Irish filmmaker Roisin Agnew presented her hybrid documentary Blackest Ever Black at CPH:DOX Forum 2026, a project examining the political, environmental and economic implications of Ireland’s rapid expansion of data centres – using satire and fictional framing to interrogate the global power of Big Tech.
Set in contemporary Ireland, the doc follows a fictional film crew attempting to shoot a documentary about the country’s booming data-centre industry. Their project gradually spirals out of control as the production collapses amid escalating tensions and recurring electricity blackouts caused by an oversubscribed national grid.
“A fundamental way of tracking and materially observing tech’s growing influence – and its threat to democracy – is to study the expansion of data centres,” Agnew explained at the Forum. “Ireland has been at the forefront of this expansion for decades. If you want to understand tech and the threat it presents, you need to understand Ireland and how these companies operate there.”
The director added that the film’s narrative approach emerged from the absurdity of the topic itself. “Our film follows a fictional film crew trying to make a film about data centres – and ultimately failing,” she said. “Production falls apart, helped along by recurring blackouts from a grid that is oversubscribed because of the number of data centres being built.”
The project combines interviews, archive material and staged scenes to create what Agnew describes as a “metafictional framing” around a factual investigation. The hybrid structure draws partly on her academic research: when not appearing onscreen as a character within the film, Agnew is also a PhD researcher at Goldsmiths’ Centre for Research Architecture, where she studies the geopolitical and economic implications of data-centre expansion.
“I’ve been obsessed with data centres for about four years,” she told the audience. “When I started researching them, most people thought I was a bit mad. But now there’s a real increase in public literacy about what they mean for the climate, for the energy grid, and for political sovereignty when huge corporations control infrastructure in our countries.”
Rather than adopting a purely investigative tone, Agnew chose to incorporate humour and political satire – an approach she sees as essential to making the subject accessible. “Political satire is my main way of approaching these issues,” she said. “I personally wouldn’t watch ninety minutes of footage of data centres – so that’s why we’ve created this fictional framework.”
The fictional storyline includes an environmental activist played by Academy Award-nominated actor Stephen Rea, who confronts the power of tech corporations driving Ireland’s infrastructure boom. Meanwhile, documentary footage and archival material – including newly digitised material sourced from the Irish Film Archive – situate the story within a broader historical context.
“I want to connect Ireland’s current predicament to earlier economic decisions,” Agnew noted. “For example, how the invention of duty-free helped shape Ireland’s role as a tax haven and an experimental ground for global economic models.”
The production is backed by Erica Starling Productions and Sixteen Films, the company founded by Ken Loach. Sixteen Films, best known for its work in fiction features, is collaborating with Starling’s Northern Irish company on what marks a rare venture into documentary territory for the outfit.
Producer Alison Millar, a BAFTA-winning director and producer known for documentaries tackling challenging social issues, said the project is now in the late stages of development.
“We’re really delighted to be here,” Millar said during the presentation. “We’re in late development with support from Doc Society and working with Ken Loach’s company on the script. We plan to shoot more documentary elements this summer, followed by principal photography of the scripted scenes in the autumn.”
Millar added that the team is seeking international co-producers to help finance the project’s next phase. “We’re looking for partners who can help us realise the budget and bring this urgent global story to the screen.”
The team also includes Jack O’Brien, a BAFTA- and European Film Award-winning producer and senior producer at Sixteen Films.
Blackest Ever Black is planned as an 80-minute feature documentary, currently in early development, with an expected release in January 2028. The project has a total budget of €650,000, of which €133,436 is already confirmed, leaving €516,564 still to be secured. Confirmed financial support includes Doc Society and the BFI. Sales are handled by Wildcard.
By blending documentary investigation with fictional storytelling and satire, the film aims to illuminate how the infrastructure powering the digital economy can reshape national sovereignty and environmental policy.
As Agnew summed up: “The core story is how data-centre infrastructure can dispossess a country of political sovereignty. Ireland has become a testing ground for a model that tech companies replicate worldwide.”
