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IFFL 2021 Programme

17th - 21st November 2021

Click on events below to book your tickets

We've got screenings, Q&A's, industry workshops and activities for all the family

Discover all the details of all the events taking place as part of this year's festival in our interactive programme.

Alternatively scroll down to browse the individual events and secure your tickets.

Closing Gala - Deadly Cuts

With razor-sharp comedy and a generous helping of inner-city wit, Deadly Cuts follows the adventures of four young stylists in a working-class hair salon as they battle against the odds in this ensemble comedy.

When the styling trio of Stacey, Gemma, Chantelle and their boss Michelle face the triple whammy of gangs, gentrification and corrupt councillors, they accidentally become vigilantes and community heroes. Michelle (played by Angeline Ball, The Commitments) must lead the girls through a talent contest she dreads due to her secret past life when the group challenges the local gang members and gentrifiers threatening their community.

Closing the Dublin International Film Festival in 2021, Deadly Cuts offers a blackly comic version of the female-led formula, in Rachel Carey's feature debut. Think Bridesmaids or even Mean Girls, but with very loud Finglas-foiled highlights. Also, watch out for Pauline McLynn in a way over-the-top rendition as a stuffy judge at the talent contest.

Join us for a post screening Q&A with director Rachel Carey, and stars Angeline Ball, Ericka Roe and Lauren Larkin, who will all be in conversation with actress and IFL Champion Róisín Monaghan

Ticketholders for this event will now be able to grab a free drink (on us) at Riverside once your ticket is ripped

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Redemption of a Rogue

Described as a "bible-black" comedy and living up to its name from the first scenes, this Cavan set debut feature from director Philip Doherty presents us with the tale of a prodigal son returning to his home town to seek salvation for his sins. An assured feature film debut from writer/director Philip Doherty.

Jimmy, a nihilist, carries a black leather doctor's bag around containing the rope he plans to hang himself with. Filled with guilt and shame he returns to his hometown in the cold austere beauty of West Cavan.

As soon as Jimmy visits, his ailing father breathes his last. Thunder rumbles and rain starts to pour. But there is a condition in the will...his father cannot be buried on a wet day.

Stuck in this 'Groundhog Day-like' purgatory, days roll into weeks as Jimmy seeks redemption. Through love, he finds it in the most sacrificial and outlandish manner possible.

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Shorts - A Dó

Round two of Irish Film Festival London's short film selection for 2021, this programme promises another collection of work from some of the most talented Irish filmmakers working in short form film right now.

These dramas, thrillers, comedies and documentaries demonstrate the storytelling talent of a new generation.

Featuring:

Cherry - dir Kate Stanley Brennan

Scrap - dir Jamie O'Rourke

Foxglove - dir Michael-David McKernan

Magic - dir Jo Halpin

Her Song - dirs Eabha Bortolozzo, Jack Kirwan

Nails - dir Pippa McCormick

Inherent - dir Anthony Moriarty

Seven Feet Nine & A Quarter Inches - dir Peter O'Brien

You can also watch Shorts: A Dó as part of our online programme. Click below to get your tickets now

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While You Live, Shine

A moving, powerful journey deep into the oldest music in the Western world, guided by the eccentric musicologist who has dedicated his life to understanding & preserving it. Paul Duane's documentary is an immersive sonic & visual feast that leaves the viewer feeling like they've looked into a way of life that the 21st century has left behind. A call to arms for a different way of listening to music, understanding humanity and living as a community.

An experience which made for the cinema, While You Live, Shine is a restorative film experience which offers audiences a chance to fall into this wonderful music and community culture in the same way as its central character does. IFL are proud to present it to audiences at this year's festival as a UK Premiere.

You can also watch While You Live, Shine as part of our online programme. Click below to order your tickets today

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Into The West

7.00

with children's workshop activity from Kabutar Arts

Without a big new Irish kids film release this season, we looked back in time to a classic Irish film which offers a charming - if sometimes rough - vision of life for two kids growing up in a council estate in Dublin.

Into The West is a magical realist story which combines Irish folklore and Traveller tradition with images of the American wild west. It's a story many parents will remember fondly from their own childhoods and one we are excited to share with a new generation.

Tito (Rúaidhrí Conroy) and Ossie (Ciarán Fitzgerald) live with their father, Papa Reilly (Gabriel Byrne), who until the recent death of his wife was locally known as 'King of the Travellers'. The boys' grandfather (David Kelly) is an old story-telling Traveller, who regales the children with Irish folk-tales and legends. When he is followed by a beautiful white horse called Tír na nÓg ("the land of eternal youth"), from the sea to Dublin, where the boys and their father have now settled down, the boys are overwhelmed with joy and dreams of becoming cowboys. But Tir na nÓg is stolen from them and so begins their adventure to get their mystical horse back. They escape the poverty of a north Dublin council estate, and ride "Into the West" where they find that Tír na nÓg is not just a horse.

Presented at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, this film will include a special post-screening craft workshop where you can create your own magical kingdom.

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New York Our Time

The much-anticipated debut documentary from legendary Irish artist-filmmaker Vivienne Dick provides a number of unique insights into the life of the artist and her friends in 1970s Lower East Side, New York, as they responded to the rent crisis of that generation, but also offers a philosophical insight into the importance of friendship, community and memory.

The film also features previously unseen Super 8 footage recorded by Dick from her time living in New York, as well as guest appearances from artist friends Cynthia Sley, Nan Goldin and Lydia Lunch, among others.

We are thrilled to have Vivienne join us for a Q&A session, hosted by Michelle Deignan, taking place after the screening.

You can also watch New York Our Time as part of our online programme at the link below

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The Dance

Pat Collins presents his latest observational documentary on the making of MÁM; an improvised dance piece from renowned choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan, which has toured at Sadler's Well, New Zealand Festival of the Arts and Dublin Theatre Festival.

Michael Keegan-Dolan is one of the most exciting and thought-provoking choreographers working in dance and theatre today. Keegan-Dolan's latest show brought the virtuoso concertina player Cormac Begley, the European musical collective 's t a r g a z e' and twelve international dancers to the Dingle Peninsula. The show is a unique confluence between soloist and ensemble, classical and traditional, the local and the universal. The film follows this process over ten weeks from the first day of rehearsals to the opening night performance at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2019.

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IFFL Industry 2021: Meet the Festival Programmers

Sale Price: 4.50 Original Price: 6.00

You've made your film- so what now?

Join us for what promises to be an informative discussion with the programmers of some of Ireland's largest film festivals, and learn more about what festivals look for when selecting films for their programmes

Hosted By Gerry Maguire (Irish Film Festival London)

Panel Guests:

Grainne Humphreys (programmer, Dublin International Film Festival)
Anna Kopecka (programmer, Cork Film Festival)
Eibh Collins (programmer, Kerry Film Festival, Galway Film Festival)

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IFFL Industry 2021: The Explosion of Irish Documentary

Sale Price: 4.50 Original Price: 6.00

Irish documentary filmmaking has had an undeniable boom over the past few years, which continues to rise.

Our panel will be discussing what this means for the documentary sector and how Irish documentary filmmakers can capitalise on its increasing success.

Hosted by Dr Colm McAuliffe (curator and film programmer)

Featuring panel contributions from:

Gillian Marsh (filmmaker, The Funeral Director)
Paul Duane (filmmaker, While You Live, Shine)
Stuart Sloan (programmer, Belfast Film Festival)

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The Irish Film Awards 2021

Taking place in the exquisite Ballroom of the Embassy of Ireland in London and kindly hosted by the Ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom, our annual awards ceremony is a red carpet event offering an opportunity to honour the best of the year's Irish film talent in suitable surroundings. This invitation only event is a chance for us to highlight the best of the best in Irish film.

Awards include Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Short film, the Súil Eile award and the annual Ros Hubbard Award for Acting, presented to mark the best performance of the year.

The Awards ceremony is an invite only event, reserved for special guests including Festival Champions. To sign up as a Champion today click here.

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IFFL Industry 2021: Directing Actors

Sale Price: 4.50 Original Price: 6.00

The relationship between director and actor is one of the most important on set, but can also be one of the most challenging to get right.

In this session, Niamh Branigan talks to a panel of actors who will share their insights on where to begin.

Hosted By Niamh Branigan (Irish Film London presenter and actress)

With special guests

Michael-David McKernan (actor, filmmaker)

Roisin Monaghan (actress)

Aoife Hinds (Actress)

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IFFL Industry 2021: Directing Your Debut Feature

Sale Price: 4.50 Original Price: 6.00

Making the leap into feature-length filmmaking can, for many, feel like an unachievable goal, with a huge number of hurdles and challenges in the way.

Whether you're ready to make the leap or are only just starting out, this session promises to be an illuminating insight into the process, where no two journeys look the same.

Hosted by Nia Childs (IFFL)

With special guest Philip Doherty (director, Redemption of a Rogue)

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IFFL Industry 2021: Writing for Genre with Frenzy Films

Shorts - A Haon

The first of Irish Film Festival London's shorts programmes, programmed from open submissions, this collection includes beautifully creepy animation, hard-hitting drama and high flying comedy which showcases the best Irish short film made by filmmakers in the UK and Ireland over the past 12 months.

Featuring

Memento Mori - dir Paul O'Flanagan

Ascending Grace - dir Claire Byrne

Caravan - dir William Michael Anderson

The Colour Between - dir Dave Tynan

Cease - dir Aisling O'Regan Sargent

The Cure - dir Gordon Hickey

Suited - dir Caroline Byrne

The Grass Ceiling - dir Iseult Howlett

You can also watch Shorts: A Haon as part of our online programme at this link

Content advisrory: Some shorts contain adult themes and language with one of the short featuring a scene of strong sexual violence. More information about this is available on request

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The Story of Looking

A name synonymous with documentary filmmaking, Mark Cousins' work has brought audiences on journeys across the world, be that to Belfast, Albania or Sardinia, and provided us with detailed histories of the art of film through his series The Story of Film: An Odyssey, and his feature works A Story of Children and Film and Women Make Film.

Mark's latest work is a highly personal account of his lockdown journey towards receiving surgery to restore his own vision, which travels through the filmmaker's memories, emotions and influences to present an analytical meditation on just what it is to look; to see; to experience the world through our eyes, and how important it is to understanding our visually saturated world, as well as its personal importance to the life experience of this artist.

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IFFL Industry 2021: Finding a Producer

Sale Price: 4.50 Original Price: 6.00

Finding a producer is one thing - finding the right producer makes all the difference for your film.

This session demystifies the process of finding and working with a producer and offers advice for producers at the start of their careers.

Hosted by Celine Haddad (Screen Ireland)

Speakers include:

Gerry Maguire (Irish Film Festival London)
Auveen Lush (producer, Deadly Cuts)
Emma Norton (Element Pictures)

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IFFL Industry 2021: Irish Storytelling Today

IFFL Industry 2021: Funding Your Film

IFFL Industry 2021: Funding Your Short Film

Sale Price: 4.50 Original Price: 6.00

Looking for cash for your next project? Our speakers will give you the lowdown on how to raise funding for your short film project. This is a great opportunity to ask UK & Irish funders all you've ever wanted to know.

Hosted by Gerry Maguire, Head of Irish Film London

Speakers include:

Caragh Davison (BFI NETWORK)
Dionne Farrell (BBC Films)
Peter Storey (Greenlit)

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Opening Gala - Arracht

Ireland, 1845 on the eve of The Great Hunger, Colmán Sharkey, a fisherman, a father, a husband, takes in a stranger at the behest of a local priest. Patsy, a former soldier in the Napoleonic wars arrives just ahead of 'the blight', a disease that eventually wipes out the country's potato crop, contributing to the death and displacement of millions. As the crops rot in the fields, Colmán, his brother and Patsy travel to the English Landlord's house to request a stay on rent increases.

Arracht first made its mark at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2019 and was Ireland's selection for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. Scoring a string of IFTA nominations and wins for Best Original Music and Best Sound, its release was sadly affected by the closure of cinemas in 2020. Here, we proudly present it as part of IFFL 2021 as part of its re-release. It opens the festival this year as a statement to the power of Irish cinema, and the dramatic potential of the Irish language, but also represents the very best of what audiences may have missed during cinema's hibernation period, emerging again like Colmán himself.

In association with Conradh Na Gaeilge i Londain

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Opening Night drinks

Help us kick off IFFL 2021 with an informal evening at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith.

Meet your fellow filmmakers and industry guests, and have a drink on us

Open to all Irish Film Festival London ticket holders - just show your event ticket on the door. No further booking required

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Untold Secrets

Untold Secrets voices the experiences of Irish institution survivors and focuses on the life and upbringing of one survivor, Anne Silke. Silke was fostered out of the St. Mary, Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam at the age of 9 to the Killileas, a prominent political family from Tuam. Untold Secrets recounts her often brutal and abusive treatment at the hands of her foster family and reveals never seen before interviews with fellow survivors. Although Silke is now deceased the documentary gives a posthumous voice to Anne and possibly some closure to her family.

First seen at Galway Film Fleadh earlier this year, IFFL are proud to present this important and timely film to online audiences at this year's festival, ensuring its story is heard far and wide.

Due to the nature of the film's narrative it comes with a content warning for themes of suicide, sexual and physical abuse.

Untold Secrets is only available as part of our online programme

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The Queen Vs Patrick O'Donnell

The Queen Vs Patrick O'Donnell reveals on screen for the first time the true story behind one of the most compelling murder plots in Irish history, a thrilling tale of violence, courtroom drama, romance and political intrigue. Containing evidence from British Home Office files kept secret for 100 years, it reveals shocking new information about the fate of the quiet-spoken Donegal man who killed the infamous informer James Carey on board a ship off the coast of South Africa in 1883.

What possessed the illiterate labourer from the Donegal Gaeltacht to shoot the leader of The Invincibles? Who was the mystery woman posing as his wife? And why did both the US President and the French luminary Victor Hugo plead that Patrick O'Donnell not be hanged for his crime?

The Queen Vs Patrick O'Donnell is only available as part of our online programme

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