Irish Shorts

An eclectic and exciting mix of Irish and World Premiere shorts.

CLODAGH [C]

Portia A. Buckley | Ireland | 2024 | 17 mins

A lonely priest’s housekeeper encounters a young Irish girl of exceptional talent.

SKIRMISH

Julia Wysocka | Ireland | 2024 | 18 mins

Annie, a young woman living in a quaint Irish town, finds herself in a dead-end job, with the lingering pain of her failed relationship. Annie decides to attend a western-themed night in her local bar she knows her ex-girlfriend Clara will be there…and so will she.  As the night progresses, Annie’s fortune takes a turn for the worse. In her pursuit of love, she navigates the unexpected and neglects the inevitable, ultimately transforming her night into one she will never forget.

ÉIST LIOM

Maud Lee, Zoe Ní Riordáin | Ireland | 2024 | 17 mins

Éist Liom (Listen to Me) is the story of Carmen. It has been performed many times before. It happens everywhere. On stages all over the world. In this story, Carmen betrays her partner, Don José. He loves her but she doesn’t feel the same.  After running away, Don José tracks Carmen down to where she is hiding out. He tries to convince her to change her mind. She won’t. So, he kills her. Nobody wins. The audience typically stands up. Éist Liom is an experimental short film that fuses this iconic operatic story with new music, the Irish language and surreal imagery.

INSIDE, THE VALLEY SINGS [D]

Nathan Fagan | Ireland | 2024 | 15 mins

Trapped in the never-ending horror of prolonged solitary confinement, three prisoners seek comfort and escape in the boundless vistas of their own imaginations.

FARMERS!?

Freddie Leyden | Ireland, United Kingdom | 2024 | 15 mins

A farmer in the west of Ireland tries to connect with a local young man over their shared artistic interests. When he is rebuffed, it devastates him. In his anguish, he returns home and performs a song in his office, ending with an explosive emotional outburst, and his death. Later, a group of his farmer friends gather at the auction of his estate. These men find themselves completely unable to connect or express their grief. Intense repression leads to further explosions, and the emotional release they desperately need finally comes through ceremonial dance and primal screams, conjured by the ghost of their deceased friend.

HIT THE WALL [D]

Ailill Martin | Ireland | 2024 | 26 mins

In the landscape of Irish sport, Handball is an island within an island. Once hugely popular, it has since fallen into obscurity. Today the countryside is littered with abandoned alleys and crumbling old walls, the remains of a once great game whose time would appear to have passed. Less than 10,000 players remain. These athletes strive for immortality in a game most consider “dead”.

SAT 9 | ARC CINEMA | 18:00

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Innovative and captivating Irish and World Premiere shorts.

CLOSING OF THE BONES [D]

Claire Murphy | Ireland | 2024 | 9 mins

This film is an exploration of childbirth by cultivating an environment that embraces the woman’s narrative and allows her story to resonate. The physicality of her journey is accentuated through meticulous care and attention devoted to her well-being. Through the act of sharing and establishing a nurturing and intimate space, women are empowered to assert ownership over their bodies and experiences.

NIGHT FLIGHT [C]

Sharon Whooley | Ireland | 2023 | 14 mins

IVANKO THE BEAR’S CHILD [D]

Feargal Ward, Jonathan Sammon | Ireland | 2024 | 25 mins

A peasant’s wife loses her way in the forest and stumbles into a bears den. The bear keeps her with him and after a time, a half-bear, half-child is born. They long to escape. Amongst the abandoned ruins of the Red Army’s former headquarters outside Berlin, an age-old Russian fairy tale is retold.

DAY TRIP (IN MEMORY OF MARY BUTTERS) [D]

Dawn Richardson | Ireland, United Kingdom | 2023 | 24 mins

Working with director Dawn Richardson, artist Jonathan Brennan and the Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive, writer Paul Doran has developed a specially-commissioned script for NI Mental Health Arts Festival (NIMHAF) about the ways in which myths are created and how they live alongside those who experience and remember their stories. Day Trip (In Memory of Mary Butters) looks at how myths are created and what they can tell us about the way our minds work.

PARISH

Eoin Heaney | Ireland | 2023 | 25 mins

Parish is a hybrid documentary that examines the representation of community identity. The film follows a communal choreography; a cinematic moveable feast where a diverse group of people add colour, nuance and shape to their community identity through the vivid, visceral nature of memory and its connection to dramatic experience.

SUN 10 | ARC CINEMA | 11:30

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A showcase of the emerging (and established!) filmmaking talent across Cork County.

TIME TO TUNE IN

Aoise Tutty Jackson | Ireland | 2023 | 11 mins

‘Time To Tune In’ is a short film that transcends borders. Over the course of a year, the filmmakers collected over 40 audio recordings from participants around the globe, capturing the pulse of a profound moment in history. Participants responded to a series of questions following a guided meditation which was transformed into a musical score and soundscape that serves as a mirror to the collective consciousness. The film combines intimate personal reflections with visually captivating dance sequences. ‘Time To Tune In’ offers a universal lens on ever-evolving awareness, giving us all a chance to reflect and connect with one another in a rapidly changing world.

DOLLAR BABY’S

Remi Alfallah, Megan Haly | Ireland | 2024 | 13 mins

Strapped for cash, an innocent queer couple venture into the ‘Girls Club’ of online sex work.

BREAKFAST ROLL

Remi Alfallah, Shannon Haly | Ireland, United Kingdom | 2024 | 13 mins

A student and teacher, both navigating their own challenges, find support and an unlikely friendship over a deli breakfast roll.

NIGHT HAG

Lauren Gabrielle Fabilane | Ireland | 2023 | 13 mins

Coella can’t sleep. She won’t sleep. A presence grows closer every night in a state of sleep paralysis, but as long as she stays awake it will be okay, right? Unfortunately for her, nightmares can’t always be avoided if they too exist in your wake.

HEARTBEATS OF HOPE [D]

Aoise Tutty Jackson, Kevin O’Shanahan | Ireland | 2024 | 14 mins

“Heartbeats of Hope” is an inspiring documentary exploring the West Cork Feelgood Festival’s decade-long impact on mental health. Through the personal stories of artists and contributors, the film highlights how the festival fosters hope, support and connection within communities. It aims to inspire viewers to create positive change in their own communities, sparking a ripple effect of well-being and resilience.

REPLAY: A FILM FOR ROBBIE O’FLYNN [D]

Fergus Daly | Ireland | 2024 | 6 mins

SETANTA & JIM CULLEN

Jack Desmond, Cian Desmond | Ireland | 2024 | 19 mins

In a modern retelling of the classic Irish legend, Setanta is a young good-for-nothing, stuck living with his parents in the middle of a housing crisis. When the idea strikes to help aging relative Jim Cullen, in the hopes of inheriting his house, Setanta bites off more than he can chew, especially faced with Cullen’s fearsome hound, Bing Bong

HERE

Mark Lynch | Ireland | 2024 | 15 mins

Leon must navigate returning to his childhood home for the first time since starting college. Leon comes to discover that the house is devoid of any Christmas cheer and has now become a shrine to his recently deceased Mother. While his young sister is happy to see him, his father can’t help but feel abandoned by his son. Not only will Leon have to finally face the grief he’s been avoiding, but learn whether he will be doing more damage by staying or leaving.

SUN 10 | EVERYMAN | 14:00

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A selection of some of our favourite Irish shorts released prior to our Festival this year. The programme features an exciting mix of hard-hitting documentary, beautiful drama and inspiring Afrofuturism.

SICÁR

Ethan DonoghueEthan Donoghue | Ireland | 2024 | 15 mins

Three brothers reunite for their father’s funeral.

THE BUILDING AND BURNING OF A REFUGEE CAMP

Dennis Harvey | Sweden | 2024 | 20 mins

Three men seeking sanctuary in Ireland find themselves caught on the streets between a hostile asylum policy and an increasingly militant far-right.

WE BEG TO DIFFER

Ruairi Bradley | Ireland | 2024 | 13 mins

In the underground world of diffing, a community finds solace in their passion, as they navigate personal struggles and challenges both on and off the road.

THIS IS NOT AN ATTACK ON YOUR PARENTING

Rory Fleck Byrne | Ireland | 2024 | 18 mins

A Mother and her gay adult Son, who has recently suffered a breakdown, explore their opposing views on parenting.

NIGHT GLANCES

Sam Ahern | Ireland | 2024 | 20 mins

Romantic realisations between two best friends are made awkward, when classmates and crushes call over to an end-of-school party. Internal social pressures break down barriers, before the chaos of misunderstanding leads to a hazy truth.

WHY THE SUN & MOON LIVE IN THE SKY

Aisha Bolaji | Ireland | 2024 | 13 mins

Living in the mundane suburbia of a small Irish town, teens Diana and Sol plan to escape by building a spacecraft and living in the sky. When doubt starts to set in, they have to decide whether to pursue their dream or remain in their familiar world and face the inevitable.

MON 11 | ARC CINEMA | 13:00

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Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is proud to present the World Premieres (WP) of new Irish short films funded under the Focus and Real Short film schemes, along with Cork picks of recent Screen Ireland short films. The Frameworks short films featured in this screening are co-funded by RTÉ.

COME BACK (WP) [GP]

Helen O’Reilly | Ireland | 2024 | 15 mins

GAEL FORCE (WP) [D]

Tara Hegarty | Ireland | 2024 | 8 mins

TURNAROUND [C]

Aisling Byrne | Ireland, United Kingdom | 2024 | 17 mins

Following a sudden, tragic bereavement, a West Cork cleaner must decide if she will uphold a tightly hidden secret whilst navigating the fast paced pressures of a tourist property turnaround.

MERO

Jack Phelan | Ireland | 2024 | 3 mins

Mero makes her way into the city by train. It feels like this might be her first time out in some time. She ducks into her favourite café where a mug of coffee and an encounter with a kindred spirit put her at ease.

ONE MORE ROUND

Barry John O’Connor | Ireland | 2024 | 17 mins

Based on the true stories of three Irish couples. Amy, a beauty therapist, and Darren, a street sweeper for Dublin City Council (The Corpo) are a working class Dublin couple, both 31, who have been struggling to conceive a baby. After Amy and Darren’s first failed attempt at IVF, funded by a credit union loan, Amy is desperate to try again. Without consulting Darren, Amy trades in her lovely little mini for an old Volkswagen polo and books them in for another round of treatment.

PEAT

Paudie Baggott | Ireland | 2024 | 19 mins

CAT & MOUSE

Michael-David McKernan | Ireland | 2024 | 10 mins

Disguised as a mouse, an inept thief makes an unlikely connection with a disgruntled waitress during a bungled diner robbery.

SAT 9 | EVERYMAN | 14:30

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