In association with Access Cinema.

From the Oscar and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia, Laika is a new Virtual Reality animation, giving audiences the chance to be immersed in the moving and tragic real-life story of the first dog in space. The 15-minute short VR presentation features the voices of Sophie Okonedo and Tobias Menzies.

Set in 1957 against the backdrop of the Soviet Union/ USA space race, Laika, an unwanted stray dog from the streets of Moscow became the historic first passenger aboard the Soviet satellite, Sputnik II. Laika became the only living creature whose safe return to earth was never intended nor planned for. Through the 15-minute VR film, Kapadia immerses the audience in Laika’s point of view and presents a tragic tale of love, humanity and discovery.

The film will be viewed through an Oculus Quest 2 headset; therefore, this event will be screened for 4 audience members simultaneously per session in the Galmont Hotel from 10am to 5pm. Sessions begin on the hour every hour and is subject to availability. Tickets 5 euro available at box office.

This line-up of six exciting short films, explores the relatable, modern issues that many of us face today. Dealing with everything from loss to growth, this selection celebrates the strength at the core of these characters.
This programme features student film and work from more established filmmakers.
12+

Throughout the 20th century, thousands of Irish women who found themselves pregnant outside of marriage were coerced into giving their babies up for adoption. Women were abandoned by the society that should have protected them, and their children were secretly punished under harsh Catholic rule, largely adopted out of the country, their legal identity concealed.

Amidst countless tragic stories, our film follows one such child on a hopeful path of discovery. As an adult adoptee, Dubliner Marise Keane decides to embark on a search for her birth mother. With only a name and place of birth in hand, town records led Marise down a winding path of roadblocks and dead ends until she reluctantly put the search to rest.

It wasn’t until the emergence of Google, that she realized she could search some more distant relatives online. After emotionally recovering from previous disappointments, she traced a distant cousin, leading to a cup of coffee that would change her life forever.

This is an uplifting film about joy and struggle, good versus evil, and more than that, it is a story of hope.

Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is proud to present the World/Irish Premiere of an exciting and diverse selection of new Irish short films funded under the agency’s Focus Shorts and Frameworks short film schemes. The Frameworks projects included in this line-up are co-funded by Screen Ireland and RTÉ.

*Please note, a number of films in this line-up are only suitable for a mature audience.

Moomintroll gets stung by a wasp and must lie in bed. Moominpappa wants to cheer him up by telling him about his own adventurous youth. Pappa talks about his misunderstood childhood, how he escapes from an orphanage, and about his historic meeting with an inventor called Hodgkins. He reveals his struggles in hefty storms on the boat Oshun Oxtra, and all his adventures in the autocrat Daddy Jones’ kingdom. Pappa establishes a colony, befriends a ghost and, one stormy night, he rescues Moominmamma from the sea. And the rest is history.

After an evening wandering Paris, Marion (18) meets the spontaneous and free-spirited Alex. Despite a vulnerability related to the loss of her sister, Marion apprehensively opens up to the city at night. Alex will no longer allow her to be a prisoner of her environment and accompanies Marion in her reclamation of freedom, opening her eyes to a new approach to life, a more gentle and real existence.

China is in the grip of ‘pianomania’. Of China’s entire body of musical students, 83% study the piano. Altogether, there are more than 30 million children and teenagers studying piano, with many practising up to 10 hours a day. This film will follow three of them, and their families, as they attempt to realise their dreams in the competitive world of Chinese piano.

It's both an intimate portrait of a remarkably talented group of young musicians, and a glimpse into the lives of the new Chinese middle class, the world’s most dynamic social group.

One Hundred Steps is the latest film by the internationally acclaimed Brazilian/Irish collective Wagner/DeBurca. Presented here alongside two of their other works, Rise and Swinguerra, these three films demonstrate Wagner/DeBurca’s use of the space that documentary and art both share. Through photography and film, these artists examine the space in-between; where cultural forms of the past adapt in response to changing economic conditions – particularly in emerging economies or post-colonial geographical contexts – and where popular genres persist through cultural mixing and diasporic re-fashioning.

Rise (2018)
In the underground spaces of the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) new subway extension, a group of poets, rappers, singers, and musicians negotiate their status as both first- and second-generation Torontonians as well as settlers living on borrowed Indigenous land. Operatic in nature, this experimental documentary looks at rhythm and poetry as forms of creative labour that constitute contemporary collectivises of diasporic belonging and mixed-cultural dialogue: the call-and response, the recitative, and the cypher.

SWINGUERRA (2019)
Swinguerra takes its title from ‘swingueira’, a popular dance movement in the Northeast of Brazil, but with a slight spelling twist that makes the word end in guerra, meaning war. Swinguerra focuses on three distinct dance styles from the periphery of Recife, swingueira, brega funk and passinho da maloca, represented by the dance groups Cia. Extremo, Grupo La Máfia, and Bonde do Passinho/As do Passinho S.A.

One Hundred Steps (2021)
One Hundred Steps is a film that references the oeuvre of Irish filmmaker, Bob Quinn, whose productions in the 1980s was dedicated to deconstructing the hegemonic Eurocentric imaginary and elaborating on the role that North African cultures played in the formation of Irish culture. The film explores the connection between Irish and North African cultural and musical traditions through shared colonial experiences. An important historical document which is more relevant nowadays than ever.

Commemorating the centenary of Michael Collins' death next month, we're bringing Neil Jordan's epic biopic of the Irish revolutionary hero back to the big screen.

Historical cinema has a shameful history of being more cinematic than historical, but Michael Collins, Neil Jordan's extraordinary epic about the founder of the Irish Republican Army, is an exception. Liam Neeson's performance as Collins is at once stirring and blood-curdling, as befits the role of a man who murdered for a cause he believed was just, but was willing to stop when he believed his objective was reached.

Aidan Quinn is torn and tormented as revolutionary co-conspirator Harry Boland, and Alan Rickman is seamless as cold-blooded and scheming then-president Eamon De Valera. Perhaps the only jarring note in Michael Collins' storyline is the inflated importance of Kitty Kiernan, Collins' fiancée, with whom Boland was also infatuated.

The story of Michael Collins is inspirational, and its quintessentially Irish undercurrent of tragedy is strong enough to make a great film possible through sheer passion alone.

Atomic Hope – Inside the Pro-Nuclear Movement is an observational Irish feature documentary which follows a tiny group of highly unpopular "pro-nuclear" activists. They controversially believe we now need to urgently re-address our feelings on nuclear power if we are to have any hope in decarbonizing our energy systems before the effects of catastrophic climate change wreaks havoc.

These advocates have been intimately filmed internationally over a ten-year period, facing clashes and opposition at every juncture. A sordid history of nuclear meltdowns, radiation fears and nuclear waste are just some of the very serious issues traditional environmentalists have with this contentious technology.

However, in the face of this pushback and conflict, they argue that, "science and data is all we have". Their alarming call to action, while in tandem with Gretta’s global environmental demand for decarbonization, is drowned out in the streets. But for better or worse?

One Mile Down: Siberian Scramble follows the dreams of two Irishmen – motorbike adventure enthusiast Declan McEvoy, and one-eyed thrill seeker Gary O’Keeffe. They put together an international team who, in February 2020, drove for 7 days across the ice of Lake Baikal in the middle of a minus 40-degree Siberian winter. .

This film is not only about an extreme motorbike expedition, but how a common passion for life and adventure can bring together a team of people from all corners of the world. And how they pulled off a crazy but ultimately beautiful feat of derring-do in the most severe terrain on the planet.

The Irish Neurologist William P. Howlett (70) has been practicing in Moshi, Tanzania, for over 30 years. At the bustling Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre he still pursues his passion for treatment, teaching, and research.
With his 71st birthday approaching fast, Howlett looks back on the defining moments of his life: experiencing the devastating AIDS epidemic of the 1980s first-hand, losing his wife in 1992, and the decision to remain in Tanzania without her, a choice which threw him into the deep abyss of solitude. Nowadays, he lives a solitary life and work seems to be endless, yet his only companion.

Julie goes to great lengths to raise her two children in the countryside while keeping her job in a Parisian luxury hotel.
When she finally gets a job interview for a position she has long been hoping for, a national strike breaks out, paralyzing the public transport system. The fragile balance that Julie has established is jeopardized. She then sets off on a frantic race against time, at the risk of faltering.

Hamish arrives on the soil of his mother’s birth; she is felt instantly. A shocking car accident rips him apart, shattering his clenched control. A beast broken, he finds himself lost in the world of his long-dead mother.

Young teen Evan, also involved in the accident, befriends Hamish. The tremors of want and love beneath the stifling soil push to the surface, as Hamish is led by the vitality of the unbridled Evan. He experiences the electric eroticism of living, and danger. His rage accelerates to violence, and ultimately his vibrant release.

Four generations of the Laemmle family have dedicated themselves to supporting, encouraging, innovating and elevating the art of filmmaking. Responsible for bringing foreign film to Los Angeles and popularizing countless foreign independent films and their filmmakers, the Laemmle Theatres’ impact on Hollywood and world cinema cannot be overstated.

In a world of growing conglomeration, the Laemmle circuit of theatres has become even more of an anomaly: a family-owned and operated art house theatre chain. Established in 1938 by two European immigrants escaping the rise of fascism prior to World War II – cousins of Hollywood movie mogul Carl Laemmle, founder of Universal Pictures – this remarkable family faces unprecedented downward pressure.

The Artist & The Wall of Death tells the thrilling story of Glaswegian performance artist Stephen Skrynka and his life-long obsession with the ‘Wall of Death’. Determined to conquer the wall, he endures a humiliating experience while training with renowned wall rider Ken Fox before discovering the story of Irishmen Michael Donohoe and Connie Kiernan.

In 1979, Connie and Michael had constructed a ramshackle Wall of Death on their farm in rural Granard, inspiring the much-loved feature film Eat the Peach. Forty years on, Stephen appears in town and presents them with an audacious proposal: construct a new Wall of Death with him and take it on tour.

Though the wall is painstakingly constructed, a massive argument between the trio brings the whole endeavour skidding to a halt. Devastated, Stephen returns to Glasgow. However, with a pandemic raging, Stephen somehow finds the heart to try one last time, and begins to build his own wall from scratch.

The parish reception hall has, for years, been run faultlessly by Johanna. Her latest challenge is organising the wedding for the grandson of the parish council chairwoman. The night before the wedding, Johanna’s preparations are interrupted when a group of freezing Russian sex workers – whose minibus has broken down – knock on her door.

When Johanna has to hire Irina, one of the Russian women, the truth is close to coming out. Working with the unashamed Irina makes Johanna view her own life choices in a new light. Encouraged by Johanna, the villagers also take a look at their own attitudes, and the truth clears the air in one fell swoop.

Not everyone loves summertime. For Sara it just means dealing with a constant barrage of mockery, judgement and abuse from the other girls in her village. But today is different. A mysterious unknown man arrives in the village and suddenly her bullies are gone. Someone has finally stood up for her. Sara bears witness to the blood, mud, and the van in which he has taken them. A wordless pact that neither will betray.

A series of crimes rock the village, and an investigation soon begins. Sara is the only one who knows anything, but she needs to ensure that nobody finds out.

In rural Ireland, Gaelic football is at the heart of the community. To many who play and follow the sport, it becomes a compulsion. Lakelands looks at what happens when it becomes an obsession. Despite its prominent role in our society, this is a world that has thus far been left relatively unexamined in Irish cinema.

After being attacked on a night out, young Gaelic footballer Cian struggles to comes to terms with a career-ending injury. We follow him as he searches for identity in a changing rural Ireland, in a small town in the midlands, where Gaelic football is a religion and identity is defined by what you can do on the pitch. Through a friendship with old flame Grace Hourican, Cian discovers there might be more to life than the rigid perimeters he has set for himself.

From the producers of Yesterday, The Score boldly combines real-time heist-thriller suspense with offbeat romance and a killer soundtrack; starring and featuring the music of Johnny Flynn, alongside Naomi Ackie and Will Poulter.

Two small time crooks, Mike (Flynn) and Troy (Poulter), are on a mission. The ‘score’ that they both expect will utterly transform their circumstances. At a roadside café, as they wait for a rendezvous handover, Troy falls in love with the waitress, Gloria (Ackie), and begins to question his life choices… while the threat of real danger is driving to meet them.

What is the worst thing that you could ever hear from an ex? How To Tell A Secret explores the act of disclosure of being HIV positive and the stigma that drives people to withhold their status.

Based on a theatre show, the stories in this film move between bodies of young men, migrant women, drag artists and activists. A form-flipping documentary featuring a cast of actors as well as ordinary people coming out on screen for the first time.

Our fourth programme of world shorts has something a little more scary in store this year.

Our Sinister Shorts are a mix of live-action folk, supernatural and psychological horror, all covering the same theme of an unseen monster.

With films more ghostly than gore, we have carefully created a selection that has been previously screened at Cannes, SXSW and Tribeca. Now, we are delighted to host the European & Irish Premieres of these Sinister Shorts. 16+