One of the most heavily nominated films ahead of this weekend’s Oscar ceremony, papal elect-em’-up Conclave has emerged as an awards favourite and box-office hit thanks to its entertaining mesh of political intrigue and hot gossip. “Nothing is more simultaneously ‘dudes rock’ and for the girls and gays than watching aging character actors tell each…
‘An excommunicated priest returns to his remote island community in a documentary, previously lost to time’ – that’s the synopsis of In Wake of John Doyle, one of the shorts screening this week at DIFF, but there’s more to this disarming doc than meets the eye. For one thing, it’s a found footage piece, a…
The 2025 Dublin International Film Festival begins this week, and for Irish filmmakers it’s a huge platform to share their work, and in the festival’s expansive offering of shorts there is an impressive variety of filmmaking approaches and outlooks from across the island. No more is that more on display than in the immersive, intelligent…
Two and a half years after its festival premiere, The People’s Joker is finally getting its Irish theatrical release. I first encountered Vera Drew’s debut feature when it was included in Dublin’s own GAZE International LGBTQIA+ Film Festival lineup in September of 2022, before being yanked from venues after only one screening at the Toronto…
Gabriel Adewusi is taking up room in our heads at the moment and deservedly so. The actor is one of the leads of the short film Room Taken, a darling of the festival circuit since its debut in late 2023 at the Cork International Film Festival. Since then its screened from DIFF to KIFF, been…
One of the most exciting parts of seeing Irish films today is the variety of styles. We have an animation outpost to the south Cartoon Saloon’s success inspiring new artists every year. This site spent the last month celebrating how much Ireland is killing it in the horror genre. There are regular festivals fully focused…
We’re living in the Golden Age of Irish Horror and we’re dead excited about it. Throughout October we’re celebrating Samhain with interviews, reviews and retrospectives, that show how Ireland has risen to the top of the horror hierarchy. You wait forever for a horror film as Gaeilge and then two come along at once. While…
GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival has begun for 2024, and over the next few days, it will deliver the usual mix of the essential and emotional, the taboo and transgressive in queer cinema. Taboo is a spicy but vital ingredient in any cinematic stew, a window into the parts of us that are certainly there…
In a Collective or as an individual, Aisha Bolaji is raising the bar for Irish film. From aiding festivals like DIFF or Catalyst in Limerick, to programming screenings with GALPAL Collective, to her own work behind the camera, she’s developed a powerful portfolio in recent years. This week at the 2024 Galway Film Fleadh, her…
A writer, actor and comedian, Dublin’s own Hannah Mamalis is no stranger to the festival circuit. On stage, she’s performed here at Dublin Fringe, First Fortnight. For film, her short film Baby Steps has taken off in recent months, showing in Sweden, in Belfast, across the Republic and now at home in the Dublin International…
