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Opening Night Gala: Once Upon a Time in a Cinema

Opening Night Gala. In a small-town cinema in 1984, harassed owner and manager Earl Clancy (Colin Morgan) battles an escalating series of personal and professional disasters over the course of the Friday 8pm show from hell, while mulling over the sale of the cinema to a shady politician. Can he really walk away from his life’s passion? Acclaimed filmmaker David Gleeson (Cowboys and Angels, The Front Line) brings a witty, light-hearted, sometimes frenetic night at the movies in this authentic-feeling drama.

Book tickets here. Limited tickets remaining for the 9pm screening.

National Talent Academies Shorts

Funded by the National Talent Academies, these new shorts will highlight bold new voices by the exceptional emerging talent shaping the future of Irish filmmaking.

Virgin Media Discovers Shorts

Virgin Media Discovers in association with Screen Ireland is a competition that helps new and established filmmakers and content creators get their stories heard. This prestigious annual presentation at DIFF showcases the winners and their work before it hits TV screens and available on Virgin Media Play.

Book tickets here.

Screen Ireland Shorts

Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is proud to present an exciting selection of new Irish short films funded under the agency’s Focus Shorts and Frameworks short film schemes at DIFF, including the World Premiere of Joshua Donoghue's Forget Me Not.

Book tickets for the 1.30pm screening.

Book tickets for the 4pm screening.

Everybody Digs Bill Evans

In 1961, jazz pianist Bill Evans creates two of the greatest live jazz records of all time in one night. Ten days later, tragedy strikes his band, and Bill is overcome with grief. Everybody Digs Bill Evans is the story of what happened next for one of the most influential and gifted figures in 20th-century music. Filmed in Ireland, Everybody Digs Bill Evans features a strong Irish and international cast and a screenplay by award-winning Irish screenwriter Mark O’Halloran.

Book tickets here.

The Lightkeeper

Ireland, 1924. Seamus Óg McGrinna (Dominic Cooper) is a lighthouse keeper whose elaborate rituals keep him at a distance from the outside world as he awaits the fabled Each Uisce (Water-Horse) to take him. His carefully constructed prison is blown open by three people who change the course of his life: an American war widow whose quest for closure ignites something in him; a housekeeper who fiercely protects him; and the hard-line priest who starts a battle of wills.

Book tickets here.

No Ordinary Heist

Éanna Hardwicke and Eddie Marsan lead an outstanding cast in Colin McIvor’s breathless thriller, No Ordinary Heist. Inspired by true events in Belfast in December 2004, this gripping fictional tale follows two bank employees who are reluctantly forced to orchestrate an ambitious £26.5 million robbery on behalf of a notorious criminal gang to save their families’ lives, and they must execute the crime without the gang ever stepping foot inside the bank.

Book tickets here.

Have You Never Heard of Bill Fuller?

Bill Fuller is one of the most mysterious yet influential figures in popular music. Popping up in every happening scene from the 1930s until the 1970s, Fuller promoted legends like Nina Simone, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Joan Baez, Billie Holiday, and Johnny Cash. The hidden story of this Kerry-born ballroom impresario will astonish and surprise audiences until the very end.

Book tickets here.

The Three Urns

After years living in France, Mr O’Connor (Ciarán Hinds) sets out on a pilgrimage to his former home in Ireland after the death of his wife. Equal parts picturesque and picaresque, his journey is full of serendipitous encounters with a cohort of colourful characters including a Lithuanian painter, an itinerant priest, horse traders and horse whisperers, a Choctaw native commemorating the Great Famine, and a group of mystic women worshipping at the ancient Beltany Stone Circle. Charming, joyful and with a touch of whimsy, Stephen Warbeck and John-Paul Davidson’s, The Three Urns is a funny and often moving look at reconnection and exploration.

Book tickets here.

Gays Against Guns

Gays Against Guns is a gripping documentary which looks at the American gun violence epidemic through the eyes of queer Irish immigrant, Paul Rowley, who went to the U.S. looking for the gay American dream, but found something shockingly different. Paul left Ireland when it was still illegal to be gay and here he interweaves his reflections on recent history, highlights the fearless activism of GAG, and tops it off with contributions from legendary filmmaker John Waters.

Book tickets here.

Father Mother Sister Brother

Partially filmed in Ireland, and recent winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Father Mother Sister Brother is the eagerly awaited new film from iconic filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. Told in the form of a triptych, the film is divided into three chapters, each concerning the relationship between adult children, their somewhat distant parent (or parents) and each other. The terrific ensemble cast includes Cate Blanchett, Tom Waits, Adam Driver and Vicky Krieps.

Book tickets here.

Forever is Now

This insightful documentary follows Irish Green Party leader, and Minister, Eamon Ryan through his final 18 months in government as he drives climate justice for the Global South and Ireland’s most ambitious climate plan, facing public resistance, abuse and far-right pushback. Interwoven is his tender relationship with his autistic son, Tommy, reflecting his persistence, empathy and belief that lasting change – whether in politics or family – requires patience and hope.

Book tickets here.

Guggi

Internationally acclaimed artist, Guggi, rose from the anarchic post-punk energy of Dublin’s late-1970s music scene, but abandoned performance to pursue a solitary artisitic path. Filmed over multiple years with unprecedented access, the documentary follows Guggi through the quiet rituals of creation. Long-time friends Bono and Gavin Friday offer intimate recollections of their shared upbringing in a city shaped by religion, poverty and creativity while other artists contextualise his immense influence on contemporary Irish art. More than a biography, the film meditates on the necessity of art, exploring how a life shaped by trauma finds meaning through discipline, quietness and creation.

Book tickets here.

Crazy Love

After a failed suicide attempt, a troubled young man, Clayton (John Connors) finds himself in a psychiatric care facility where he befriends a young woman, Anna (Jade Jordan) with severe schizophrenia. As their relationship deepens, questions arise about the nature of their friendship, and they must fight to explore their deep connection. This impressive Irish debut feature from Jason Byrne and Kevin Treacy is a heartfelt love story about two lost souls in a world that doesn’t understand them.

Book tickets here.

Whitetail

Jen is a forest ranger in a remote part of Ireland who has carried the guilt of a tragic accident since her teens - now, when a person from her past comes back into her life she is forced to confront the past and find a way forward into a new future. This slow burn thriller from Nanouk Leopold, shot on location in Ireland, is full of secrets and intrigue set amid the rich, rural Irish landscape.

Book tickets here.

Fresh Film Hothouse

Fresh Film is an Irish organisation (now in its 30th year) dedicated to nurturing and promoting the next generation of filmmakers. By offering resources, mentorship and unique opportunities, Fresh Film empowers young creators to succeed and share their voices on a global stage. The Hothouse Programme, in collaboration with Screen Ireland, RTÉ and the Arts Council, is tailored to support advanced and award-winning young filmmakers. Through mentorship and guidance, young filmmakers are invited to pitch for micro- grants and participate in a structured programme that helps them bring their short films to life. This year, Fresh Film is proud to support eight talented young filmmakers as they take step on their creative journeys.

Book tickets here.

500 Miles

This spirited, life-affirming road movie follows two intrepid young brothers (Dexter Sol Ansell, Roman Griffin Davis) who embark on a daring voyage when they run away from home in England to reach their estranged grandfather (Bill Nighy) on Ireland's west coast. Directed by Morgan Matthews (X+Y) from a screenplay by Malcolm Campbell (What Richard Did, Herself), and shot on the rugged landscape of Ireland, 500 Miles is an unforgettable journey featuring an incredible cast.

Book tickets here.

Gorky Resort

Lukasz Palkowski’s thrilling new film, Gorky Resort, follows a young Polish pianist, Karol, who is captured by Stalin along with other university professors, priests, doctors, poets and musicians with plans to ideologically ‘convert’ these influential citizens to Communism, to create the nucleus of a new Russian intelligentsia. Karol must resist brainwashing in order to fight for his freedom and for the soul of his country. This Irish-Polish co-production features powerhouse performances from Aidan Gillen and Jakub Gierszal.

Book tickets here.

One Last Deal

The latest from eclectic Irish filmmaker Brendan Muldowney, One Last Deal follows Jimmy Banks (Danny Dyer) – an old school football agent who desperately needs to get his star footballer one last big payday before Jimmy’s life, and his player’s reputation, comes tumbling down. A fast-paced, pressure-cooker thriller, the film plunges into the seedy and exhilarating world of football agents who live for the big deals and and will torch anything that gets in their way.

Book tickets here.

The Restoration at Grayson Manor

Filmed in Stradbally Hall, Co. Laois, Irish writer-director Glenn McQuaid’s The Restoration of Grayson Manor follows Boyd Grayson (Chris Colfer), who delights in bringing men to his sprawling family estate for sex, taunting his legacy-obsessed mother (Alice Krige) that she’ll never have grandchildren. When a freak accident leaves him handless and helpless, Jacqueline decides to mould him into the heir she always wanted, using experimental prosthetics wired directly to his subconscious.

Book tickets here.

The Slightest Touch

As she turns forty - an age doctors once said she would never reach - Emma Fogarty, who lives with the rare and extremely painful condition Epidermolysis Bullosa, takes up an offer from longtime friend Colin Farrell; they agree to run the Dublin Marathon together, with Colin pushing Emma’s wheelchair for the final four kilometres. The Slightest Touch follows their lives and the enduring friendship that has sustained them through the years.

Book tickets here.

Closing Night Gala: Power Ballad

The 11-day festival will close in true Hollywood style with a landmark World Premiere from acclaimed Director John Carney (Sing Street, Once), with the film’s stars Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas in attendance. The story follows Rick (Paul Rudd), a past-his-prime wedding singer, who crosses paths with Danny (Nick Jonas), a fading boyband star, during a gig. Bonding over music and a late-night jam session, the two strike up an unlikely friendship. However, when Rick and Danny return to their respective worlds, they discover that this chance encounter will upend both their lives in very different ways.

Book tickets here.