May 2025
Irish-Australian Arts Roundup
Sydney Film Festival Irish film ticket giveaway
Fáilte (welcome) to the May Irish Australian Arts Newsletter.
We have four double tickets to give away for the fab new Irish films screening at the Sydney Film Festival in June.
We take a look at Irish movie news, with some updates on Irish programs playing on Australian screens and a giveaway to the rollicking new Irish comedy, Apocalypse Clown. We also look at some Irish cultural events like Bloomsfest and the Comhaltas Fleadh in Sydney. Our events diary has a rundown of Irish events around Oz in the upcoming months.
And finally we reflect on the tragic news of Irish producer Martha O’Neill’s passing.
Win 4 double tickets to the best of the Irish at the Sydney Film Festival
There is a feast of Irish films at the Sydney Film Festival from June 4th to 15th and we have 4 double tickets to give away!
Pick of the bunch for us is Blue Road the new doco on Edna O’Brien directed by Sinéad O’Shea, the Navan-born director whose fab doco Pray for Our Sinners featured at the Irish Film Festival in 2023.
Rising star Barry Keoghan returns for a thriller set in rural Ireland in Bring Them Down.
A Want In Her is a harrowing documentary about a Donegal daughter who comes home from London to track down her alcoholic mother. Not for the faint-hearted.
There are a couple of Irish co-productions including Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End with Tilda Swinton and the intriguing On Becoming a Guinea Fowl which is an Irish co-production set in Zambia!
Other Irish highlights are the doco Beat The Lotto and the short I Can’t Go On.
Full details and tickets are at sff.org.au.
To enter our competition for free tickets go to our Facebook page HERE and write the name of who you would like to bring in the comments section.
5 Events to Mark Bloomsday in Sydney
Irish Australian female performance group, the Prankqueans have a bumper weekend planned in Sydney with no less than 5 events to mark Bloomsday.
The fun kicks off with a launch at Waverley Library on Friday, June 13th at 6pm followed by a Joycean Soirée with Joyce’s Feisty Females at Gertrude and Alice Bookshop at Bondi Beach at 7pm.
Saturday, 14 th June sees a dramatised reading of the Haedes chapter from Ulysses with words and music from Seán Mcloughlin and the wonderful Padraig Quinn at 3.30pm the Irish Memorial, Waverley Cemetery. This sequence is all about Paddy Dignam’s funeral and has in the past been reenacted at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin where it the book was originally set.
And after a visit to the cemetery where better to go than a Wake at the Gaelic Club starting at 6pm.
The weekend wraps up with a Closing Night Concert by the Prankqueans at 5.30pm at the High Tide Room at Bondi Pavilion on Sunday night.
RIP Martha O’Neill
Vale Martha O’Neill
We were very saddened to hear of the passing of Irish producer and arts advocate Martha O’Neill in Dublin last week.
Martha was a stalwart of Irish film production and also a Chair of the IFI for many years. We met Martha when we screened her final film Stolen at IFF 2024 which she made with director Margo Harkin. The film looked at the impact of the Catholic church on women’s lives in Ireland and in particular the dreadful stories of the Magdalene Laundries.
You can read some more about Martha’s long career and work to progress the role of women in the Irish film industry here.
We were lucky enough to film a Q&A with Martha O’Neill and director Margo Harkin for their film Stolen last year at IFF2024. You can see this interview here. Her passion for the project shines through when she talks about how the documentary was so special that it was ‘birthed’ instead of ‘produced’!
Ár lámh dheis go raibh a anam dílis.
More gossip, gigs and Irish tv shows in Oz
- Free downloads to be won for new Irish comedy Apocalypse Clown
Apocalypse Clown – the rip-roaring comedy about a troupe of Irish clowns fighting to survive the apocalypse – is available now on iTunes, Fetch and the GooglePlay store.
A free download from the iTunes store is available to the first five people who email in to this address: vendettafilmsnz@gmail.com
- Irish Stars Cast in new Beatles Movie Series
Congratulations to Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan who have officially been cast as Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr respectively in The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event. Joining the Irishmen to round out The Beatles are Harris Dickinson and Joseph Quinn.
Director Sam Mendes said all four films would premiere in April 2028, calling it the “first bingeable theatrical experience”.
- New Domhnall Gleeson Film coming to AppleTV
Fountain of Youth starring Gleeson as Owen Carver will release on May 23.
Two estranged siblings partner on a global heist to find the mythological Fountain of Youth. They must use their knowledge of history to follow clues on an adventure that will change their lives and possibly lead to immortality.
tv.apple.com/us/movie/fountain-of-youth/
- Comhaltas Sydney Fleadh
Friday 23 – Sunday 25 May
The Gaelic Club & Molly Malones, Surry Hills
Get ready for a weekend full of Traditional Irish music sessions, Instrument workshops, A lively concert, Céilí tunes, and so much more!
tickets: comhaltassydney.com/sydney-fleadh-tickets-2025?
- Enya Martin at Sydney Comedy Festival
The Irish stand-up comedian and internet personality performs her first ever Australian shows at this year’s Comedy Festival. She’s already sold out one show, don’t miss out! book tickets today:
troubadourpresents.com/events/enya-martin/
- New edition of Tinteán
Melbourne based Irish Online Magazine Tinteán dropped a new edition on the 10th of April and all the articles are now available to read on their website.
tintean.org.au/
- Bon Voyage to Natalie!
Finally we want to wish bon voyage to Natalie O’Neill who has been an integral part of the Irish Film Festival team for the last 4 years. Natalie has made an invaluable contribution to the success of the festival turning her hand to everything from website creation to e-commerce to film directing. And of course Natalie has been the co-producer of the monthly Arts Roundup contributing film gossip and Hollywood titbits every month. Go néirí an bóthar leat, Natalie!
Click on the link above to check out our events diary for May 2025 onwards which includes some exciting news on Irish music national tours and other riveting stuff.
Add your event to our Monthly Newsletter
We have had some enquiries from Irish organisations about publicising their events in our newsletter. If you have an event coming up then get the info to us by the 21st of January and we will do our best to include it in our newsletter. It helps if you can provide the text ‘ready to go’ and remember – a picture tells 1000 words so send some pics too!
Slán agus beannacht
Natalie O’Neill & Enda Murray
Irish Film Festival