Bringing the best of Irish cinema to the northwest
The Island Theatre, Ballinamore
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Ballymote Art Deco
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Boyle Family Resource Centre
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The Barracks, Dromahair
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Roscommon Arts Centre
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The Glens Centre, Manorhamilton
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The Model Cinema, Sligo
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The Island Theatre, Ballinamore 〰️ Ballymote Art Deco 〰️ Boyle Family Resource Centre 〰️ The Barracks, Dromahair 〰️ Roscommon Arts Centre 〰️ The Glens Centre, Manorhamilton 〰️ The Model Cinema, Sligo 〰️
CHRISTY
Dir. Brendan Canty, 94mins
Multi award-winning film, including at the prestigious 2025 Berlin Film Festival.
This hopeful film set in Cork, tells the story of 17-year-old Christy (Danny Power) who is at a crossroads. Kicked out of his suburban foster home, he moves in with his estranged older brother Shane and his young family. As the brothers look to reconcile their turbulent past, their family and the community around them offer hope for Christy’s future.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN CINEMA
Dir. David Gleeson, 93mins
A beleaguered cinema owner's (Colin Morgan) worst Friday night becomes his crowning moment of glory when a packed show descends into chaos and unites the community. This is a story that will resonate with people in many Irish towns where cinemas often struggle to keep their doors open. The film, which is set in the 1980s - in the director's Limerick home town - is told in real time during the showing of Breathless with Richard Gere in the lead.
TRAD
Dir. Lance Daly, 90mins
Cinema North West is jumping aboard the national release of this uplifting taste of the Irish summer from the celebrated director of Black 47. From their home in the Donegal Gaeltacht, gifted fiddle player Shóna McAnally (newcomer Megan Nic Fhionnghaile) and her little brother Mickey take to the road with a troupe of wandering musicians, on a cross-country journey of adventure, romance, and musical exploration. The film features the wonderful Irish actors Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, Love/Hate) and Sarah Greene (Bad Sisters).
The Song Cycle
Director: Nick Kelly (85 mins)
Winner of the Best Independent Film at the Galway Film Fleadh and the Audience Choice Award at the IFI Documentary Festival, The Song Cycle tells the story of Kelly’s novel attempt to travel by bicycle from Ireland to perform at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival, accompanied by his great friend and fellow musician Seán Millar who tracks his progress on public transport and performs onstage with him in venues along the route each night. The film also charts Nick Kelly’s perilous rock ‘n’ roll journey with his band The Fat Lady Sings, whose hit song Arklight is one of the stand-out Irish pop songs of its era.
Horseshoe
Directors: Edwin Mullane, Adam O’Keefe (88 mins)
Filmed on the North Sligo/Leitrim border and winner of the Best First Feature Film award at the most recent Galway Film Fleadh, Horseshoe is a comedy drama that tells a recognisable story. All families are mad. Four estranged siblings must reunite to settle their late father's will. Things get even more complicated when he continues to make his presence felt in their lives with his unusual and provocative final wishes.
A Quiet Love
Director: Gary Keane (96 mins)
Three Deaf couples' journeys: a love defying religious barriers for decades, two mothers raising Deaf and hearing kids, and a Deaf boxer with his hearing partner confronting a crucial decision. ‘A Quiet Love’ is a cinematic celebration of resilience and enduring love. From the Donegal director of the award-winning Gaza, the documentary has enjoyed a remarkable run on the international circuit since its World Premiere at the 2025 Doc Edge Film Festival in New Zealand, where it won the category award “Being Oneself.” It also picked up the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at the San Diego International Film Festival.
Sanatorium
Dir: Gar O'Rourke, Documentary, 90mins
Amidst the ongoing war, the guests and staff of a Soviet health resort in Odessa, Ukraine, seek solace. Irish filmmaker Gar O'Rourke had begun to make the film before the war started and decided to keep filming. The conflict remains off-screen as visitors to the wellness retreat seek treatments for everything from fertility issues to psoriasis. One guest arrives with her bachelor thirtysomething son, in the hope of finding him a wife. Its mostly Russian-speaking clientele leave behind Russian literature, which is shelved and hidden because of Ukraine’s prohibition on the material.
"The film combines a mixture of Irish and Ukrainian perspectives. "
Irish TimesBáite
(The Drowned)
Dir. Ruán Magan, 94mins
Irish language cinema is experiencing a renaissance since An Cailín Cuain broke internationally. This new film from Ruán Magan, a long time collaborator with his brother Manchán, maintains the standard.
In a Gaeltacht village proprietor Peggy Casey (Eleanor O’Brien) prepares for a busy weekend in the pub. But when a body is found in the receding waters of the lake, the community is deeply unsettled. Dublin Detective Sergeant Frank Ryan (Moe Dunford) arrives to investigate and uncovers disturbing truths.
"There is much to enjoy in this wry murder mystery set in Ireland of the 1970s".
Sunniva O'Flynn Irish Film Institute"An absorbing, visually handsome murder mystery"
Irish TimesSpilt Milk
Dir. Brian Durnin 91mins
This will be another chance to see Irish rising star Danielle Galligan (House of Guinness, Lakelands, The Walsh Sisters)
Bobby (Cillian Sullivan) is obsessed with the tv detective Kojak. In his 11-year-old worldview, the iconic TV detective is a hero worth emulating amid the drab world of 1980s Dublin.
At home, things are less rosy. His combustible dad (Laurence O’Fuarain) is clashing hard with Bobby’s rebellious older brother Oisín (Lewis Brophy), much to the misery of mum Maura (Danielle Galligan) and his nan (Pom Boyd).
When Oisín storms out and subsequently disappears, Bobby sets out to investigate, "the story turning into a Roddy Doyle-ish sweet-and-salty setup, to a grittier loss-of-innocence drama, as Oisín’s fate is revealed to be tied up with the drugs crisis ravaging Dublin at the time" (Irish Independent).
"Marks a new generation in front and behind the lens"
Screen International