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…
A journalist and documentarian, Kathleen Harris captures both the informative and the human side of complex topics. Born and raised in the US, Harris has lived in Ireland since 2006, and her work as a video journalist for the Irish Times has covered a wide range of topics, including Ireland’s abortion and gay marriage referendums,…
Festivals like the Cork International Film Festival, which kicks off this week, are a fantastic avenue for unique storytelling from passionate filmmakers. One of Ireland’s own, Paul Duane is a filmmaker who has always been drawn to unique stories, including following KLF in What Time Is Death?, and the artistic efforts of Bill Drummond in…
Nell Hensey is one of Ireland’s young creatives on the rise, a director drawn to Irish stories that are diverse, resonant, and relevant. Her most recent short film Good Chips screened this year at the Dublin International Film Festival, as a winner of Virgin Media’s Discovers programme. The film takes us back to Dublin in…
The IFI Documentary Film Festival kicks off this week, with the city centre cinema offering five days of features and short films, ‘from personal stories beautifully told, to a shocking investigative exploration of mysterious disappearances, from a unique viewpoint of those experiencing life behind the headlines of war, to shining a light on untold histories and discovering ordinary…
Now on Netflix, free-diving documentary The Deepest Breath has captured viewers with its high stakes storytelling and emotional turns. Ireland’s own Laura McGann, whose previous feature was the roller derby doc Revolutions, directs the film, which through word-of-mouth has become one of the most sought-out films currently streaming. Graham Day spoke with Laura about the…
