The 17th IRISH FILM FESTA is taking place from March 25th to 29th at the Casa del Cinema in Rome.
Our competitive section, for short films produced or co-produced in Ireland, gathered over 200 submissions: reaching the final selection of fifteen shorts, was incredibly tough.
Heartfelt thanks to all the Irish filmmakers who shared their work with us, and congratulations to the ones who are going to screen at the festival.
IRISH FILM FESTA full programme is to be announced soon.
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
A DAY IN THE SUN
Edwin Mullane
Ireland 2025, 11’37”
produced by Ger Leamy, Mo O’Connell
with Lalor Roddy, Geraldine McAlinden, Caroline Harvey
As time is slipping away, a devoted daughter and her ageing father fight against separation, duty and the inevitable to steal precious moments together.
AN BUACHAILL NUA (THE NEW BOY)
Diarmuid Timmons
Ireland 2024, 13’02”
produced by Diarmuid Timmons, Patrick Timmons Ward
with Diarmuid de Faoite, Michael Redahan, Finn O’Hara, Noah Gurrie
It’s sink or swim for a tardy schoolboy on his first day at a new school in rural 1970’s Ireland.
BRÓN
Catherine Mangan Williams
Ireland 2024, 03’45’’
produced by Joanne Heffernan
with the voice of Peter McGann
A man on the edge of oblivion is granted a chance at redemption. In the form of a curious fox.
ÉIRU
Giovanna Ferrari
Ireland 2025, 12’59’’
produced by Nora Twomey
with the voices of Coco Teehan Roche, Michael McGrath
When the water mysteriously disappears from the well in a warrior clan’s village, an intrepid child descends into the belly of the earth to retrieve it. Éiru marks Giovanna Ferrari’s first direction for the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon.
GROWING PAINS
Ellie Wildman, Conor Toner
Ireland, UK 2024, 13’00’’
produced by Meghan Mc Ardle
with Nigel O’Neill, Holly Cardwell
Bernie, a grumpy lonely widower, finds unexpected companionship in a bizarre “Grow Your Own Girlfriend” kit ordered from a mysterious infomercial. Growing Pains is a darkly whimsical tale of love, loss, and finding friendship in a lonely world.
I FOUND A PLACE
Zoë Gibney
Ireland 2024, 08’10’’
produced by Jo Halpin
with Brian Gleeson, Bríd Ní Neachtain, Enda Oates
Seán has just recently moved up to Dublin from a small rural town, away from his collapsing family farm and its debt to make something of himself. His plans for a great start-up collide with the challenges of living alone in costly and chaotic city.
I WILL GO ON MISSING YOU TILL THEN
Tresca Mallon
Ireland, UK 2026, 12’30’’
produced by Conor Toner
with Holly Hannaway
An experimental documentary taking words from a young woman’s love letters, from Ireland to America, written in 1960.
MAN IN A WHEELBARROW
Sean J Moiselle
Ireland 2025, 09’24’’
produced by Sean J Moiselle
with Sean J Moiselle
Oil rigs. UN Peacekeeping. And a wheelbarrow. A rough, honest exploration of how we remember those we’ve lost to suicide.
MARY CHRISTMAS
Colm S. Herron
Ireland 2026, 15’40’’
produced by –
with Caoimhe Mary Sweeney
In an attempt to buy a nice Christmas present for her mother, Mary tries gambling what money she has.
METEORIC
Paul Ó Muiris
Ireland 2025, 06’38’’
produced by Anne-Flore Aussant
When an artist is hit by a meteor, the result is a “painting” that captivates the world. But the people want more.
OUTLASTING
Lewis Doherty
Ireland 2025, 04’02’’
produced by Lewis Doherty
with Jeffrey Dudgeon
A celebration of the resilience of Jeffrey Dudgeon, a Northern Ireland’s queer activist, who bravely faced the courts and police while fighting to decriminalise homosexuality.
STUTTERBUG
Matthew Tallon
Ireland 2025, 14’00’’
produced by Eoin Wickham, Letizia Delmastro
with Aidan Greene, Scroobius Pip, Ally Ryan, John Doran
A stuttering man’s desperate attempts to conceal his disability lead him to insult sick children, ruin his shot with his college crush and unwittingly hatecrime her also-stammering brother. All while just trying to order a cup of coffee…
THE CLOUD HERDER
Aidan McAteer
Ireland 2025, 07’05’’
produced by Sarah-Jane Kearns
An ageing herder protects her flock of clouds from a ferocious storm of her own making.
THE INVITATION
Sinead O’Brien
Ireland 2024, 11’22’’
produced by Sharon Lawless
with Clare Monnelly, Aaron Monaghan, Niall Hassett
When neurodiverse Alex is invited to a party, his overanxious parents go into overdrive to protect him.
THREE KEENINGS
Oliver McGoldrick
Ireland, UK, USA 2024, 10’00’’
produced by Oliver McGoldrick, Natalie Remplakowski, Cade Featherstone, Chloe Langton
with Seamus O’Hara
Ian is a struggling actor who finds himself in the unconventional role of a professional mourner. As he tours the Northern Irish countryside, his practised mask of apathy begins to slip amongst the humour and heartache of the local funeral circuit.