From podcasts to in depth discussion and reviews, from docs to dramas, in this article, we take a look back at the Irish films that were released in 2024.
Chasing the Light
(DIR: Maurice O’Brien)
In cinemas 13th December 2024.
Dzogchen Beara is Ireland’s best-known spiritual retreat centre, built on a remote clifftop. Initially established in 1974 as a retreat by hippies Peter & Harriet Cornish, this West Cork refuge would go on to become a respected centre of Tibetan Buddhist practice in the West. But for its Buddhist community, drawn from all over the world, it quickly becomes clear that the road to enlightenment contains many challenges. When allegations against their revered spiritual teacher force the formerly peaceful haven into an existential crisis, the community must pull together or fall apart. Chasing the Light powerfully dissects this complicated history with dignity and sensitivity, providing a powerful and meditative account of Dzogchen Beara and its legacy.
An ambitious and immediately likeable documentary that finds strength through the contradictions it presents
Read Will Penn’s review here.
Listen to the DocArena Podcast here.
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
(DIR: Rungano Nyoni • WRI: Rungano Nyoni) On Becoming a Guinea Fowl premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May.
In cinemas 6th December 2024.
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.
Co-produced by Element Pictures.
CAST: Elizabeth Chisela, Henry B.J. Phiri, Susan Chardy
Perennial Light
(WRI/DIR: Colin Hickey)
In cinemas 29th November 2024.
In coastal Ireland, a young boy makes the journey from childhood to adulthood, where the haunting memory of his best friend’s sudden death triggers a turbulent inner struggle. As he grapples with dark and existential thoughts, the young fisherman embarks on a quest for healing and redemption.
Stars: Liam Cotter, Clara Rose Hickey, Colin Hickey
Listen to our Podcast with Colin Hickey
A love letter to visual storytelling and the black and white films of the early 20th century
Read the review by Adelaide Thermes Kane here.
Housewife of the Year
(DIR: Ciaran Cassidy)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh.
In cinemas 22nd November 2024.
Former contestants of the Housewife of the Year competition tell the story of a resilient generation of women, and how they changed a country. Winner of Best Irish Feature Documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
Stars: Margaret Carmody, Catherine Carton, Margaret Carton
The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh
(DIR: Kari Juusonen, Jørgen Lerdam • WRI: Kari Juusonen, Hannu Tuomainen, Marteinn Þórisson)
In cinemas 22nd November 2024.
Christmas is on the horizon, and it looks like it’s going to be the best one yet for Niko the Reindeer as he sets off to fulfil his biggest dream — taking his place next to his father on Santa’s Flying Forces. However, he faces unexpected competition from Stella, a mysterious new challenger. Then one night, things go from bad to worse when Santa’s sleigh is stolen! Now it’s down to Niko, joined by friends old a new, to venture to the frozen North on a daring mission to save the holidays.
This an independent European co-production with Galway animation company Moetion Films, that received funding from Screen Ireland, and features a score by Eímear Noone.
CAST: Matthew Whelan, Emma Jenkins, Dermot Magennis, Paul Tylak, Roger Gregg, Aileen Mythen, Lucy Smith, Harry Weld Moore, Justin Anene, Luke Griffin, Brendan McDonald
Listen to our podcast here.
The Problem with People
(DIR: Chris Cottam • WRI: Wally Marzano-Lesnevich, Paul Reiser)
In cinemas 8th November 2024.
Colm Meaney (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Layer Cake) and Paul Reiser (Mad About You, Aliens) star as two estranged cousins, who having never met before, must try and put to rest a generation’s worth of family disputes – before they start another one! Honouring his father’s last wish to reunite with the American side of his family, Irishman Ciáran calls his cousin, Barry, out of the blue with the offer for him to visit his homeland. Barry, keen to escape from the daily grind of his New York real estate firm, agrees to make the long trip over. However, after an initially warm welcome, tensions soon boil over when it’s discovered that Barry has unexpectedly been left half the money in Ciáran’s father’s will. With the two men now torn apart by greed and jealousy, resulting in a feud that spirals into a series of pretty squabbles and disastrous hijinks, will they ever be able to give peace a chance again?
CAST: Jane Levy, Paul Reiser, Colm Meaney
Listen to the podcast with Paul Reiser, Colm Meaney & Chris Cottam here
The Spin
(DIR: Michael Head • WRI: Wally Colin Broderick, Mark McCausland)
Premiered at Belfast Film Festival 6th November 2024.
Two down on their luck record store owners, Elvis and Dermott, take a cross country road trip to Cork to acquire a priceless record that could save their failing business and save them from eviction from their evil landlord, Sadie.
CAST: Brenock O’Connor, Tara Lynne O’Neill, Leah O’Rourke
In this article, Faye Blaylock looks at how Irish musician Mark McCausland’s record store went from inspiring a newspaper column to being immortalised in The Spin.
Small Things Like These
(DIR: Tim Mielants • WRI: Enda Walsh) Premiered at Berlinale.
In cinemas 1st November 2024.
Adapted from Claire Keegan’s novel set in the weeks before Christmas in 1985, when Bill Furlong, a father and coal merchant, discovers the startling secrets being kept by the town’s convent, forcing him to confront his past.
CAST: Cillian Murphy, Ciarán Hinds, Emily Watson, Amy De Bhrún
Tim Mielants’ direction allows the narrative of the film to quietly unfold
Read Anna Maria O’Flanagan’s review here.
Watch our video interview with Enda Walsh and Tim Mielants here.
The Apprentice
(DIR: Ali Abbasi • WRI: Gabriel Sherman)
Premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May.
In cinemas 18th October 2024.
The Apprentice, a feature co-produced by Irish company Tailored Films starring Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, is a dive into the underbelly of the American empire. It charts a young Donald Trump’s ascent to power through a Faustian deal with the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn.
CAST: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova
Kathleen Is Here
(WRI/DIR: Eva Birthistle)
In cinemas 18th October 2024.
Kathleen is 18 and fresh out of foster care. Her departure coincides with the death of her biological mother and so she returns to her hometown to take ownership of her mother’s house. She gets a job and even a friend; but the emptiness of Kathleen’s life cannot be filled by social media and reality shows. Alone and desperate for a mother figure, she sets out on a destructive path to find one.
CAST: Hazel Doupe, Claire Dunne, Peter Coonan, Lisadán Dunlea, James McGowan, Aaron Monaghan
Fraught relationships and a faux family cause chaos in Eva Birthistle’s exceptional feature-length debut
Read the review by Matthew Briody here.
Listen to the podcast with Eva Birthistle & Hazel Doupe here.
King Frankie
(WRI/DIR: Dermot Malone) Premiered at DIFF 2024.
In cinemas 11th October 2024.
Frankie is a humble Dublin taxi driver, who runs his own tiny taxi firm. On the day of his father’s removal, he comes face to face with something that happened ten years ago, and the first thing that he must do is forgive himself.
CAST: Aine Cooney, Alan Mahon, Ally Ní Chiaráin, Claudia Beatty.
Suit Hung. Tied Tongue.
(WRI/DIR: Sau Dachi)
Screened at Dot Theatre 27th September 2024.
When two brothers become anarchically radicalised against the state, the fallout from their crimes brings national outrage, disgust and support.
CAST: Paul St Leger, Alex Eydt, William Morgan
A delicate and driven merit to Irish cinema.
Read the full review here.
Swing Bout
(WRI/DIR: Maurice O’Carroll)
In cinemas 20th September 2024.
This crime thriller, set backstage at a major boxing event, traces Toni Gale’s tumultuous journey from the dressing room to the ring over the course of a night of deceit, betrayal, and life-altering decisions. .
CAST: Ben Condron, Chrissie Cronin, Ciara Berkeley, Frank Prendergast, John Connors, Sinead O’Riordan
Toni’s journey from the dressing room to the ring proves to be fertile ground for O’Carroll to explore the corruption and monetary selfishness rampant in the sporting industry.
Read the full review here by Khushi Jain here.
Listen to our podcast with Maurice O’Carroll here.
Don’t Forget To Remember
(DIR: Ross Killeen)
Premiered at DIFF 2024.
In cinemas 6th September.
There is an inherent understanding of the grieving process when a loved one is lost. But what if that person isn’t gone? What does grief mean then? In collaboration with the artist Asbestos, Killeen’s unconventional documentary explores the lived experience of Alzheimer’s whilst also honouring the ties of family. Considering the simultaneous fragility and fortitude of memory, it concludes that we can never truly lose our loved ones as long as we remember them.
Don’t Forget to Remember – A Celebration of Life, Love and Creativity: read the print Interview here.
Listen to our Podcast with Artist Asbestos and Ross Killeen here.
Blurred Lines
(DIR: Mark Agar • WRI: Mark Agar, Siobhan Aislinn)
Screened at Underground Film Festival 1st September 2024.
When six friends get together for New Year’s eve and a drink gets spiked, secrets and conflicts reveal themselves begging the question, who’s really responsible? Who’s consented?
CAST: Mark Agar, Siobhan Aislinn, Robert Anthony Flynn
Blurred Lines delivers such a hard-hitting and important message of self-belief
Read Virginia O’Connor’s review here.
Mrs Robinson
(DIR: Aoife Kelleher)
In cinemas 23rd August 2024.
Mrs Robinson tells Mary’s story, in her own words, for the very first time – illuminating battles for justice and equality over half a century; on the streets, in the courts, at the ballot box, and in backroom corridors of power.
Listen to our podcast with Aoife Kelleher here.
Oddity
(WRI/DIR:Damian McCarthy) Premiered at South by Southwest 2024.
In cinemas 30th August 2024.
When Dani is brutally murdered at the remote country house she and her husband Ted are renovating, everyone suspects a patient from the local mental health institution, where Ted is a doctor. Soon after the tragic killing, the suspect – Olin Boole – is found dead at the half-way house, his head crushed beyond recognition. Only his glass eye remains intact… A year later, Ted is living in the half-renovated country house with his new girlfriend Yana. Yana is unsettled living there, believing Dani’s ghost haunts the house, but Ted dismisses her as he does not believe in the supernatural. It is then Dani’s blind twin sister Darcy pays them an unexpected visit. Darcy, a self-proclaimed psychic and collector of haunted and cursed items, has arrived believing that there was more to her sister’s murder than people know, and she has brought with her the most dangerous item from her cursed collection to help her exact revenge…
CAST: Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy
Oddity shows just how well McCarthy has honed his mastery and brings the audience on a journey
Read the full review by Carmen Bryce here.
Listen to the Podcast with Damian McCarthy here.
Kneecap
(DIR/WRI: Rich Peppiatt)
Premiered at Sundance Film Festival.
In cinemas 8th August.
Inspired by the birth of ground breaking Irish-language rap group, this raucous anti-establishment comedy features the eponymous trio, who play heightened versions of their own lives against the backdrop of post-Troubles Belfast.
CAST: Michael Fassbender, Simone Kirby, Jessica Reynolds, Josie Walker
Bold and unapologetic
Read the full review by Carmen Bryce here.
Listen to the Podcast with Trevor Birney, Producer of Kneecap here.
Kneecap utilise this fictionalising to invite the audience into their own world, an approach that has proven to be a vitally invigorating tool for hip-hop to reach new audiences.
In this feature article, Will Penn comments on the shifting sphere of identity politics in hip hop, and how Kneecap have changed the conversation for a whole generation.
The Highest Brasil
(WRI/DIR: Jeremy Curl)
Available to stream online now. 
After a struggling fisherman’s marriage crumbles, he is unexpectedly offered a delicious new life. But to turn his desperation into hope, he must put his trust in a group of misfits whose project becomes more and more deranged.
CAST: Ger Staunton, Jennifer Breslin, Stephen Doring
Mythic madness sold to you by Charlie Manson in a tracksuit.
Adam Matthews reviews The Highest Brasil.
Notes from Sheepland
(DIR: Cara Holmes)
In cinemas 26th July 2024.
Orla’s preparation for a breeding competition and her struggle to reconcile her creative exuberance with her daily rural responsibilities.
A unique and fascinating take on the joys of sheep farming as seen through the eyes of maverick installation artist Orla Barry.
June Butler reviews Cara Holmes’ debut feature.
Listen to our podcast with Cara Holmes here.
Dreamtown
(WRI/DIR: Steven McKenna)
Premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
Mickey Richards, a delusional, aging rocker who never realised his dreams, lives a care-free, ‘rock and roll’ life. Spending his nights in bars bragging about his glory days to a group of youths. And then there’s Gina Fox, the young bartender… Mickey’s life has only amounted to a failed marriage and a neglected relationship with his musically talented son, Alan. Mickey decides it’s time he shows Alan what he’s been missing. When Alan is introduced to Gina through a decorating job at her house, it means competition for Gina’s heart. This, and Mickey’s attempts to impress Alan, only creates an even bigger wedge between the two of them. It’s time for Mickey to wake up, and stop living in that Dreamtown.
CAST: Anthony Murphy, Cian Hyland & Michelle Lucy
Listen to this podcast with Director Steven McKenna and DOP Jaro Waldeck here.
HOME: The Story of Zak Moradi
(WRI/DIR: Trevor Whelan)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 12th July 2024.
HOME: The Story of Zak Moradi follows the inspiring journey from Zak’s childhood in a Kurdish refugee camp to his significant role in the Irish community. This film highlights his integration into Irish society, illustrating how Kurdish and Irish cultures merged in his life. It showcases his contributions as a hurling player for Leitrim, and his efforts against racism, through work with organisations like SARI and the One Foundation.
Featuring: Zak Moradi, Mokthar Moradi, Halala Moradi, Dilman Ahmedi, Peter Power, Rahman Qadri, Akbar Qadri, Ahuoo Qadri, Akram Mohammed Mahmoud, Omid Hama Ali Rashid, Gohar Moradi, Safar Moradi
Listen to our Fleadh Focus podcast, which features a chat with Director Trevor Whelan.
Amongst the Wolves
(DIR: Mark O’Connor • WRI: Luke McQuillan, Mark O’Connor)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
Danny, an ex-soldier homeless in Dublin, meets Will, a teen fleeing a drug gang. Their encounter forces them to confront their pasts while navigating the harsh realities they face.
CAST: Luke McQuillan, Daniel Fee, Aidan Gillen, Jade Jordan, Helen Behan, Louise Bourke, Sello, Dane Whyte O’Hara, Casey Walsh, Paul Ritchie
Amongst the Wolves crafts an unromantic narrative centred around the visceral and callous reality of Dublin City, touching on themes of homelessness, immigration, and the scars left by trauma.
Read our review from Adam Matthews here.
The Sparrow
DIR/WRI: Michael Kinirons)
In cinemas 5th July 2024.
A teenager lies about a death and struggles to face the consequences that unfold until his domineering father offers the possibility of forgiveness. >CAST: Ollie West, David O’Hara, Eanna Hardwicke, Aisling O’Sullivan, Isabelle Connolly
A haunting examination of jealousy and anguish, this film shines a light on the fractured psyche of a teenage boy named Kevin Coyle.
Read Matthew Briody’s review of The Sparrow here.
Listen to this podcast with Michael Kinirons, Writer/Director & Alicia Ní Ghráinne, Producer of The Sparrow.
Sunrise
(DIR: Andrew Baird • WRI: Ronan Blaney)
Available to stream July 2024.
A man, Fallon (Alex Pettyfer) roams the land as a creature of the night as he comes to terms with tragic loss of his family at the hands of a brutal demagogue, Reynolds (Guy Pearce).
CAST: Alex Pettyfer, Crystal Yu, William Gao, Kurt Yaeger, Olwen Fouéré, Guy Pearce
The straightforward script along with Yu’s subtle yet powerful performance creates a poignant depiction of the immigrant experience.
Smrithika Majukar gets the shades out to watch Andrew Baird’s Sunrise.
Listen back to our podcast with director Andrew Baird here.
Kinds of Kindness
(DIR: Yorgos Lanthimos • WRI: Efthimis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos)
In cinemas 28th June 2024.
Kinds of Kindness marks Yorgos Lanthimos’ fifth collaboration with Irish production company Element Pictures. A man seeks to break free from his predetermined path, a cop questions his wife’s demeanor after her return from a supposed drowning, and a woman searches for an extraordinary individual prophesied to become a renowned spiritual guide.
CAST: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe
A pithy comment on reality, the myth of freedom, and perceived autonomy
Read June Butler’s review here.
The Hurler: A Campion’s Tale
(WRI/DIR:Tony Kelly)
Available to stream online now.
Gar is one of Ireland’s most successful, decorated and best hurlers but, his public persona and strong personality has made him almost bigger than the game. However when he becomes the first hurler in the history of the proud amateur sport to fail a drug test for performance enhancing drugs and becomes public enemy number one.
CAST: Tony Kelly, Elva Trill, Jon Kenny
Well adapted into an engaging and familiar story by Kelly, with comedy that is constant throughout.
Adelaide Thermes Kane tackles Tony Kelly’s comedy here.
Listen to our podcast with Tony Kelly here.
Twig
(DIR/WRI: Marian Quinn)
Premiered at DIFF 2024.
In cinemas 21st June 2024.
Twig dreams of escape from a divided Dublin. Her brother’s gangland feud traps the people in a culture of fear, surveillance and containment. When tragedy strikes, Twig seeks to do the right thing, stand up to King Leon and face her fate.
CAST: Sade Malone, Brían F. O’Byrne
Listen to the podcast with Twig director Marian Quinn here.
David Puttnam: The Long Way Home
(DIR: Edel O’Mahon)
Screenedon RTÉ 20th June 2024.
An intimate portrait of Oscar winning producer David Puttnam as he reflects on events which shaped his journey to becoming an Irish citizen and making Skibbereen his home.
As one of the UK’s most successful film producers, Puttnam was the face of a changing British filmmaking industry during the 1970s and 80s.
Read the review by Anna Maria O’Flanagan here.
Freud’s Last Session
(DIR: Matthew Brown • WRI: Mark St. Germain, Matthew Brown)
In cinemas 14th June 2024.
Freud invites iconic author C.S. Lewis to debate the existence of God. And his unique relationship with his daughter, and Lewis’ unconventional relationship with his best friend’s mother. Freud’s Hampstead house and psychoanalyst couch were recreated in Dublin at the Ardmore Studios, and the film was supported by Screen Ireland.
CAST: Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode, Liv Lisa Fries, Jodi Balfour, Jeremy Northam, Orla Brady
Arcadian
(DIR: Benjamin Brewer • WRI: Mike Nilon)
In cinemas 14th June 2024.
Shot in Ireland, this film tells the story of a father and his twin teenage sons fight to survive in a remote farmhouse at the end of the end of the world. The Irish crew members on set included award winning costume designer Gwen Jeffares Hourie.
CAST: Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins
Arcadian’s blend of muted performances, intriguing creature designs, unsettling visuals, and minimal exposition creates a haunting, atmospheric experience.
Read our review by Adam Matthews here.
The Watched
(DIR: Ishana Night Shyamalan • WRI: A.M. Shine)
In cinemas 7th June 2024.
Ishana Night Shyamalan shot her debut feature in Bray, County Wicklow and Galway, co-produced by Element Pictures. Dakota Fanning plays an artist stranded in a forest, while Olwen Fouéré co-stars. The Irish talent working behind the scenes at top levels includes Paula Heffernan Element’s Head of Production, Production Manager Sharon Cronin, Art Directors Gavin Murphy and Gary McGinty, and Casting Director Louise Kiely.
CAST: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré
Birdsong
(DIR: Kathleen Harris)
Premiered at DIFF 2024.
Aired on RTÉ One 26th May 2024.
Ornithologist Seán Ronayne is on a mission to record the call of every bird species in Ireland – that’s nearly 200 birds. At once inspiring and cautionary, his journey reveals the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
Birdsong is more than a simple observation of nature. Through Ronayne, the natural Irish landscape is framed to remind us how this incredible beauty is something vital to be protected.
Read our review by Adelaide Thermes Kane.
Listen to the podcast with Director Kathleen Harris here.
Ransom ’79
(DIR: Colm Quinn)
In cinemas 24th May 2024.
The story of legendary Irish reporter Charlie Bird and his determination to break one final story before his life is cut short by Motor Neurone Disease. Charlie’s sources have given him an extraordinary true crime story, one that had remained secret for decades – the attempt by a criminal gang to extort millions from the Irish government. The disease has already taken Charlie’s voice. But clever use of technology means he can still do interviews – using a voice app on his ipad – and, even as his strength falters, he keeps chasing the story.
An absolutely gripping feature about a criminal gang who attempted to pull off one of the most audacious heists this country has ever seen.
June Butler investigates Ransom ’79. Read the full review here.
In this episode of DocArena, Ross Whitaker talks with director Colm Quinn about Ransom ’79.
Piano Dreams
(DIR: Gary Lennon) I
n cinemas 24th May 2024.
There are currently 40 million piano students in China. With many practising up to ten hours a day, pianomania has truly gripped the nation. We follow three young hopefuls and their dedicated families as they chase their dreams in the ultra-competitive world of piano education. This is both an intimate portrait of remarkably talented young musicians and a glimpse into the lives of the new Chinese middle class: their aspirations, their sacrifices and their sheer drive to succeed.
The film is a very entertaining slice of a life we normally know so little about.
Mick Jordan reviews Gary Lennon’s Piano Dreams here.
Listen back to our podcast with Gary Lennon here.
Eat / Sleep / Cheer / Repeat
(DIR: Tanya Doyle)
In cinemas 17th May 2024.
Team captain, glamour queen Jessica; star athlete, Covid anti-vaxer
There are absolutely no mean girls in this squad. Eat / Sleep / Cheer / Repeat is a joyous celebration with twists, terms and back flips that will leave you cheering.
Gemma Creagh reviews Eat / Sleep / Cheer / Repeat.
Listen to our podcast with Director Tanya Doyle here.
Much Ado About Dying
(WRI/DIR:Simon Chambers)
In cinemas 10th May 2024.
Supported by Screen Ireland development funding as the only source of funding, this film features Irish composition and editing talent. Director Simon Chambers had gone to India to make a film about cars. But suddenly his British uncle, David, calls to say he’s dying. When the nephew heads back to England, it turns out the uncle is more dramatic than dying. Uncle David is, in fact, a closeted old theatre actor who trips around half-naked in his mess of a home quoting Shakespeare. While he’s at it, his nephew Simon turns on his camera and starts filming his old uncle for a movie worthy of a Shakespearean play.
Despite tackling such tough themes, Chambers avoids the melancholic, while still retaining a level of emotion that consistently permeates the 84-minute runtime.
Jack Murphy looks at Much Ado About Dying, read his review here.
Listen to our podcast with Simon Chambers here.
That They May Face the Rising Sun
(DIR: Pat Collins • WRI: Éamon Little, Pat Collins)
Premiered at BFI Film Festival.
In cinemas 26th April 2024.
Capturing a year in the life of a rural, lakeside community in Ireland in the 1970s, this is an adaptation of the final novel from John McGahern, one of Ireland’s greatest novelists. Joe and Kate Ruttledge have returned from London to live and work among the small, close-knit community near to where Joe grew up. Now deeply embedded in life around the lake, the drama of a year in their lives and those of the memorable characters around them unfolds through the rituals of work, play and the passing seasons as this enclosed world becomes an everywhere.
CAST: Barry Ward, Anna Bederke, Ruth McCabe
With so much going on under the surface the performances need to be particularly strong and the film has a cast of veterans only too willing to take on some of the richest roles in their careers.
Read Mick Jordan’s full review here.
Attention to detail is a form of love: Niall McKay looks at the work and career of Pat Collins.
All You Need Is Death
(WRI/DIR: Paul Duane) Premièred at Cork International Film Festival 2023. In cinemas 19th April 2024.
A young couple who collect rare folk ballads discover the dark side of love when they surreptitiously record and translate an ancient, taboo folk song from the deep, forgotten past.
CAST: Sarah Burns, Simone Collins, Olwen Fouéré
A film that brings you in with a great concept and keeps you there with its compelling atmosphere and mood.
Read the full review here by Mick Jordan.
Abigail
(DIR: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett • WRI: Stephen Shields, Guy Busick )
In cinemas 19th April 2024.
Starring Alisha Weir and written by Stephen Shields (The Hole in the Ground), the production filmed in Ireland for two months. After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.
CAST: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir
Dark corridors and dimly lit studies are dangerous environments where threat lurks behind every corner.
Read our review by Matthew Briody here.
Listen back to our interview with Stephen Shields about his last feature, The Hole in the Ground, here.
The Days Of Trees
(DIR: Alan Gilsenan) Premièred at Cork International Film Festival.
In cinemas 12th April 2024.
A meditation on trauma, offering hope and insight.
Listen to the podcast here with Alan Gilsenan, Director.
One Night In Millstreet
(DIR: Andrew Gallimore)
Premiered at Cork International Film Festival.
In cinemas 5th April 2024.
One Night in Millstreet not only relives the titanic contest that took place in the Green Glens Arena, but also marks the trajectory of the two competitors. The preening, self-regarding, and mentally formidable Super Middleweight Champion, Chris Eubank, and the hungry challenger from Cabra, Steve Collins.
Gallimore’s documentary tells a dramatic tale – one of courage and finding humanity in the most unlikely of places.
June Butler reviews One Night in Millstreet here.
Listen to the DocArena Podcast with Andrew Gallimore, Director here.
Baltimore
(WRI/DIR: Joe Lawlor, Christine Molloy)
Premiered at Telluride Film Festival.
In cinemas 22nd March 2023.
Based on the life of Rose Dugdale, a former debutante who rebelled against her wealthy upbringing, becoming a volunteer in the militant Irish republican organisation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army
CAST: Imogen Poots, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Lewis Brophy
The fragmented narrative weaves together a picture that’s much bigger than the heist and the politics that surround it.
Read the full review by Smrithika Majukar here.
Listen to the podcast here with Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor, Co-Directors/Writers here.
Irish Wish
(DIR: Janeen Damian • WRI: Kirsten Hansen) Available to stream on Netflix 15th March 2024.
When the love of Maddie’s life gets engaged to her best friend, she puts her feelings aside to be a bridesmaid at their wedding in Ireland.
CAST: Lindsay Lohan, Ed Speleers & Alexander Vlahos
Everything about Irish Wish feels reassuringly familiar and comfortingly numbing.
Read Carmen Bryce’s review of Irish Wish here.
Double Blind
(DIR: Ian Hunt-Duffy • WRI: Darach McGarrigle)
In cinemas 9th February 2024.
When an experimental drug trial goes horribly wrong, the surviving test subjects have to fight off sleep, and each other, to stay alive.
CAST: Millie Brady, Pollyanna McIntosh, Kate Ashfield, Brenock O’Connor, Abby Fitz, Frank Blake, Amy De Bhrún, Akshay Kumar
Paying homage to the classics of the genre but with a distinct and fresh feel.
Read the full review by Gemma Creagh here.
Listen to the Podcast with Ian Hunt-Duffy, Director here.
Poor Things
(DIR: Yorgos Lanthimos • WRI: Tony McNamara, Alasdair Gray)
In cinemas 12th January 2024.
If I had the choice of watching a final movie before giving up the ghost, it would have to be Poor Things.
Read the full review here by June Butler.
The Black Guelph
(DIR: John Connors • WRI: John Connors, Tiernan Williams)
Available to stream online now.
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.
CAST: Graham Earley, Paul Roe, Tony Doyle
For fans of Love/Hate and Cardboard Gangsters, The Black Guelph will satisfy your craving for an Irish crime drama.
Dale Kearney investigates Irish Crime Drama The Black Guelph here.
A Greenland Story
(DIR: Marieke Lexmond and Vincent Monahan)
Broadcast on RTÉ, is available to view on the player now.
Set in Greenland during the Summer of 2019, this film reveals a country and people at a crossroads between tradition and modernity. With no roads connecting its coastal communities, a humble boat and its Irish crew move quietly up the West coast past vast icebergs and pods of whales. We are invited into homes and communities along the way, where people share thoughts on their rapidly changing culture. This is a celebration of Greenland’s culture, a lament for a changing way of life, and a yearning for a positive future for a people facing such uncertain times.
Instead of making their presence felt, the crew choose to point their cameras at the beautiful scenery and let the land speak for itself.
Read the full review here by Dale Kearney.
Festival Features:
The Song Cycle
(WRI/DIR: Nick Kelly)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
Veteran musician and filmmaker Nick Kelly sets off to cycle from his home in Dublin to the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, carrying all his gear on his bike and playing shows en route, to prove it’s possible to tour live music without driving. He’s accompanied by his long-suffering friend and musical partner Seán Millar, who tracks Nick’s progress by bus, and joins him onstage each night. The day they finally played Glastonbury Nick turned 60, officially outliving his famous politician father.
CAST: Nick Kelly, Seán Millar, Kevin Anderson, Pauline Bourdon, James Dove, Tom Dunne, Dermot Lynch, Olivia O’Leary, Claire O’Neill, Alexia Kelly
I See a Darkness
(DIR: Katherine Waugh, Fergus Daly • WRI: Katherine Waugh)
Premièred at Cork International Film Festival.
Explores a particular history of image production and its associated use in atomic testing. Advances in science and engineering have created wondrous things but quite often the same processes can be inimical to nature.
Woken
(DIR/WRI: Alan Friel)
Premiered at DIFF 2024.
Set on a remote island in the North Sea, at the dawn of a new evolutionary phase for humanity, Woken confronts the great existential question on the possibility of man to replace God, after having destroyed nature and consequence himself.
CAST: Maxine Peake, Erin Kellyman, Ivanno Jeremiah, Corrado Invernizzi, Oscar Coleman and Peter McDonald
Cave of Wonders
(DIR: Neasa Ní Chainaín • WRI: Neasa Ní Chainaín, David Rane, Etienne Essery)
The words ‘tomb of Alexander’ draw one of the world’s foremost archaeologists and a team of experts, on 6 expeditions to uncover the truth. The stakes are high in this breathtaking game of strategy as they face fatwas, military interventions and the stoic bedrock of the ancient Middle-East. One man, code-named ‘The Inventor’ holds the exact coordinates of the tomb entrance – will he give up the secret?
Tukdam: A Question Of Life And Death
(DIR: Donagh Coleman)
In what Tibetan Buddhists call “tukdam”, advanced meditators die in a consciously controlled manner. Though dead according to our biomedical standards, they often stay sitting upright in meditation; remarkably, their bodies remain fresh and lifelike, without signs of decay for days, sometimes weeks after clinical death.
Following ground-breaking scientific research into tukdam, and taking us into intimate death stories of Tibetan meditators, the film juxtaposes scientific and Tibetan perspectives as it tries to unravel the mystery of tukdam.
Luto
(DIR: Andres Arochi • WRI: Andres Arochi, Gonzalo Romero)
Screened at International Film Festival of India.
In a desperate attempt to overcome the grief caused by his girlfriend’s passing, Damian sets off on a journey across Mexico. Haunted by memories and regrets, he finds solace through conversations with strangers, witnessing the rituals they participate in to cope with death.
CAST: Dolores Heredia, Claudette Maillé, Daniella Valdez
The Flats
(WRI/DIR: Alessandra Celesia)
Joe and his Belfast neighbours reenact childhood memories from the violent Troubles era in their Catholic district, exploring the collective experiences that shaped their lives and community.
CAST: Jolene Burns, Joe McNally, Sean Parker
The People Before
(DIR: Steve Reeves • WRI: Mike Oughton)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
Jess and her husband, desperate for a fresh start, jump at the chance to buy a charming old house in the idyllic Suffolk countryside. But, the warm welcome they expect never comes. The tight-lipped locals harbour a dark secret about Maple House, and Jess soon realises their dream home might be a grave mistake. Whispers of a chilling past and unsettling events begin to unravel, revealing a haunting truth about the house’s history. As the menacing shadows of Maple House close in, Jess must confront the sinister situation before it’s too late. Will the family survive the nightmare they’ve unknowingly moved in to?
Cast: Imelda May, Liz White, Ray Fearon, John Thomson, Frances Barber, Jake Siame, Craig Russell, Mika Simmons, Mark Stobbart, Richard Durden
Froggie
(DIR: Luke Morgan • WRI: Jake Morgan, Luke Morgan)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
Brothers Fiachra and Tadgh peaked at the age of 7 when they appeared on the TV singing with their homemade puppet, “Froggie”. 25 years later, they are still singing the same ol’ song – until one day, Froggie is stolen.
CAST: Seán T. Ó Meallaigh, Carrie Crowley, Jemma Curran
The Alexander Complex
(DIR: Neasa Ní Chianáin)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
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.
An Taibhse
(WRi/DIR: John Farrelly)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
An Taibhse unfolds in the bleak landscape of post-famine Ireland. The narrative centres around Éamon and his daughter, Máire, who undertake the care of a remote Georgian Mansion through the harsh winter.
CAST: Tom Stafford, Livvy Hill, Anthony Murphy, Tom Kerrisk
TerraForma
(WRI/DIR: Kevin Brennan & Laurence Durkin)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
TerraForma is the story of how the remote desert island of Ascension was ‘terraformed’ by Victorian scientists into a tropical paradise.
Laoch: Defy the Odds
(DIR: Stephan Mazurek • WRI: Stephan Mazurek, Liz Sung)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
Hailing from the gritty streets of Drogheda, Ireland, a powerlifter with dwarfism battling health challenges and societal expectations, embarks on a quest to conquer the sport of powerlifting by breaking world records and shattering prejudices.
Stars: Thomas McCague
Are We One
(DIR: Dónal Ó Céilleachair )
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
A documentary tracing the transmission of Zen meditation through the life’s work of 90 year-old Irish-American Jesuit Zen Master Robert Kennedy – and his successors and students – in a contemporary exploration of interfaith dialogue on the common ground of human experience.
STARRING: Robert Kennedy SJ, Amy Yee, Krishna Das, Miriam Healy, Ken Byalin, Ellen Birx, Joan Halifax, Charles Birx, Noel Brennan, Dr Cuca Montecel, Inge Von Woebeser-Hopfner, Dr Mónica Maher, Mary Laheen
Fidil Ghorm
(DIR: Anne McCabe • WRI:Patricia Forde)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
Molly is a ten-year-old girl who believes that if she learns to play the fiddle like her dad and wins the All-Ireland Music championship, her father will wake from his coma.
CAST: Edith Lawlor, Barry McGovern, Siobhán O’Kelly
Kiss of the Con Queen
(DIR: Tom Waller • WRI: Eoin O’Brien)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
A striving actor is targeted by an ingenious and sadistic scammer, terrorizing the industry, impersonating Hollywood elites.
CAST: Eoin O’Brien, Patrick Bergin, Ravi Patel
Dead Men’s Money
(WRI/DIR: Paul Kennedy)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
When Young Henry’s wealthy uncle starts courting “the Widow” Maureen Tweed, he starts to fear that he’ll be written out of Old Henry’s will. Conspiring with his wife, Pauline – and a chauffeur with a chequered past, known as Gerry the Wheels – Young Henry puts a plan in motion to make sure that the Widow Tweed never sees a penny of the inheritance he thinks is rightfully his.
CAST: Ciaran McMenamin, Pat Shortt, Judith Roddy, Gerard Jordan, Kathy Kiera Clarke
Iarsmaí (Remnants)
(WRI/DIR: Damian McCann)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
Museums and institutions in Ireland and abroad are actively decolonizing their collections and practices – partly because of Rhodes Must Fall and Black Lives Matter campaigns, and partly because of the emergence of a more progressive approach to dealing with problematic histories. Iarsmaí (Remnants) looks at Ireland’s role as a colony, and as a colonising influence in turn, through the issue of stolen skulls in TCD, and the presence of looted indigenous material from Australia in the Ulster Museum in Belfast, and from Benin City in the National Museum in Dublin.
CAST: Ciarán Walsh, Eithne Verling, Ola Majekodunmi
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