Film Countries Archives: Ireland

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A black woman, wearing black lipstick, sunglasses, and a sequin helmet/mask sits with her hands on the wheel of a car.

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

  Rungano Nyoni

  Zambia, United Kingdom, Ireland     95 minutes

Synopsis

On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across her uncle’s dead body. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family in filmmaker Rungano Nyoni’s surreal and vibrant reckoning with the lies we tell ourselves.

Blending dark comedy with poetic realism, Nyoni critiques the traditional expectation to bury pain with the dead as a family of women refuses to feign grief. Featuring a striking visual style and haunting sound design, the film culminates in a defiant protest against silence and denial, suggesting that memory and truth will always endure.

 Bemba, English with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Film Credits

  •   Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Tim Cole
  •   Rungano Nyoni
  •   Nathan Nugent
  •   David Gallego ADFC
  •   Susan Chardy, Elizabeth Chisela, Henry B.J. Phiri
  •   Lucrecia Dalt
  •   Element Pictures, BBC Film, Fremantle, A24

Sponsors

Black Perspectives Program Sponsor

Logo: AllState

International Competition Program Patron

Jacolyn and John Bucksbaum Family Foundation

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A woman peers over a model set containing a ski hill, Mount Rushmore, a rocketship, and a roller coaster

The End

  Joshua Oppenheimer

  Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, United Kingdom     148 minutes

Synopsis

From Oscar-nominated director Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence) comes a poignant and deeply human musical about a family that survived the end of the world. Twenty-five years after environmental collapse left the Earth uninhabitable, Mother (Tilda Swinton), Father (Michael Shannon) and Son (George McKay) are confined to their palatial bunker, where they struggle to maintain hope and a sense of normalcy by clinging to the rituals of daily life — until the arrival of a stranger, Girl, upends their happy routine.

As tensions rise, their seemingly idyllic existence starts to crumble, with long-repressed feelings of remorse and resentment threatening to destroy the family’s delicate balance. But their reckoning with difficult truths also points to a different way forward, one based on acceptance, love, and a capacity for change. An urgent and unforgettable cautionary tale.

 English 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Signe Byrge Sørensen, Joshua Oppenheimer, Tilda Swinton
  •   Rasmus Heisterberg, Joshua Oppenheimer
  •   Tilda Swinton, George Mackay, Moses Ingram, Michael Shannon, Bronagh Gallagher, Tim McInnerny, Lennie James, Danielle Ryan, Naomi O'Garro
  •   Jeff Deutchman, Tom Quinn, Emily Thomas, Elissa Federoff, Efe Çakarel, Michael Weber, Jason Ropell, John Keville, Macdara Kelleher, Andrea Romeo, Alberto Fanni, Joakim Rang Strand, Marcus Clausen, Waël Kabbani, Greg Moga, David Unger, Sandra Whipham, Charlotte Cook, Jens von Bahr, Sam Mendes, Ramin Bahrani, James Marsh, Werner Herzog, Raffaele Fabrizio, Caterina Fabrizio, Alessandro Del Vigna, Dana Høegh, Christian Bruun, Melinda Quintin, Michael Quintin, Spencer Myers, Amy Gardner, Jean Doumanian, Ilya Katsnelson, Kaarle Aho, Celine Haddad, Greg Martin

Sponsors

International Competition Program Patron

Jacolyn and John Bucksbaum Family Foundation

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4 older women and 1 young man look at an ipad screen together.

Four Mothers

  Darren Thornton

  Ireland     89 minutes

Synopsis

Up-and-coming Irish writer Edward is just starting to taste success: Seemingly out of the blue, his novel is becoming popular with young readers in the U.S. But he struggles to balance increasing press commitments and organizing a book tour with caring for his beloved mother, who recently suffered a stroke. Edward feels torn between his love and care for his mother and his desire to embark on this new and exciting phase of his life as a writer. When his three closest friends, also itching for some excitement in their lives, decide to run off to a Spanish Pride celebration weekend, they leave their own aging mothers with Edward. With four stubborn individuals to look after and increasing pressure from his upcoming book tour, Edward must find a way to reconcile all four mothers and follow his passion in this delightful and heartfelt dramedy.

 English 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Colin Thornton, Darren Thornton
  •   James McArdle, Fionnuala Flanagan, Paddy Glynn, Dearbhla Molloy, Stella McCusker

Sponsors

Film Sponsor

Logo: William Blair 300x60

Comedy Program Partner

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A woman with dark hair and blood on her cheek looks off camera left.

Fréwaka

  Aislinn Clarke

  Ireland     103 minutes

Synopsis

They’ve been defanged — literally — by pop culture. But in Irish folklore, fairies (also known as the sidhe, or, in this film, simply “them”) are a real and serious threat. For the followup to her 2018 feature debut The Devil’s Doorway, writer-director Aislinn Clarke dives deep into the sinister side of these supernatural creatures for a terrifying folk-horror film that’s steeped in ancient legend and presented with a deep sense of pride in Irish language and tradition.

Siubhán— known to her friends as “Shoo” — is a home care nurse struggling with mixed emotions after her estranged mother dies by suicide. Pieg is her elderly client, who lives so far out in the country that the only directions to her cottage are to “turn at the fairy tree.” Pieg’s home is covered in wards and charms, and she insists that Shoo adopt her superstitious ways as well. As it turns out, there’s a reason for that: Many years ago, Pieg made a promise to the sidhe, and they’ve returned to collect.

 Irish, English with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Film Credits

  •   Diarmuid Lavery
  •   Aislinn Clarke
  •   John Murphy
  •   Narayan Van Maele
  •   Clare Monnelly, Bríd Brennan, Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya
  •   Die Hexen
  •   DoubleBand Films

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Lies We Tell

  Lisa Mulcahy

  Ireland      2023    

Synopsis

Ireland, 1864. Newly orphaned heiress Maud becomes the ward of her distant Uncle Silas. She welcomes Silas and his children into her isolated manor but discovers that his intentions are far from benign as his chilling past comes into present focus. Up against escalating danger, Maud is determined to fight for her birthright to the bitter end in this white-knuckle, atmospheric thriller.

 English 
  90 minutes

Screenings & Events

Sponsors

Logo: Ireland Consulate General 2022 280x75