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Opening Night Craic!
Join us for one of our famous Opening Night parties - a celebration of Irish culture, music and song in each of the Palace cinemas where our Festival is screening.
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Irish-Australian Shorts Program
The Irish Film Festival will, for the first time in its history, present a session of Irish-Australian short films in cinema screenings in Sydney and Melbourne. These films are the product of the interweaving of Irish and Australian themes and cultures through their producers, directors, actors or themes. Ranging from comedy, LGBTQIA+, doco, experimental, dance and history, these shorts represent a new generation of Irish Australian creative talent, who are expressing their heritage in cinematic terms. Runtime 65 minutes (in cinema) 50 minutes (online) Ten Years of Yes (Cinema Exclusive)Directed by Alan Fitzgerald Sydney Queer Irish, an inclusive community group for Irish expats and their friends in Sydney, prepare to…
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Mrs Robinson
In her own words, MRS ROBINSON unfolds a story about female leadership, human rights activism and climate action. This feature documentary tells the inspirational life story of icon and change-maker Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first female President, a pioneering UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the successor of Nelson Mandela as Chair of The Elders, among many other achievements. “Absorbing, enlightening and frequently moving, MRS ROBINSON is a fine testament to the woman who remains the figurehead of modern Ireland” – Irish Examiner 5 STARS “With a breezy charismatic confidence, MRS ROBINSON is a lovingly crafted portrait of Ireland’s first female President” – Irish Independent 5 STARS “...the politician whose…
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Gerry Adams: A Ballymurphy Man
A veteran politician reflects on 60 years of Northern Ireland activism, from prisoner to statesman. This highly-anticipated documentary explores regional history through his life, offering hope and insight into his values and peace efforts. Imprisoned and shot, Gerry Adams was censored by the establishment media – yet in the end, the British and their allies were forced to recognise his legitimacy and negotiate with him and his party Sinn Féin. The result was the Irish peace accord, ‘The Good Friday Agreement’. A BALLYMURPHY MAN is a unique documentary; for the first time Adams tells his story, illustrated with a wealth of imagery of what is one of the most heavily photographed…
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In Time: Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny is one of Ireland’s most outstanding artists and this is the first film account of his life – a portrait that reveals his peerless contribution to Irish culture and music. A founding member of Planxty, The Bothy Band and Moving Hearts, Lunny played a central role in reviving and transforming Irish traditional and folk music for new generations. He won RTÉ Radio 1 Folk’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. In Time: Dónal Lunny fuses music with the personal arc of Dónal Lunny’s biographical journey, bringing the artist into being on screen. It explores how pivotal moments in his creative and personal life have intersected with major cultural, political…
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Fran the Man
Our Opening Night comedy! When an Irish football club becomes embroiled in an international match-fixing scandal, their hapless assistant manager finds himself way out of his league. Written by Richie Conroy (TWO BY TWO, MALORY TOWERS) and directed by Stephen Bradley (LAST ONE LAUGHING, NOBLE), FRAN THE MAN has Fran Costello, the much-loved star of football mockumentary series FRAN, returning to the screen in a feature-length comedy that sees him working undercover to save the beautiful game from match-fixing. Darragh Humphreys reprises the role of Fran, supported by an great ensemble cast including Ardal O’Hanlon (FATHER TED), Amy Huberman (FLORA & SON) and Risteárd Cooper (APRÈS MATCH). Produced by Forty…
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Froggie
Brothers Fiachra and Tadgh peaked at the age of seven, when they appeared on national TV singing with their homemade puppet, ‘Froggie’. 25 years later, they’re still singing the same ol’ song when their show is cancelled. The world is pulling the brothers apart. Tadgh plans to marry his rich fiance, while Fiachra secretly lives in the storage bunker containing the contents of their childhood home. Fiachra’s biggest fear is closing in: his brother will abandon him and he will have to take a dreaded 9-5. To make matters worse, Froggie is stolen and a ransom video appears online of their puppet gagged with duct tape and holding up a…
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Dead Man’s Money
When Young Henry’s wealthy uncle starts courting ‘The Widow’ Maureen Tweed, he starts to fear that he’ll be written out of Old Henry’s will. Conspiring with his wife, Pauline and a chauffeur with a chequered past known as Gerry the Wheels, Young Henry puts a plan in motion to make sure that The Widow never sees a penny of the inheritance he thinks is rightfully his. However, when Pauline’s guilt threatens to expose them, fear and distrust start to seed within the trio. Not knowing who can trust whom, their dirty deed leads to a series of events that there is no coming back from, for any of them. Proudly…
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Housewife of the Year
An utterly intriguing documentary about one of Ireland’s most unique cultural events – the competition which saw women from around Ireland compete on primetime TV for the title of ‘Housewife of the Year’ and the prize of a luxury gas cooker. HOUSEWIFE OF THE YEAR tells the story of Ireland’s treatment of women through the prism of a surreal, live-televised competition, that has to be seen to be believed. The former contestants share their direct experiences of marriage bars, lack of contraception, magdalene laundries, microaggressions, financial vulnerability, boredom and shame. It is a poignant, often hilarious, uplifting story of a resilient generation of women and how they changed a country.…
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Kathleen is Here
What does the future hold when the past is all you’ve got? Kathleen, played by rising star Hazel Doupe (Say Nothing, Calm With Horses, You Are Not My Mother) is 18 and fresh out of foster care. Her departure coincides with the death of her biological mother and so she returns to her hometown to take ownership of her mother’s house. She gets a job and even a friend; but the emptiness of Kathleen’s life cannot be filled by social media and reality shows. Alone and desperate for a mother figure, she sets out on a destructive path to find one. Winner, Bingham Ray New Talent Award at 2024 Galway…
