers to reflect on their own place in time and memory.

Something's not quite right with Guy's new roommate...

A family gathers at the home of their grandfather on his last day. But their motives are rattled when they each discover everyone has a hidden agenda.

Former State Pathologist, Dr. Marie Cassidy leads a brand new investigation into the killing of revolutionary, soldier and politician Michael Collins in August 1922, an event that ignited acrimonious arguments that have endured ever since.

Adapted by Conor Montague from his award-winning short story, Nothing to be Done is part monologue, part tone poem, a lament to lost friends, and an elegiac reflection on memory, place, and the city of Galway.

A teenage boy home alone experiences a deadly encounter with a demonic force.

The Forgotten Maggies focuses on the human rights aspect surrounding the Magdalene Laundries, including testimonies from women and an exploration of the High Park exhumation where 155 Magdalene women were exhumed in 1993

A girl and a woman meet in an airport departure gate. Just before they board a plane to Manchester, we witness a private exchange as they share the different reasons that brought them to this moment, and the traumatic journey that awaits them.

On a strip of film exist a pile of clothes and two men in bags. The two men conduct their lives in isolation of each other: when one is awake, the other is asleep in his bag.

Marie faces her first day on the job as a social care worker. Despite her optimism, a house call to a family in crisis quickly brings her down to reality.

Named as a companion piece to Katie Kim's recent album of the same title, 'Hour of the Ox' is a short experimental documentary by director Bob Gallagher.

After moving into a small apartment in a big city, a man notices strange and mysterious occurrences.

An ordinary man must save the world from the powers of the evil Horror Ghost while an insane priest, some eccentric vampires and a small child suffer its wrath on Halloween night.

A woman at the end of her life-cycle attempts to pass on everything she knows to the one who will replace her.

Cian wants to be a hitman so much, it will clear all his financial woes for a start. Can he negotiate the viper's nest of mobster Cherie's world though?

A peppy documentary exploring the Cork pub quiz scene and its many characters.

A stop motion re-telling of the classic Edgar Allen Poe short story, in which a man is driven to insanity by the presence of his older companion's pale blue eye.

Documentary captuing the occasion, fifty years after he was executed for treason, of the remains of Roger Casement being exhumed from a grave in Pentonville Prison and repatriated to Ireland with full military honours.

Travelogue film showcasing the south west of Ireland.

A man gets out of prison to see his adult daughter. Shame, rejection, trouble with his family and his freedom ensues.

Short film by Declan de Barra.

Ciaran and Michael meet one summer and become quick friends. When school returns and Michael, a member of the Traveller community, attends the same school as Ciaran for the first time, will they stay friends?

Early short film by Colm Bairéad. Premise unknown.

A diaristic account of one person's experience of their gender as a lingering and inescapable aspect. (Description from GAZE 2021 programme)

Roy is back in town after many years. He's looking for vengeance, in order to achieve his objective he tries not to get in touch with anyone. His neighbour Sharon will make his plan change.

When Ryan's girlfriend is brutally murdered he begins to psychologically unravel, falling into a dangerous criminal underworld where memories are skewed and he must ultimately question his own humanity.

Observing from afar, Emily does not consider herself a part of the world around her, until finally one day she must confront her existence and her own mortality.

Luka has made great connections with audiences in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, the UK and the US throughout his career, so he personally invited his dans to come and experience and intimate gig in a Dublin venue.

A conversation about free will versus determinism through the eyes of two fighting game warriors. Do they have the power of choice, or are they puppets on a string? Can they change their destiny, or are they condemned to kill?

Two recovering drug addicts practice tattooing on each other, and over time they find that they've marked each other in other ways as well.

A cinematic portrait of Dónal Lunny, legendary musician and cultural pioneer, tracing his groundbreaking journey through Irish traditional music and revealing how his life and artistry helped shape the sound of a changing nation.

"Where the Merrows Roam" is an entirely dialogue-free, experimental feature film following two separate stories across a series of distinct chapters. A nonlinear collage of reminiscences tracing the hazy glow of childhood memory through to the harsh light of adulthood.

The story of young Vinny Byrne, a fourteen-year-old boy who found himself fighting for Ireland in the Easter Rising. An eighty-year-old Vinny reminisces on his time with the volunteers, which took him around the city during the fighting. With Vinny’s Dublin brought to life by handmade miniature sets and puppetry, the film offers a uniquely charming first-hand account of the 1916 Rising.

Little Luka lives fascinated by everything that flies. Immersed in his world, one day he will not be aware of the mess he will create creating a domino effect.

In 2002, 79 people died when The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC) launched a homemade mortar onto a church where many were hiding from crossfire between the FARC and the Paramilitaries. Leyner Palacios survived, but 28 of his family members did not. When peace between the government and the FARC was signed in 2016, after 50 years of conflict, Leyner made it his mission to ensure the peace deal was implemented to his people’s benefit, receiving a Nobel Peace Prize in the process. But, as the FARC demobilise, other armed groups seek to fill the power vacuum, and political pressure through presidential elections puts Leyner’s work, and life, at risk. Will this poster boy of peace be able to protect his family from another wave of violence?

The remarkable story of John Healy's rise from wino and street thief to chess master and award-winning author.

Foil Arms and Hog's 'Craicling', live at Vicar Street. See Irelands top comedy trio in Full 1080p HD perform to over a thousand people in their hometown of Dublin.

For when you feel like you don't belong.

This loving crafted short documentary follows the work of Tommy Orr of Killinchy, Co. Down, who has carried on the family tradition as a blacksmith for over 40 years. From the ringing of the anvil to the smoke billowing from the roadside forge, this film focuses on his work as a farrier and shows not only the unique skill that’s required but his genuine love and pride in his work.

A gigantic catastrophe has happened and is interrupted for two or three days. Three strangers find themselves stranded on an empty island, between desperation and a hopeless situation. What to do with the remaining time? But on the second day the sea delivers a silent man. The three survivors fall in love with the assumed saviour and forget about the catastrophe.

Made by renowned and prolific director of dramas and documentaries, Kieran Hickey, this film shows members of the Half Moon Swimming Club braving the grim winter seas at Dublin’s South Wall in the winter of 1964/65.

When her rebellious twin sister flees to England, Mary Kelly is left behind to a life of duty and constraint. Years later, an unforeseen encounter pulls her into a double life, forcing her to question her identity and the morality of the system that shaped her.

Mikey and Drew are away for a romantic weekend in a fancy hotel. The first weekend alone together since the birth of their two kids. A bag mix up puts a dampener on proceedings, so Drew, thinking on his feet, tries to come up with a way to keep the romance alive. A comedy of errors ensues.

In 90's Ireland, two friends, Shay and Cillian, witness a UFO crash and go to investigate. When a secret branch of the government show up, aliens are the least of the pairs problems.

Following the death of their friend, two teenage boys must open up to one another in grief or risk the same fate.

When a seasoned parish priest is bitten on the arse by a mysterious animal, he begins transforming into a werewolf every full moon. The ensuing bloodshed leads to a resurgence in Mass attendances from fearful locals, much to the delight of his senior colleagues.

Catching up with an old friend in Berne, Switzerland for a hunt on the lights and enjoyments of long past late summer nights.

Cellist Ilse de Ziah travels around Ireland searching for undiscovered secrets of ten Irish Airs, and playing these slow and intensely beautiful pieces in the places they come from.

Filmed in New York’s Hudson Valley, Barbara Cigarroa’s captivating work of docu-fiction offers a rare, real glimpse into the secluded life of a migrant farmworker as she struggles to raise two children on her own. - NYFF

Kevin, a transgender teen, comes out for the first time at a cross dress disco in the Gaeltacht.