THE Docs Ireland film festival is back for a seventh year with a programme celebrating “documentary legends” and a new Irish language talent development scheme.
The 2025 festival will run from June 23 to June 29 and will feature screenings of brand new documentaries from around the world.
GALA SCREENINGS
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair (right), former US Senator George Mitchell (centre) and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern smiling after signing the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998
There will be a world premiere for The Negotiator by Trevor Birney (producer of No Stone Unturned and Kneecap), a film exploring former US senator George Mitchell’s key involvement in the peace talks that produced the Good Friday Agreement.
The gala screening will be attended by George Mitchell himself, who participate in a Q&A hosted by Miriam O’Callaghan.
Closing the festival this year will be A Want In Her, the award-winning debut feature by Belfast-based artist Myrid Carten which explores the filmmaker’s complicated relationship with her mother.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Other highlights will include a screening of Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man with live commentary from editor Joe Bini, a celebration of film-maker Bob Quinn who will be awarded for his Outstanding Contribution to Irish Documentary alongside screenings of The Family and Atlantean, an exploration of the late great David Lynch through documentary in The Pink Room – A Night Of David Lynch Talking And Being Talked About, and a special world premiere screening of Music For Domes, directed by Belfast film-maker Dawn Richardson, at the Armagh Planetarium.
This year’s programme is bursting with creativity and talent from across the island of Ireland and beyond
— Michele Devlin
A Night for Palestine will bring together Irish artists to raise money through a night of live music, poetry readings and talks, plus a DJ set by David Holmes.
NEW IRISH DOCUMENTARIES
The New Irish Documentary programme will include the annual Pull Focus Irish Documentary Competition.
Films include:
Hunting Captain Nairac by Alison Millar, an investigation into the disappeared.Operation Bogeyman’s exploration of folk horror in 1970s Northern Ireland by Simon Aeppli.Latina, Latina by Adrian Duncan, which follows an Irish geologist who discovers the diaries of her estranged father from fascist-era Italy, voiced by Wendy ErskineBorn that Way by Éamon Little exploring disability, care and the life of music journalist Patrick Lydon in the last years of his lifePaddy Hayes’ Irish language documentary David Keenan: Focla Ar Chanbhás/ Words on Canvas explores a career at a crossroadsAg Taisteal Siar/Travelling Back examines music in the Irish traveller community
Docs Ireland will recognise the late Irish cinematographer, photographer and 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 competition by an independent jury.
Ross McDonnell with Oscar winning director Alex Gibney filming No Stone Unturned. Courtesy of Fine Point Films
The LASAIR New Talent Development scheme will be the first short documentary in the Irish language training/mentorship programme, an extension of the regular Ignite-Docs talent development programme.
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 by Gillian Callan, Stranded Dreams by Alison Millar and Ardoyne Youth Club by Seán Murray.
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOURS
The Maysles Documentary Competition celebrates the best in international observational documentary.
This year’s films are:
Always: (A Letter to Childhood), a poetic coming of age exploration from ChinaBogancloch, Ben Rivers’ follow up to the award-winning Two Years At Sea, a subtle depiction of a quiet life in Scotland2000 Meters to Andriivka, a devastating account of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine from the same filmmakers as Oscar-winning 20 Days in Mariupol
This year’s festival will focus on three countries, Palestine, Poland and Kenya.
Alongside How to Build a Library is Shadow Scholars, which explores the hidden industry of essay writing, directed by Eloïse King and executive produced by Steve McQueen.
From Ground Zero by Palestinian filmmakers documents the devastation of the destruction of Gaza and the resilience of the Palestinian people, while A State of Passion follows heroic doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah as he brings vital medical care to the people of Gaza during the ongoing genocide.
Docs Ireland’s spotlight on Poland brings short film Talking Heads (1981) and Everything Needs to Live, which follows the unusual life of athlete and animal rights activist Anna Kurkurina.
Docs Ireland is back (Jim Corr Photography) SHORT AND SWEET
Docs Ireland will also celebrate Irish short documentary film-makers with two competition programmes and four shorts selection programmes, exploring everything from Belfast lamp lighters and queer nightlife in Dublin to the British Sumo wrestling championships.
Artists and Experimental Image offers a curated programme including shorts from Sarah Browne and Omar Chowdhury, while Ulster University and the Centre for Documentary Research at Queen’s University Belfast present a series of short showcases and talks.
WORKSHOPS AND PANELS
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.
There will be a How to Fund, Market and Sell a Documentary in a Post-Covid Landscape panel, followed by a screening of Tom Burke’s The Gap in Consent focusing on the complicated issue of consent and documentary participants.
The Anatomy of the Frame panel with film-makers like Kate McCullough (An Cailín Ciúin, Normal People) and Magda Kowalczyk (Cow, High & Low: John Galliano), will be a deep dive into the work of cinematographers in documentary, while the Northern Ireland Screen Pitch will bring industry decision-makers to Belfast.
Music for Domes director Dawn Richardson and Docs Ireland CEO Michele Devlin launch this year’s programme (Jim Corr Photography)
Speaking at the launch of the new Docs Ireland programme, festival chief executive Michele Devlin said:
“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.”
Visit docsireland.ie to view the full Docs Ireland 2025 programme and purchase tickets.