Irish Film Festival, London showcases the best of Irish cinema

Irish Film and Television UK (IFTUK) is to bring its annual festival to the heart of London from November 13 to 17, unveiling a line-up that celebrates the very best in Irish filmmaking. Taking place at Vue West End, Vue Piccadilly and the ICA, Irish Film Festival London will showcase a mix of feature narrative, documentaries and short films shedding fresh light on the country’s culturally dynamic past, present and future.

The festival opens with Aoife Kelleher’s feature documentary Mrs Robinson, an illuminating portrait of Ireland’s first female president Mary Robinson. With extraordinary access, the film reveals a singularly influential force whose gift for bridging differences was instrumental in bringing about seismic change in Ireland – a skill she would later bring to her roles as UN High

Commissioner and chair of Nelson Mandela’s independent group of world leaders, The Elders.

Mrs Robinson pays tribute to a woman who remains actively committed to peace, justice, and human rights to this day.

From the highest echelons of Irish politics to the grit of the land itself, the festival is set to close with Christopher Andrews’ visceral feature debut Bring Them Down, a thriller set on a farm starring Barry Keoghan, Christopher Abbott and Colm Meaney. Shot in Wicklow, the film stunningly evokes rural Ireland through a nail-biting story of feuding shepherds, marking Andrews as an exciting name to watch.

Festival Director Michael Hayden comments: “The success of films such as Kneecap, That They May Face the Rising Sun and Small Things Like These has meant 2024 has been another bumper year for Irish cinema. Yet beyond the big hitters, there is a wealth of work being made in Ireland that does not get seen beyond its shores. This is the reason the Irish Film Festival London exists. We aim to give audiences in London and the UK access to work they might not get to see otherwise. We celebrate new and emerging filmmakers, acknowledge the contributions of more established ones and embrace the plurality of voices sounding in an evolving society. I am pleased to present a programme that I hope does all these things, and I am excited about hearing what our audiences make of it.”

As well as spotlighting new talent, the festival will celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Neil Jordan’s hugely influential classic The Company of Wolves, with an exclusive screening. A cinematic breakthrough on its release in 1984, this unsettling Freudian fantasy, co-written with renowned author Angela Carter, is still lauded for its astonishing use of non-digital practical effects. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director Neil Jordan.

Meanwhile, jumping off from its opening film, the festival continues to highlight compelling female perspectives with Housewife of the Year. Ciarán Cassidy’s frank and eye-opening documentary lifts the lid on one of Ireland’s most controversial and criticised shows. Cassidy charts the competition’s rise and fall against the backdrop of vast societal shifts in attitudes towards women and marriage.

Tanya Doyle’s feel-good sports documentary EAT / SLEEP / CHEER / REPEAT focuses on a troupe of male and female cheerleaders from Galway as they chase the dream of reaching Orlando, USA, for the World Championships of Cheer. An altogether darker foray into the world of sports comes with Maurice O’Carroll’s white-knuckle boxing drama Swing Bout. Starring Ciara Berkeley as an ambitious fighter with her eye on the prize, the story unpacks a tangled web of corruption, scandal, misogyny and accusations of murder.

Alessandra Celesia’s remarkable CPH: DOX 2024 winning documentary The Flats follows the residents of a run-down estate in the heart of Belfast. Depicting characters haunted by past violence, the film offers a compassionate portrait of a community grappling with its troubled past, and dares us to hope.

Marion Quinn hits the festival with her long anticipated second feature Twig, an urban reimagining of the Greek tragedy, Antigone. Set in Dublin’s dark, criminal underbelly, the film features Sade Malone in an electrifying performance as the title character, torn between loyalty and love.

Colm Quinn’s gripping investigative documentary Ransom 79 relives a shocking moment when, in 1979, Ireland’s Department of Agriculture received a demand for £5m by blackmailers threatening to release foot-and-mouth disease into the country’s livestock. More than simply true crime, the film is a heartfelt tribute to the extraordinary RTÉ journalist Charlie Bird, who ran with the scoop while suffering from motor-neuron disease.

The festival is also proud to present Perennial Light by visionary Cork filmmaker Colin Hickey. A meditation on grief and healing, the film combines live sequences, gorgeously photographed in black and white, with delicate animations by Paolo Chianta, confirming Hickey as one of Ireland’s most expressive and vital directorial voices today.

Winner of Best New Irish Feature at the Cork International Film Festival in 2023, Paul Mercier’s biting satire Prospect House makes a welcome addition to the line-up. Starring Barry Ward as a hot-headed director who leads an artistic collective in trying to save an 18^th century mansion, the film was shot on location in Enniscoe House, Mayo.

In the meantime, Dermot Malone seamlessly weaves between past and present in his striking debut feature King Frankie. Subtly political, the film is propelled by Peter Coonan’s superb performance as a grieving taxi driver who once rode the tail of the Celtic Tiger as an ambitious businessman.

Dedicated to showcasing emerging talent, the festival will also include two New Irish Shorts programmes at the ICA, with six films about land and identity showing on November 15^th, and seven films about fate and kinship on November 16^th. There are also three shorts selected to play before features, including Our Father, the directorial debut of celebrated comedian and actor Aisling Bea. Her film will play before Swing Bout on Saturday 16 November at 18:00.

Alongside the Public Programme there will be an additional collection of Irish Films available on the IFTUK App.

The Irish Film Festival will be followed by the Irish Film & Television UK Awards on Monday, 18 November. This star-studded, red-carpet event will take place at the Embassy of Ireland.

Members of the jury for the Irish Film & Television UK Awards include:

Best feature film: Maeve Murphy (Director Silent Grace), Paul FitzSimons (Producer Verdigris), Steven Greenfields (IFTUK Board), Chaired by Michael Hayden (Festival Director).

Best feature documentary: Andrew Gallimore (Director One Night In Millstreet), Róisín

Geraghty (Producer Sunlight), Mark Costello (IFTUK Advisory Group) Chaired by Michael Hayden

(Festival Director) Best short film: Sadhbh Murphy (Network TV Ireland), Kevin Law (IFTUK Advisory Group), Chaired by Natasha Orlando Kappler (Shorts Programmer). Other jurors to be to be confirmed.

This year’s partners are Screen Ireland, Culture Ireland, Tourism Ireland, 560 Media, The Century Club, The Irish Film Institute and The Government of Ireland Emigration Support Programme.