DOCS Ireland returns to Belfast this June (23rd-29th) with its seventh programme, showcasing hard-hitting, eye-opening, and life-affirming documentaries from Ireland and around the world. Dedicated to powerful non-fiction storytelling through premieres, screenings, and awards, it also features a robust industry programme, connecting filmmakers with leading commissioners and film financiers, drawing a host of influential industry representatives to the city.
Highlights include a screening of Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man with live commentary from editor Joe Bini, special screenings celebrating Irish documentary legend Bob Quinn, an exploration of David Lynch through documentary, IGNITE-Docs LASAIR a new Irish language talent development programme, and a host of brand new documentaries from across the island of Ireland and around the world.
Docs Ireland, in partnership with Queen’s University Belfast, will welcome former US senator George Mitchell for a gala Screening and world premiere of The Negotiator directed by Trevor Birney (producer of Kneecap). The film explores Mitchell’s involvement in chairing the talks process that culminated in the Good Friday Agreement and will be followed by a Q&A with Senator George Mitchell and hosted by Miriam O’Callaghan.
Closing Docs Ireland this year will be the award-winning debut feature by Belfast-based artist Myrid Carten, A Want In Her. A deeply personal, beautifully conveyed film which explores the filmmaker's relationship with her mother. Her search takes her into a feuding family, a contested house; and a history that threatens to take everyone down, including herself.
This year Docs Ireland is excited to celebrate the work of three filmmakers whose impact on the world of film cannot be underestimated. World class editor Joe Bini (You Were Never Really Here, My Best Fiend, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed) will be live and in person at QFT for a live commentary on Werner Herzog’s classic Grizzly Man.
The legendary Bob Quinn will be celebrated with an award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Documentary alongside screenings of his films The Family and Atlantean and no festival would be complete without a weird and wonderful exploration of the work of David Lynch in the The Pink Room – A Night Of David Lynch Talking And Being Talked About.
This Docs Ireland moves outside of Belfast for one night only for a special world premiere screening of Music For Domes directed by Dawn Richardson from Hosta Projects and scored by RÓIS, at the Armagh Planetarium.
The Negotiator
Live performances accompanying documentaries have become a staple of Docs Ireland. Docs Ireland’s Night for Palestine will bring together artists from throughout Ireland to raise money for Palestine with a night of live music, poetry readings and talks, ending in a DJ set by David Holmes.
Docs Ireland is dedicated to introducing the best in new Irish documentary and this is exemplified in the annual Pull Focus Irish Documentary Competition. From an investigation into the disappeared in Hunting Captain Nairac by Alison Millar, an exploration of folk horror in 1970s Northern Ireland in Operation Bogeyman by Simon Aeppli, Latina, Latina by Adrian Duncan and voiced by Wendy Erskine which follows an Irish geologist who discovers the diaries of her estranged father from fascist-era Italy and Born that Way by Éamon Little exploring disability, care and the life of Music journalist Patrick Lydon in the last years of his life.
This year’s Pull Focus competition also includes two documentaries in the Irish language; a career at a crossroads is explored in Paddy Hayes’ Irish language documentary David Keenan: Focla Ar Chanbhás/ Words on Canvas and Ag Taisteal Siar/Travelling Back takes a look at music in the Irish traveller community.
Ag Taisteal Siar
This year the festival will recognise acclaimed Irish cinematographer, stills photographer and documentary 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 Irish Documentary Competition by an independent jury.
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 directed by Gillian Callan, Stranded Dreams directed by Alison Millar and Ardoyne Youth Club directed by Seán Murray.
Docs Ireland this year will focus on three countries Palestine, Poland and Kenya. A collection of short films, From Ground Zero by Palestinian filmmakers document the devastation of the destruction of Gaza and also the resilience of the Palestinian people, and A State of Passion follows heroic doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah as he faces his sixth war in Gaza and fights to bring vital medical care to the people of Gaza during the ongoing genocide.
Docs Ireland also celebrates the contribution of short filmmakers to the Irish documentary landscape with two shorts competition programmes and four shorts selection programmes exploring everything from Belfast lamp lighters to queer nightlife in Dublin to the British Sumo wrestling championships.
Docs Ireland returns with a jam-packed industry programme of workshops, panels and networking opportunities. 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.
The How to Fund Market and Sell a Documentary in a Post-Covid Landscape panel will provide vital industry insight into sustainable documentary filmmaking in our current landscape. This will be followed by a screening of Tom Burke’s documentary The Gap in Consent in which he spoke to Irish filmmakers about the complicated issue of consent and documentary participants. The Anatomy of the Frame panel with world-class filmmakers such as Kate McCullough (An Cailín Ciúin/ The Quiet Girl, Normal People) and Magda Kowalczyk (Cow, High & Low - John Galliano), will be a fascinating deep dive into the work of cinematographers in documentary.
