Two Screen Ireland-supported films selected for the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)
Posted: 5th August 2025
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is delighted to congratulate the filmmakers and creative teams behind Saipan and Whitetail: two Screen Ireland-supported projects that have been selected to screen at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in the festival's Centrepiece strand, which celebrates the best of international cinema.
Saipan is an upcoming Irish film starring Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke, and explores the intense, complex rivalry between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy – which exploded onto the global stage in the lead-up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Keane’s eleventh-hour departure from the Ireland squad turned the eyes of the world onto the tiny island of Saipan. With the nation’s hopes resting on Ireland’s talismanic midfielder, a public outcry followed, even prompting the Taoiseach to intervene. But this feud transcended football - it was a deeply personal battle of pride, standards, and animosity.
Written by Paul Fraser and directed by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn, Saipan is produced by Macdara Kelleher and John Keville for Wild Atlantic Pictures and Trevor Birney for Fine Point Films. The film was supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen, the Global Screen Fund, Coimisiún na Meán, Yellow Moon and Kippure Enterprises.
Also in selection for the 50th edition of TIFF, Whitetail is an Ireland / Netherlands / Belgium co-production, written and directed by Nanouk Leopold, and shot on location in Co. Kerry and Co. Cork.
In the isolated beauty of southern Ireland, Jen works as a conservation ranger in the same woods where, years ago, her younger sister lost her life in a tragic accident. The sudden return of Oscar, a boyfriend from her distant past, stirs memories long buried, forcing her to confront their shared history. As a poacher begins leaving violent traces across the land she protects, the line between past and present starts to blur and Jen has to face what's been haunting her all along.
Whitetail is produced by Katie Holly and Evan Horan for Keeper Pictures, Stienette Boskloppe for Circe Films, Maarten Swart for Kaap Holland Film, Bart Van Langendonck for Savage Film, and Martien Vlietman for VPRO Television. The film was supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Netherlands Film Fund, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, CoBO Fund and VPRO.
Saipan and Whitetail join an acclaimed roster of critically and commercially successful Irish films that have debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in recent years and gone on to make an impact on audiences internationally and at home, including the Academy Award-nominated Wolfwalkers and recent documentary Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story.
The 50th Toronto International Film Festival will take place 4th - 14th September, 2025.