Seamus Murphy’s curious camera roams the deep terrain of cult Irish writer Pat Ingoldsby’s unique world. Ingoldsby’s poems and candid anecdotes bear witness to a visceral relationship with his beloved Dublin, fellow Dubliners and anything that catches his interest. He joyfully slices through artifice and pomposity with the steel of Jonathan Swift and the imagination of Flann O’Brien. Personal challenges, a sensitive humanity and a lifetime of being a maverick have taught him to reach beyond reality and avenge the banal with absurd magic. It heals him as it can us.
A recently widowed woman believes her husband has returned to her as a dog. Her son and her village think she is just still grieving for him but then the dog starts to train the under 12 hurling team, just as her husband used to!
RURAL IRELAND. 1981. A quiet, neglected girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with foster parents for the summer. She blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one.
The film centres around the music of Irish singer songwriter Damien Dempsey but also turns the lens onto his fans. Every Christmas in Dublin, the crowds gather for Damo’s Christmas gig at Vicar Street. For many, these shows have become a cathartic ritual, a safe space where emotions can be laid bare. Through the prism of the concert, we meet Dempsey and three members of the audience. We hear their stories, unravel their grief and find the light in the darkness through communal art.
With themes of addiction, loss but also hope and positivity, Dempsey’s music often reflects his fans' pain, alleviates their anguish and ultimately provides peace as they ‘sing all their cares away’.
Part documentary, part concert film, Love Yourself Today is an emotive celebration of modern spirituality and the power of music to heal.
Thrillingly documenting the creation of a new dance show by Michael Keegan-Dolan, acclaimed Irish filmmaker Pat Collins reveals a work that is expressive and exhilarating.
SONGS FOR WHILE I’M AWAY is a feature documentary on the life and music of Phil Lynott, telling the story of how a young black boy from working class 1950's Dublin, became Ireland's greatest Rock Star. As lead singer of Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott was a songwriter, a poet, a dreamer, a wildman. Told extensively through the words of Phil himself and focusing on some of his iconic songs, the film gets to the heart of Philip, the father, the husband, the friend, the son, the rock icon, the poet and the dreamer.
Colm is in his mid-forties, married, with two teenage children. Still grieving the death of his father, a destructive figure in his life, Colm struggles with his relationship to his own son. At work, a recent takeover threatens his job and unable to share his vulnerability with his wife, Colm’s world is falling apart around him. In the midst of this crisis, Colm solicits sex from a young man called Jay. This encounter and his growing infatuation has a deep effect on Colm. He finds a comfort in Jay that no one else can provide.
Broken Law tells the story of two estranged brothers on opposite sides of the law. Dave Connolly is a respected member of the Garda Síochána but his loyalty to the force gets tested by his ex-convict brother Joe following a botched robbery. Suddenly Dave finds himself embroiled in a cover-up that leads to a secret relationship with Amia, an unhappily married woman who also happens to be the victim of his brother's latest crime.
Broken Law is a taut and tense thriller that examines family loyalty, legacy and how far we will go to protect the ones we love.
Following veteran campaigner Ailbhe Smyth as she navigates the complexities of convincing a historically conservative electorate to vote for women’s reproductive autonomy, The 8th tells the story of how Ireland overturned one of the world’s most restrictive laws on abortion. This documentary is a vivid exploration of the political and cultural history that charts the transformation of a country
