Discoveries from Ireland World Cinema

An unexpected discovery. A series of revelations. One worker questions his fate.

Set on a fictional street in Ireland, a small community of men on the edge of society must unite and fight back against NAMA and the repossession of their home.

In this quirky dark comedy, Eva finally brings the perfect girlfriend home to meet her family. Well, she may have one very slight flaw.

What do we remember and why? Three actors audition to play Rasputin in a music video, only to realise they know nothing about him because they're bad at sorting fact from fiction, joke from song lyric, and history from Don Bluth cartoon.

Unable to make a decision between his wife and his mistress, Michael finds himself trapped in purgatory after a fatal incident.

FLUX is about creating a space between now and then. Exploring the dynamism of emptiness in a realm where time and space are altered. Past, present and future are considered in the gaps in-between, blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction. Expressing emotions, ideas and concepts through literal and abstract imagery, through the creative use of editing and sound design incorporating Irish Sean Nós song. Characters emphasize the fragile and emotional states of mankind, with prominence on dreamscapes and mindscapes. An oneiric land cinematically beautiful and psychologically disturbing. A world that explores significant topics such as death, loss, love, isolation and mental-fragility.

Originally conceived as a road movie, Sound from the Valley Floor is at once a film diary and a perverse comedy permeated with a dream logic.

The raucous life of Liam Clancy, the last surviving member of iconic Irish band The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, who at their height, were out-selling the Beatles, and playing for JFK and the Ed Sullivan Show. The band changed the face of Irish popular music and influenced artists as disparate as Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and The Pogues. But for all their fame, their story remains largely untold. This darkly revealing portrait goes behind the mask of the performer and delves deep into the psyche of Liam Clancy. Also looking into his troubled personal life, where the excesses of rock-and-roll found their way in to the world of folk. Featuring unseen archive, audio recordings, and guest appearances.

A theatrical exploration into a world full of chaos, violence and greed.

In December 2020, David Balfe (For Those I Love) played a stunning, emotionally charged set in the Church of Saint James for Other Voices Series 19.

Jake's family have been up to some suspicious behavior. Jake decides to do some detective work. As our Sleuth puts the pieces of the puzzle together he starts to think that maybe his Mam, Lisa, is conducting some espionage of her own.

Cultural documentary commissioned by Local Government for European Architectural Year, 1975. Focuses on "A Future for Our Past", a children's architectural exhibition, attended by President Cearbhall O'Dalaigh. Scenes from this event are intercut with footage of more than fifty architectural locations, past and present. A film for European Architectural Heritage Year 1975, whose objective was to stimulate people to look at the architectural context in which they live.

A recessionary tapestry of the rural communities of Gort and Crusheen in the west of Ireland. A newly-built motorway carves through their land, causing the areas' inhabitants to reflect on the misuse of natural resources, the value of memory, and the impermanence of their own existence.

A groundbreaking documentary exposing the extent of collusion between Loyalist paramilitaries and the British security forces in Northern Ireland during 'the Troubles'.

The film follows the deterioration of a relationship told through the eyes of a man whose brain has been curdled by isolation. So desperate for companionship the man plays out a relationship between himself and a woman that he has killed but it isn't long before the corpse begins to deteriorate and the relationship follows suit. As the world the Man has built around himself begins to spiral out of control he watches on helplessly as it unravels the grim reality and the devastating truth of what he has done and what he must do...

Yeats Country is a lyrical film commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs to commemorate the centenary of the birth of William Butler Yeats. The first Irish film by cinematographer and director Patrick Carey celebrates the landscape of Yeats’ poetry through stunning photography, narrated by Tom St. John Barry. Evocative images of the west of Ireland illustrate the poet’s life including Thoor Ballylee Castle where he lived, Coole Park, home of Lady Gregory where literary figures of the period socialised, Lissadell House, Knocknarea Mountain, the slopes of Ben Bulben, the waterfall at Glencar and finally Yeats’ grave at Drumcliffe. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short in 1966.

A woman is haunted by a mysterious logo that appears on her screen.

Fionn, a young fisherman, risks everything to help a friend.

The story of a vellum manuscript featuring the works of many great Irish artists across an array of disciplines.

Stop-motion animated feature film in early design stages, originally targeting a releae in 2014.

An amusing poignant documentary about fate of the Irish phone box, which has gone from the centre of society to the verge of extinction.

A brief window into the life of a young person living in a country with no sun.

A glimpse at the agonies and boredom associated with recuperation on the beaches of the Irish coast.

Hole in the Head is an experimental feature film in which the protagonist re-stages his family's home movies in order to recall a traumatic event. Melding new with old technologies and a film-within-a-film structure, Hole in the Head proposes a hauntological discourse on autofiction, trauma and private ritual.

A feature adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, written and performed by serving prisoners inside Maghaberry Prison in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The idea of featuring concerts in a barbershop sounds crazy, but in Dublin it becomes reality - open to everyone, friendly and with the intimitable atmosphere that is generated only for a few hours in this improvised venue. It is explained how this place has become an icon in the Irish music scene.

Seeking shelter in a mysterious haunted house, Claire meets the paranormal investigator Ethan, who warns her against the dangers of what inhabits the place.

The squeaky hinge gets the oil. But when the squeak escapes the oil, it's sure to get you!

Echoing Lullabies, Hopes Reach Retracts. Awake Or Asleep, Is There A Difference. Rain Falls, Sirens In The Distance, Fact Or Fiction, Only Time Will Tell.

A taxi driver sees the man who killed his daughter in a car accident. So he follows him home.

Susan is trying to enjoy a spot of gardening when her neighbour’s maddening dog destroys the peace.

This one hour documentary for RTÉ One presented by Anne-Marie Tomchak, UK editor of Mashable explores how robots and artificial intelligence could be on course to transform the jobs market, render the skills of swathes of the population obsolete and utterly transform the way we work.

The inhabitants of Newtok, Alaska are being forced to relocate due to the consequences of climate change.

Experience the drama as the dream of a lifetime unfolds. On Sunday 27th of September 1998 the Galway Footbal Team put stop to a famine that had lasted over three decades. In a thrilling encounter in Croke Park, Galway beat Kildare and were crowned 1998 All-Ireland Champions. For the first time in 32 years the Sam Maguire Cup was coming over the Shannon and back to Connaught. A Year 'Til Sunday reveals what is involved for a panel of thirty young men, chosen by their county, who set off in quest of All-Ireland glory. This film goes beyond the sidelines and into the dressing room for the pre-match, half-time and full-time action. Over a period of 12 months, the players are followed through the agony of the training fields to the ecstasy of victory. This unique, behind-the-scenes material reveals an insight to sport and life as never before seen.

A youngster has a conversation at a bar with an older man who knows more than he first seems.

Not everyone can move on from their mistakes, especially when they can't be fixed.

Described as "the ultimate haunted house horror movie." Plot details TBA.

In rural Ireland, a determined father fights to save his crumbling home amid a neglected housing crisis.

Two incompetent teenagers, Sammy and Tim, are entrusted with a bag of cocaine to keep safe for the day. To them it seems simple, that is until they begin to realise that everyone and everything seems to be trying their best to get in their way.

Plot TBA; described as 'The Hangover meets The Holiday on Christmas Eve in Dublin'.

Éist Liom (Listen to me) is the story of Carmen. It has been performed many times before. It happens everywhere. On stages all over the world. In this story, Carmen betrays her partner, Don José. He loves her but she doesn’t feel the same. After running away, Don José tracks Carmen down to where she is hiding out. He tries to convince her to change her mind. She won’t. So, he kills her. Nobody wins. The audience typically stands up. Éist Liom is an experimental short film that fuses this iconic operatic story with new music, the Irish language and surreal imagery.

Follows Jo, an introverted young woman who—after being broken up with her boyfriend before she can tell him she’s pregnant—turns to standup comedy to find her voice and navigate this episode in her life.

In his mid-80s, legendary filmmaker Chris Marker became obsessed with the multiplayer online video game, Second Life. Inspired by the novel, The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, Marker dreamed of uploading his soul to Second Life. This is a film about those dreams and their failure.

A single dad takes his son to the beach with a woman he met on the internet - but all is not what it seems.

Grief-stricken Ann, living alone in the Irish countryside, is haunted by visions of a young boy.

A Devotion Unworthy Of Language. Laying Eyes On The Second Self-Sainted Skyline, Its Grief Hearth Burning Like The Ash White Memory Of A Sacred Illusion, Breaking Its Consecrations, Resting In The Shattered Remnants Of Sanity. Throwing The Blood Stricken Evidence Of Innocence Back Into The Flesh Folds Of Night. Nights Horrified And Shaken With The Last Bittered Actions Of A Fading Resentment, Self Made And Wholly Damned To Its Own Purgatorial Place Of Demise, Despised And Abandoned. Each Awakening Diminishes A Part Of Being Which Can Never Be Recovered, Weakens And Sickens The Resolve And Sequences An End Unavoidable And Increasingly Necessary.

On the eve of his execution on May 7th 1916, Michael Mallin’s two-year-old son Joseph was brought to see him in Kilmainham Gaol. That night, his father wrote a letter that would change Joseph’s life forever.

Eclectic girl meets electric guitar!

A budding entrepreneur's morals (and patience) are tested when her lover commits a crime with plans to use the money to fund her business dreams.

Love them or loathe them, 'The Dubs' always add something special to the annual battle for Sam.

Two rural Irish faith healers’ experiences are brought to light, giving us insight into an ancient practice infused with faith and folklore.

The 60-minute documentary features Ian Lynch (Lankum), Ye Vagabonds and The Henry Girls arranging and singing six songs from Clonmany and Buncrana singers: Roseanne McGonigle, Dan McGonigle, Mary Ann Canny, Corney McDaid, and a visitor to Inishowen, Ardara singer Packie Manus Byrne. The recordings are framed within Inishowen’s stunning landscape, interwoven with atmospheric archival recordings of the original singers and interviews with contemporary members of the Inishowen song community.

Liam Ó Laoghaire brings us into the Dublin studio of Erina Brady as she teaches children the techniques of modern dance. 8 mins, Ireland, 1943, Digital, Colour + Black & White, Silent

The writings of the late poet and philosopher John Moriarty are here transformed into an impressionistic exploration of the wonder he found in the world. Interviews with members of Moriarty’s surviving family offer some context to his life but directors Julius Ziz and Dónal Ó Céilleachair keep the focus on Moriarty’s poetic works; topics roam from emigration to Celtic legends as readings from Moriarty’s texts are performed over images of a lush, gorgeously captured Irish countryside that is read as a repository of local and mythical knowledge. These words and images are presented free from any regimented narrative, allowing viewers’ associations and impressions to be freely formed. Continuing Moriarty’s own desire to dive into a more mystic, inscrutable terrain than is commonly seen in contemporary Irish culture, _Dreamtime Revisited_ is an enigmatic and experiential documentary that emulates Moriarty’s own connection to the worlds of Irish language, land, and culture.

'It Goes On' is a drama that follows 26 year-old Ethan, who's body vanished from the physical world as a young boy. He now watches on as a ghost in solitude in the year 2024, searching for meaning and human connection.

Homo Sapiens Project (200) was completed in 2020 as part of the 20th anniversary of Experimental Film Society. This eight-hour experimental feature is constituted from short film experiments made between 2000 to 2010. These films have already undergone many metamorphoses over the years. They were always restless wandering spirits seeking a permanent place of rest but so far without success. Each section of Homo Sapiens Project (200) was made under the unique condition of living out a form of subtle therapeutic practice. Collectively they reflect major life-changing events, formalistic mutations and thematic shifts within Rouzbeh Rashidi’s filmography. In spite of this, they could not find the peace of a satisfactory final shape. Indeed, they are about peace, something that rarely (if ever) exists within Rashidi’s work. But now, after twenty years of roaming the subconscious, they have come to rest in a permanent retirement in one world, one very personal floating planet.

“Persistencies of Sadness & Still Days”, is a four hour feature film by Maximilian Le Cain and Rouzbeh Rashidi. Structured in two sections or ‘takes’ of two hours each, this dream-like, experimental project offers two complementary explorations of cinematic form that skirt around possible narratives, ducking through a series of fluctuating audio-visual categories and intensities.

Rosemary Wilson leaves home one morning for a very important interview, but finds her car has a flat tyre. Luckily ‘a friend’ of her husband spots her dilemma and offers her a lift. After a series of setbacks they reach the Town Hall, 15 minutes late. Here, Rosemary discovers that the fact that the job has already been appointed isn’t the only shock that awaits her.

Ireland's foremost chat show host, Hugo Mellon, interviews Mick Jagger and other rock stars.