The eighth Docs Ireland festival returns to Belfast this June, presenting “a bold and globally resonant programme exploring truth, power and storytelling in a rapidly changing world,” and opening with Steal This Story, Please! by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. During the festival’s Marketplace, 35 Irish, UK and international projects will be pitched to international decision makers. Docs Ireland 2026 runs 16-21 June.
“Docs Ireland 2026 will showcase a diverse range of films and events spanning music, climate, conflict, identity and culture, alongside a strong line-up of new Irish work and a growing international industry presence,” organisers underline.
This year Docs Ireland will paystribute to author, traveller, broadcaster and documentary maker Manchán Magan by posthumously awarding him the Docs Ireland 2026 Outstanding Contribution to Irish Documentary. Following a cancer diagnosis in October last year, Manchán Magan sadly passed away at the age of 55. “This year Docs Ireland recognises the immense contribution Manchán made to Irish culture” organisers stress.
The festival will screen Listen to the Land Speak directed by Maurice O’Brien, which follows Manchán Magan on a journey across Ireland’s sacred sites, uncovering wisdom encoded in our land, language, and myths. Manchán’s brother and collaborator, Ruàn Magan, will be in attendance and take part in a conversation alongside director Maurice O’Brien and writer Kerri ní Dochartaigh.
GALA SCREENINGS
Docs Ireland film festival will open this year with Steal This Story, Please! by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal), described as “a gripping portrait of award-winning independent journalist and Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, whose fearless reporting has made her one of the most influential voices in global media. The film explores the role of independent journalism in holding power to account at a time when press freedom is increasingly under threat.”
Closing the festival is Magilligan directed by Ross McClean, a powerful feature debut from the Belfast filmmaker. The film offers an intimate portrait of a young man navigating life after prison, following its international premiere at Visions du Réel. McClean has a long standing relationship with Docs Ireland having been a participant in the Docs Ireland Ignite training and development programme Marketplace in 2021 and winner of the Docs Ireland Short Film Competition in 2025 with No Mean City.
Michele Devlin, Chief Executive at Docs Ireland, comments: “With 100 features, short documentaries and events over six days, our programme is packed with premieres, guest filmmakers and vital conversations. Audiences are in for a remarkable festival. Nowadays, with disinformation spreading faster than facts and truth itself increasingly contested, independent documentary filmmaking has never been more vital. Through new training initiatives like LASAIR and the Impact Lab with Guth Gafa and Story Matters we continue strengthening our commitment to nurturing Irish and NI documentary talent.”
Docs Ireland is described as “Ireland’s international documentary film festival,” celebrating the best of new international documentary filmmaking, and showcasing the work of Ireland’s indigenous non-fiction culture and creatives. “Docs Ireland is highly regarded across the world for its cutting-edge film programming and its distinctive industry initiatives,” organisers write.
“The festival is a focal point for cross-border collaboration, international co-productions, sales and distribution,” organisers add. “Through our pitching forum, the Docs Ireland Marketplace, we invite international documentary decision-makers to meet one-to-one with filmmakers. Alongside the marketplace, the festival hosts a fulsome industry programme including pitching sessions, masterclasses, a new talent focus & sessions focused on the important issues affecting the documentary industry at home and abroad.”
7th Docs Ireland 2026 Marketplace: Project Announcement
Thirty-five Irish, UK and international projects will pitch June 19 and 20 to international decision makers at the marketplace, including Al Jazeera Documentary, ARTE France, ARTE GEIE, ARTE SWR, Autlook Film Sales, B-Rated, BBC NI, BBC Storyville, Biografilm, Dartmouth Films, DOC Institute, DOC NYC, Doc Society, Documentary Association of Europe, Ji.hlava IDFF, DOK Leipzig, Durban Film Mart, EyeSteel Film, Jacob Burns Center, Jambika Films, Lightdox, Mediawan, Met Film, NBC News Studios, Odd Slice, Open City Docs, POV, StoryMatters, Stranger Film Sales, SVT, and Visions du Réel.
“The Docs Ireland Marketplace is an opportunity for filmmakers to meet with leading international documentary industry decision makers, including international funders, broadcasters, distributors and exhibitors on a one to one basis,” organisers write. “It is the only marketplace dedicated to documentary on the island of Ireland, providing an opportunity for filmmakers to pitch their project through carefully matched meetings organised by the Docs Ireland team.”
The 35 projects were selected from an open application process, as well as via the festival’s IGNITE-Docs Talent Development programme projects. Projects were also selected through Docs Ireland’s partnerships with Docufest Kosovo and Tempo Documentary Festival. The selected projects are:
- A Tune For the Girls Director: Molly Furey. Producer: Alex Fegan
- Beacon of Light Director/Producer: Patricia Wagner
- Before Us Stands Yesterday Directors: Mick Mahon, Paul Sng. Producers: Reece Cargan, Clare Stronge
- Blackest Ever Black Director: Roisin Agnew
- Blood, Sugar and Salt Directors: Frankie Fenton, Laurie Townshend. Producer: Kathryn Kennedy
- Chopped Director: Karam Ali. Producer: Mohanad Yacubi
- Dear Ancestor Director: Dónal Ó Céilleachair. Producer: Anna Mannion
- Divided Islands Director: Stephen Gerard Kelly. Producers: Jeremiah Cullinane
- Dreams Covered in Chrome Director: Trëndelina Halili
- Dreams for Sophie Director: Edward Lovelace. Producer: Fleur Nieddu
- Echoes Underneath Director: Sumair Shamsi
- Family Trees Directors: Amanda Saveland, Olivia Rodriguez Tejle. Producer: Sara Börje Ramberg
- Garden County Director: Luke McManus. Producer: Ruth Card
- Horseplay Director: Maggie Contreras. Producer: Ina Fichman
- I Dreamt About Luke Kelly Last Night Director: Peter O’Brien
- i gCuimhne mo Mháthar (In Memory of my Mother) Director: Soso Ní Cheallaigh. Producer: Andy Wilkinson
- Ímpeto Directors: Henrique Daniel, Susanna Lira. Producer: Henrique Daniel, Susanna Lira, Gretha Viana
- Innocent – Trial & Error Director: Hannah Currie. Producer: Sandra Leeming
- Mexico is Ours Director: Eoin Wilson
- Off Rope Director: Katie McFadden. Producer: Simeon Costello
- Peter Perrett: The Cleansing Director: Greg Purcell
- Pink Lakes Director: Clare Stronge. Producer: Gary Lennon
- Seeds from Kivu Director: Nestor Lopez. Producer: Pilar Sancho
- Shades of Snow Director: Ira Putilova. Producer: Sasha Odynova, Alex Tondowski, Charlie Phillips
- Silent Stories Director: Eleanor Emptage. Producers: Eleanor Emptage, Kathryn Ferguson
- Sisterhood Director: Neasa Ní Chianáin. Producers: David Rane
- The Fast & The Fabulous Director/Producer: Sharon Lawless
- The Lough Director: Guy King. Producer:Natalie Maynes, Rachel Hooper
- The Love Lives of Irish Farmers Director: Alex Fegan. Producer: Rachel Lysaght
- The Other Preppers Director: San San F Young. Producer: Ed Owles, Rebecca Wolff
- The Potato Heads Director: Alison Millar. Producer: Callum Roberts
- Untitled Priest & Artist Project Director: Dawn Richardson. Producers: Cian Smyth, Paul Doran
- What Time is Love? Director: Glenn Leyburn, Phil Kieran. Producer: Hen Norton, Sara Gunn- Smith
- Whiddy Director: Adrian McCarthy. Producer: Maria Horgan
- Who Am I If We Are Gone? Directors: Peadar King, Alice McDowell. Producers: Peadar King, Alice McDowell
