Family & Teen

Available here are films well-suited to a younger audience, ranging from those aimed at children watching with their parents to films reflecting a teenager’s experience of the world. Coming-of-age narratives about rebellion and maturity can be found alongside family dramas, engrossing adventures, and animated features. This selection includes live–action and animated work in feature and short film format. Age recommendations, as advised by our colleagues in IFI Education Department, appear alongside the film notes.

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A Shine of Rainbows

Vic Sarin, 101 minutes, 2009

Ireland’s coastline is imagined as a place of wonder in this enchanting story about young orphan boy Tomás (John Bell), and the life-changing experiences he has when taken in by the loving Máire (Connie Nielsen). Shy and easily frightened, Tomás…

The Boy from Mercury

Martin Duffy, 87 minutes, 1996

A nostalgic look at 1960s Ireland, The Boy from Mercury has Flash Gordon-loving boy Harry (James Hickey) cope with his father’s death through a conviction, acquired from his beloved science-fiction, that he is an alien from Mercury. Believing his real…

The Boy in the Bubble

Kealan O'Rourke, 8 minutes, 2011

Obsessed with magic and the supernatural, lovelorn Rupert casts a spell to protect himself from emotions after his first relationship falls apart. Unaware of the dangers of magic, his spell traps him in a bubble that separates him from the…

The Breadwinner

Nora Twomey, 94 minutes, 2017

The Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon animation studio (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea) returns with another Oscar-nominated triumph; directed by Nora Twomey – co-director of Kells – The Breadwinner is a beautifully realised ode to resilience under oppression and…

Cluck

Michael Lavelle, 19 minutes, 2011

Boyhood camaraderie triumphs over clerical authority in this sweet-hearted short set in a 1950s orphanage. Young troublemaker Cowboy (Scott Graham) befriends the orphanage’s newest arrival, a bizarre young boy who believes he is a chicken and who earns himself the…

The Crush

Michael Creagh, 15 minutes, 2010

An Academy Award-nominated short from first-time director Michael Creagh, The Crush is an entertaining story of young passion set in a strangely violence-soaked world. Eight year old Ardal’s (Oran Creagh) crush on his teacher appears endearing, but when he meets…

El Toro

Tomás Seoighe, 14 minutes, 2012

This Irish language short looks to traditional Spanish culture as it tells a winning story of a boy finding solace in an unexpected place. Unable to connect with father (Peadar Cox), lonely schoolboy Cian (Domhnall Ó Braonáin) discovers comfort in…

The Girl With the Mechanical Maiden

Andrew Legge, 15 minutes, 2012

A short set in a strange, quasi-Victorian world, The Girl with the Mechanical Maiden sees an inventor (Dominic West) construct a ramshackle robotic wet-nurse for his daughter after her mother dies in childbirth. As the child grows older, a robotic…

Give Up Yer Aul Sins

Cathal Gaffney, 5 minutes, 2001

A young Dublin girl tells her own, youthfully unique version of the story of John the Baptist in this animated short. Based on recordings made in a Dublin school in the 1970s and rediscovered in the 1990s, Give Up Yer…

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