Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory

Small Things Like These

Tim Mielants, 98 minutes, 2024

An unassuming man in 1980’s Ireland must grapple with his conscience in the face of an overwhelming moment of insight in Tim Mielants supremely confident adaptation of Claire Keegan’s Booker Prize-nominated 2021 novella. The setting is New Ross, Wexford, in…

Smolt

Michael Higgins, 65 minutes, 2013

‘Smolt (n.) Young salmon migrating to sea for first time.’ While trying to offload secondhand cigarettes, two 12-year-olds, Darren and Leon, become embroiled in a saga involving counterfeit football jerseys. Conceived in the style of a bootleg VHS, award-winning filmmaker…

Snap

Carmel Winters, 86 minutes, 2010

This debut feature from writer-director Carmel Winters centres on the caustic Sharon (Aisling O’Sullivan) who wants to “set the record straight”. Three years ago Sharon’s disturbed teenage son Stephen (Stephen Moran) kidnapped a toddler; the case was a media sensation,…

The Snapper

Stephen Frears, 91 minutes, 1993

Heart-warming and universal, The Snapper sees a family come together to face the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy. Twenty years old and single, Sharon Curley (Tina Kellegher) finds herself stunning her family, including father Dessie (Colm Meaney) with the news…

Solitary

Eamonn Murphy, 86 minutes, 2025

Brendan, a widowed farmer, lives a quiet life on the edge of a village in rural Ireland. When his home is broken into, a growing sense of fear and isolation takes hold. As violence touches the community and trust in…

Some Mother’s Son

Jim Sheridan, 112 minutes, 1996

Sheridan’s first collaboration with scriptwriter Terry George was on his second film about the Troubles, Some Mother’s Son. It was produced by Sheridan through his production company Hell’s Kitchen. A young Aiden Gillen plays the Christ-like hunger striker Gerard Quigley,…

Son

Ivan Kavanagh, 97 minutes, 2020

From acclaimed writer/director Ivan Kavanagh, Son is a bold and unnerving character driven horror film, in the vein of Hereditary, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Babadook. Having escaped from a cult as a child, a mother must face her past when…

Song for a Raggy Boy

Aisling Walsh, 100 minutes, 2003

The brutality of Ireland’s industrial schools has become a matter of public knowledge – and shame – over the last twenty years and Song for a Raggy Boy is part of that narrative of revelation. This film from Aisling Walsh…

Song of Granite

Pat Collins, 104 minutes, 2017

This film was released on Friday 8th December 2017 and is no longer screening. Acclaimed filmmaker Pat Collins (Silence) presents the life story of legendary sean nós singer Joe Heaney (Seosamh Ó hÉanaí). The film celebrates the genius of the musician while painting…

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