Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell’s documentary struck a chord with audiences across the globe, detailing a dire crisis facing the world’s beekeepers and its potentially catastrophic repercussions. Simply put, their bees are dying, and nobody can quite figure why: without the pollination they provide, agricultural life as we know it will disappear. It’s a vivid thesis, presented through the eyes of the characters on the frontline, most notably the Seppis, a Christian beekeeping family. The dynamic between the two co-directors works beautifully: McDonnell, a renowned photographer, conjures any number of stunning images, while seasoned editor Gunn gives the narrative a cracking pace. Like all great documentaries, Colony makes an unlikely subject utterly compelling, all the while illuminating urgent environmental issues.

Plus Remember Me, My Ghost (16 mins, Ireland, 2011, Colour/Black and White): Ross McDonnell’s latest film is a haunting cinematic tone poem, a stunningly realised documentary portrait of one mother’s tumultuous years in the now demolished Ballymun flats.