Docs Ireland returns to Belfast June 23 to 29 for its seventh edition, showcasing “hard-hitting, eye-opening, and life-affirming documentaries from Ireland and around the world,” organisers write. It also features a “robust” industry programme, connecting filmmakers with leading commissioners and film financiers, drawing a host of influential industry representatives to the city. The festival also presents IGNITE-Docs LASAIR a new Irish language Talent development programme.
Highlights include a screening of Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man with live commentary from editor Joe Bini, and special screenings celebrating Irish documentary legend Bob Quinn, an exploration of David Lynch through documentary,as well as a host of new documentaries from across the island of Ireland and around the world.
GALA SCREENINGS
Docs Ireland, in partnership with Queen’s University Belfast, will welcome former US senator George Mitchell for a Gala Screening and world premiere of The Negotiatordirected by Trevor Birney (producer of Kneecap). The film explores Mitchell’s involvement in chairing the talks process that culminated in the Good Friday/Belfast agreement and will be followed by a Q&A with Mitchell, hosted by Miriam O’Callaghan.
Closing Docs Ireland this year will be A Want In Her, the award-winning debut feature of Belfast-based artist Myrid Carten. It is “a deeply personal, beautifully conveyed film which explores the filmmaker’s relationship with her mother. Her search takes her into a feuding family, a contested house; and a history that threatens to take everyone down, including herself.”
SPECIAL EVENTS
This year Docs Ireland will celebrate the work of three filmmakers “whose impact on the world of film cannot be underestimated.” Top editor Joe Bini (You Were Never Really Here, My Best Fiend, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed) will be live and in person at QFT for a live commentary on Werner Herzog’s classic Grizzly Man. Filmmaker Bob Quinn will be celebrated with an award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Documentary alongside screenings of his films The Family and Atlantean. The festival will also present a “weird and wonderful” exploration of the work of David Lynch in the The Pink Room – A Night Of David Lynch Talking And Being Talked About.
This Docs Ireland moves outside of Belfast for one night only for a special world premiere screening of Music For Domes directed by Dawn Richardson from Hosta Projects and scored by RÓIS, at the Armagh Planetarium.
Live performances accompanying documentaries have become a staple of Docs Ireland. Docs Ireland’s Night for Palestine will bring together artists from throughout Ireland to raise money for Palestine with a night of live music, poetry readings and talks, ending in a DJ set byDavid Holmes.
NEW IRISH DOCUMENTARY
Docs Ireland’s dedication to introducing the best in new Irish documentary is exemplified by the annual Pull Focus Irish Documentary Competition. From an investigation into the disappeared in Hunting Captain Nairac by Alison Millar; an exploration of folk horror in 1970s Northern Ireland in Operation Bogeyman by Simon Aeppli; Latina, Latina by Adrian Duncan and voiced by Wendy Erskine which follows an Irish geologist who discovers the diaries of her estranged father from fascist-era Italy; and Born that Way by Éamon Little exploring disability, care and the life of music journalist Patrick Lydon in the last years of his life.
This year’s Pull Focus competition also includes two documentaries in the Irish language. A career at a crossroads is explored in Paddy Hayes’ Irish language documentary David Keenan: Focla Ar Chanbhás/ Words on Canvas, while Ag Taisteal Siar/Travelling Back takes a look at music in the Irish traveller community.
This year the festival will recognise acclaimed Irish cinematographer, stills photographer and documentary director Ross McDonnell – who tragically lost his life in 2023 – with the Ross McDonnell Award for Best Cinematography in an Irish Feature, the winner of which will be selected from the films nominated for the Pull Focus Irish Documentary Competition by an independent jury.
Belfast Docs, a programme of short film created with The Hearth (commissioned by Belfast 2024), will see the world premiere of three short documentaries made in collaboration with Belfast community groups; Seeking Home directed by Gillian Callan; Stranded Dreams directed by Alison Millar, and Ardoyne Youth Club directed by Seán Murray.
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY
Docs Ireland’s Maysles Documentary Competition celebrates the best in international observational documentary. This year sees films from six different countries and four continents; Always: (A Letter to Childhood), a poetic coming of age exploration from China; Bogancloch, Ben Rivers’ follow up to the award-winning Two Years At Sea, is a subtle depiction of a quiet life in Scotland, from the same filmmakers as Oscar winning 20 Days in Mariupol, 2000 Meters to Andriivka is a devastating account of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Docs Ireland this year will focus on three countries: Kenya, Palestine and Poland. Alongside Maia Lekow and Christopher King’s Kenyan-based How to Build a Library is Shadow Scholars which explores the hidden industry of essay writing. The film ismdirected by Eloïse King and executive produced by Steve McQueen.
From Ground Zero is a collection of short films by Palestinian filmmakers that document the devastation of the destruction of Gaza and also the resilience of the Palestinian people. A State of Passion follows heroic doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah as he faces his sixth war in Gaza and fights to bring vital medical care to the people of Gaza during the ongoing genocide.
This year Docs Ireland spotlight is on Poland, in partnership with Krakow Film Festival. The programme features Agnieszka Zwiefka’s Silent Trees and Everything Needs to Live by Andrii Lytvynenko, Tetiana Dorodnitsyna which follows the unusual life of athlete and animal rights activist Anna Kurkurina.
INDUSTRY
Docs Ireland returns with a “jam-packed” industry programme of workshops, panels and networking opportunities. The BFI Doc Society’s Creative Documentary Making in Focus will present the first roundtable addressing issues in the documentary film industry across both the UK and Ireland.
The How to Fund Market and Sell a Documentary in a Post-Covid Landscape panel will provide vital industry insight into sustainable documentary filmmaking in our current landscape. This will be followed by a screening of Tom Burke’s documentary The Gap in Consent in which he spoke to Irish filmmakers about the complicated issue of consent and documentary participants.
The Anatomy of the Frame panel with world-class filmmakers such as Kate McCullough (An Cailín Ciúin/ The Quiet Girl, Normal People) and Magda Kowalczyk (Cow, High & Low – John Galliano), will be a fascinating deep dive into the work of cinematographers in documentary. The return of the Northern Ireland Screen Pitch in association with Yellowmoon and Docs Ireland’s Industry flagship Marketplace will bring decision makers from throughout the industry to Belfast to meet with filmmakers.
In collaboration with Cork International Film Festival, Docs Ireland has announced the first short documentary in the Irish language training/mentorship programme, supported by TG4, and the Irish Language Broadcast Fund. LASAIR New Talent Development scheme is an extension of the IGNITE-Docs talent development programme which is currently in its fifth year.
Richard Williams, Chief Executive at Northern Ireland Screen comments: “We are proud to support Docs Ireland as it enters its seventh year, a festival that continues to be an important platform for both emerging and established documentary talent. Docs Ireland plays a key role in fostering cross-border collaboration, attracting international co-productions, and advancing the global reach of Irish documentary through sales and distribution opportunities. We’re especially pleased to see the IGNITE-Docs initiative expand through LASAIR, a new strand for Irish language short documentaries, developed in partnership with the Irish Language Broadcast Fund and TG4. It’s great to see the festival close with A Want In Her, directed by Myrid Carten – a project that received its first development grant at Northern Ireland Screen’s inaugural pitch in 2019 and stands as a testament to the long-term impact of this festival and its partners.”
Michele Devlin, Chief Executive at Docs Ireland adds: “Among the international guests, Docs Marketplace and brilliant films, audiences will find stories about incredible music, film culture, social justice, current world conflicts and the people who strive to resolve them. Rare archive and modern tales sit alongside brand new exhibition concepts, with fusion events including documentary and theatre, a planetarium and a homage to the great David Lynch. This year’s programme is bursting with creativity and talent from across the island of Ireland and beyond.”
