Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory

Five Minutes of Heaven

Oliver Hirschbiegel, 89 minutes, 2009

Northern Ireland’s violent past casts a long shadow in this emotionally-complex drama that has director Oliver Hirschbiegel wrestle with difficult questions of guilt and forgiveness. The brutal murder of Joe Griffin’s (Kevin O’Neill) brother before his eyes by the teenage…

The Flag

Declan Recks, 85 minutes, 2016

Harry Hambridge is down on his luck and living in London. In one day, he loses his job, his father and his beloved pet hamster, Mouse. On returning home to bury his father, he finds a statement from his grandfather,…

Float Like a Butterfly

Carmel Winters, 100 minutes, 2018

In rural Ireland in the 1960s, Frances (Hazel Doupe) is a young Traveller who has coped with tragedy from an early age. When her father Michael (Dara Devaney) is imprisoned, Frances learns to fend for herself and her brother, developing…

Foscadh

Seán Breathnach, 95 minutes, 2020

When his over-cosseting parents pass away reclusive John Cunliffe is suddenly propelled into manhood at the ripe old age of twenty-six. After inheriting mountain land that obstructs a lucrative wind-farm development, John is forced to navigate the choppy waters of…

Frank

Lenny Abrahamson, 95 minutes, 2014

Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) fancies himself as a musician, though his pitiful efforts at song writing don’t suggest a stadium tour is on the cards for him anytime soon, his limited talent unlikely to provide an escape from the day job…

FROM THE VAULTS: BETWEEN THE CANALS

MARK O’CONNOR,

This debut feature from Mark O’Connor (King of the Travellers, Cardboard Gangsters) avoids genre clichés and creates credible and likeable portraits of small-time gangsters in Dublin’s inner city. The film pulsates with freewheeling male friendship in a deprived urban setting,…

Garage

Lenny Abrahamson, 85 minutes, 2007

A stark portrait of an isolated man Garage centres on Josie (Pat Shortt), the sole employee of a rural garage, in this nuanced portrait of male loneliness in the Irish midlands. Living a monotonous existence built around his job, it…

The General

John Boorman, 124 minutes, 1998

One of Brendan Gleeson’s finest performances, he here takes the lead role in this biopic of notorious Dublin gangster Martin ‘The General’ Cahill. Opening with Cahill’s murder by the IRA in 1994, the film returns to Cahill’s youth to tell…

George Best: All By Myself

Daniel Gordon, 90 minutes, 2016

In 1961 George Best, a shy well-mannered Belfast teenager, was recruited by Manchester United to become what Pelé would call “the greatest player in the world”. A devilishly charismatic figure, Best achieved celebrity status early. His football was transcendent (playing…

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