MEDIA RELEASE – EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 September 2026
2026 IRISH FILM FESTIVAL (AUSTRALIA) UNVEILSITS BIGGEST EVER PROGRAM
MORE FILMS, MORE STORIES AND MORE CRAIC THAN EVER BEFORE
From gripping dramas and powerful documentaries to fresh new voices shaping Irish cinema,the Irish Film Festival Australia (IFF26) returns from October 8th until November 15th 2026 with its biggest program in 12 years.
IFF26 will showcase a record 18 films and documentaries, including 13 Australian premieres,alongside a vibrant program of Irish and Irish/Australian short films.
Screening across five Australian cities and online nationwide, this year’s festival offers audiences an unmissable window into contemporary Ireland, celebrating the stories, peopleand places that continue to shape the country’s distinctive and beloved cinematic voice.
2026 program highlights include the Australian Premiere of Chasing Millions, Galway Film Fleadh award winners Trad, Horseshoe and Girls & Boys, and IFTA nominees Báite (TheDrowned), Fréwaka (Roots) and Testimony.
Festival Director Dr Enda Murray says, “Our Irish storytellers are conquering the film worldand I’m delighted to bring a slice of that to Australia.
There’s a new generation of Irish musicians smashing out tunes in Trad while DeclanO’Rourke’s sublime music forms the basis of Almost With You. There’s laughs galore in Chasing Millions but we also deep dive into our recent tragic history with Testimony. ManchánMagan brings some ancient wisdom to the party with his spell-binding Listen to the Land Speak and the Irish language continues its rebirth of cool with Báite (The Drowned) and the folk-horror hit Fréwaka (Roots) among 5 Irish language films.
From the cliffs of Donegal to the streets of London, this year’s festival brings the best of Irishculture to Australian audiences.”
For the first time in the Festival’s history, an official Irish/Australian feature co-production willopen IFF26 with its Australian Premiere on opening night. The darkly funny, fast-movingcomedy caper, new feature film, Chasing Millions, throws a specifically Australian spotlight on the infamous 2004Northern Bank heist in Belfast.
Neatly tying in Irish-Australian connections, the film’s lead character, Diana, an Australianpolice woman with Aboriginal / Irish heritage, becomes mixed up in the investigation into the audacious bank heist while trying to track down her Irish family in Belfast. The film’s Australian star, Madeleine Madden (grand-daughter of civil rights activist Charlie Perkins) is of Aboriginal and Irish heritage, and the soundtrack was written by Australian rock and folk legend, Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil).
The Irish Embassy in Canberra will also mark the 80th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Ireland and Australia by presenting CHASING MILLIONS at the Opening Night of theCanberra season on Friday, November 6th.
The festival will also showcase the new Australian/Irish feature Almost With You (starring famed Irish singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke), and celebrate rising young stars of Irish music and film in Trad (starring Game of Thrones’ Aiden Gillen and Bad Sisters’ Sarah Greene) and Gealtra, award-winning Director Brendan Canty’s documentary about Cork’sfamous Kabin Crew. Our classic retrospective is the seminal Irish feminist film Hush-a-Bye Baby, Margo Harkin’s multi award-winning debut feature from 1990, featuring the first film appearance and soundtrack from a young Sinead O’Connor.
IFF26 will present a dedicated session of Irish-Australian short films, screening in cinemas inSydney and Melbourne as well as online. This collection showcases stories shaped by the interweaving of Irish and Australian culture, through their producers, directors, actors, or themes. Spanning comedy, LGBTQ documentary, and music, the program highlights a new generation of Irish-Australian filmmakers expressing their heritage in cinematic terms.
Spanning powerful drama, thought provoking documentary, dark comedy and edge-of-your seathorror, the IFF26 program delves into the stories that have shaped Ireland and the contemporary voices redefining it today.
Audiences can also look forward to Gala Opening Nights in each city, complete with live Irishmusic and complimentary drinks, plus exclusive behind-the-scenes access through Q&Aswith Festival Director, Dr Enda Murray and select filmmakers and cast.
FESTIVAL DETAILS
In Palace cinemas 8 October – 9 November:
Sydney 8 – 11 Oct – Palace Moore Park, Opening Nightparty 8 Oct Brisbane 16-19 Oct – Palace Barracks, OpeningNight party 16 Oct Melbourne 22 – 25 Oct – The Kino, Opening Night party 22 Oct Perth 30 Oct -2 Nov – Palace Raine, Opening Night party 30 Oct Canberra 6 – 9 Nov – Palace Electric, Opening Night party 6 Nov
Online across Australia 8 October – 15 November via our digital screening partner, ACMI.
Tickets:
Tickets on sale Thursday 10 September: www.irishfilmfestival.com.au Cinema tickets from $16 Online tickets from $10
Media Enquiries
IFF 2026 IMAGES HERE
For screeners or to discuss interview opportunities contact:
Eileen McCarthy |media.iffau@gmail.com |0438 255 411|www.irishfilmfestival.com.au
Editor’s Notes
About the Irish Film Festival Australia
The Irish Film Festival Australia has been sharing the culture, traditions, history and characterof Ireland and the Irish people with Australians since 2015. The festival is a not-for-profitcultural event supported by the Irish Embassy in Canberra and the Irish Consulate in Sydney.
About the Festival Director
Dr Enda Murray BSc MA DCA is an award-winning filmmaker and educator with 30 years’experience in the industry having worked in Ireland, USA, England and Australia. EndaMurray’s work has featured in numerous international film festivals and on BBC, RTE, ITV, ABC, NITV, Maori TV and SBS.
2026 FESTIVAL PROGRAM
CHASING MILLIONS: Australian Premiere. Cinema Exclusive.
A comedy heist film inspired by the 2004 Northern Bank robbery in Belfast as veteran Northern Irish Detective Crayford (Christopher Ecclestone) and ambitious Australian Police officer Diana(Madeleine Madden) investigate the biggest bank job in British history. Theatrical release 9 November.
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THE DROWNED / ‘BÁITE’ (2025) Cinema and Online (Irish with English subtitles)
A woman’s body is found under the waters of a lake in Connemara, and the arrival of a detective from Dublin is the last thing Peggy, the owner of Casey’s Pub, needs as she tries tosave her business and her family. Best Irish Language Feature Film at 2025 Galway FilmFleadh, Best Original Score at 2026 IFTAs. Nominated for Best Director, Best Script for Film, Best Actress in a Lead Film Role at 2026 IFTAs.
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TRAD (2025) Cinema Exclusive
From their home in the Donegal Gaeltacht, gifted fiddle player Shóna McAnally and her talented little brother Mickey take to the road with a troupe of wandering musicians, on a cross-country journey of adventure, romance, and musical exploration on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Coast. Starring Megan Nic Fhionnghaile, Aiden Gillen (Game of Thrones), SarahGreene. Audience Award at the 2026 Galway Film Fleadh. Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Film Role at 2026 IFTAs (Sarah Greene).
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GIRLS AND BOYS (2025) Cinema and Online
On Halloween night in Dublin, rugby player Jace meets aspiring filmmaker Charlie at a college party. Both attend Trinity, but their worlds couldn’t be more different. Charlie is trans, her circle full of queer artists and creatives, while Jace sticks with the more straight-laced camaraderie ofhis rugby teammates. When the party is suddenly shut down by the Guards, the two find themselves alone in the streets of Dublin. As they wander the city, sharing secrets, dreams, and fears about life after college, a surprising revelation from their shared past threatens to upend their fragile connection. Jace must confront not only his past, but the social identity he’s long taken for granted. Best Independent Irish Film at 2025 Galway Film Fleadh
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HUSH-A-BYE BABY (1990) Cinema and Online
Set in Derry in 1984 against the height of The Troubles and featuring the first film appearance and soundtrack from a young Sinead O’Connor, this coming of age film follows Impressionable Irish teen Goretti Friel (Emer McCourt) who begins a romance with an older boy named Ciarán (Michael Liebman). In love but naïve about such practical concerns as birth control, devoutlyRoman Catholic Goretti ends up with an unwanted pregnancy. When Ciarán is jailed by the British army, and shows little desire from prison to uphold his parental responsibilities, the pressures of unanticipated motherhood begin to unravel the 15-year-old teen’s emotional stability. Bronze Leopard for Best Actress (Emer McCourt) and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1990 Locarno Film Festival
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WHITETAIL (2025) Cinema Exclusive
Jen has carried the guilt of a tragic accident since her teens – now, her past is catching up. Set in the lush, isolated forests of southern Ireland (filmed in Counties Kerry and Cork), this psychological
drama-thriller directed by Dutch filmmaker Nanouk Leopold premiered at the 2025 Toronto International
Film Festival (TIFF). Nominated for Best Feature at the Chicago International Film Festival.
HORSESHOE (2025) Cinema and Online
Four estranged siblings return to their crumbling family home in the West of Ireland after the death of their father where they attempt to navigate inheritance, grief and long-buried grudges. But their time together unearths far more than expected – including secrets that just might shatter what little bond remains between them. Blending razor-sharp dialogue with raw emotional depth, the comedy drama is anchored by powerful performances from Carolyn Bracken (Oddity, The Gone, You are Not my Mother), Lalor Roddy (That They May May Face the Rising Sun), John Connors (Cardboard Gangsters, Love/Hate), Mary Murray (Love/Hate),Jed Murray (Love/Hate), Neill Fleming (Kin), Eric O’Brien and Caroline Harvey, with an original score by acclaimed Irish composer Anna Mullarkey and music from John Francis Flynn. BestDebut Irish Feature at the 2025 Galway Film Fleadh. Nominated for Best Director and BestActress in
a Lead Film Role at 2026 IFTAs.
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ALMOST WITH YOU (2026) Cinema Exclusive
Irish singer-songwriter Brendan Kelly (Declan O’Rourke) arrives in the coastal town of Albany, Western Australia, for the final leg of his Australian solo tour. Haunted by his brother’s recentdeath, Brendan is a man adrift, touring half-heartedly, refusing to sing his most iconic song, andemotionally retreating. With an uncharacteristic 5 days off in Albany before his next show, Brendan finds himself at a precipice of unravelling further. Here Brendan meets Sarah (Chloe Hurst) a quietly resilient, elusively charming and grounded local woman with her own painful history, something that draws them together. Their connection is immediate, and unfolds oversongs, quiet conversations, and moments of shared loss. The film features 10 of Declan O’Rourke’s songs and a score by Luka Bloom.
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ROOTS ‘FRÉWAKA’ (2024) Cinema Exclusive (Irish with English subtitles)
Haunted by a personal tragedy, home care worker, Shoo, is sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman who fears the neighbours as much as she fears the Sídhe – sinisterIrish fairies who she believes abducted her decades before. As the two develop a strangely deep connection, Shoo is consumed by the old woman’s paranoia, rituals, and superstitions, eventually confronting the horrors from her own past. Roots/Fréwaka is one of the best folk-horror tales to come out of Ireland. Best Original Music at 2025 IFTAs and Audience Award at 2025 Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival.
Nominated for Best New Irish Feature at 2024 Cork International Film Festival. BestCinematography at 2025 IFTAs and Best Irish Film at 2025 Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards.
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LISTEN TO THE LAND SPEAK (2025) Cinema and Online
Recently deceased, much loved Irish author and commentator, Manchán Magan, explores theprofound knowledge and wisdom contained in Ireland’s landscape in this visually breathtaking journey which unfolds through the seasons – from Imbolc/Brigid’s Day to the Winter Solstice –along rivers, mountains, and ancient mythical sites. He reflects on how this wisdom can help us rebuild our relationship with nature today. But it also becomes an unexpectedly personal story as Manchán realises that there is a
serious illness within himself that makes him see this history in a whole new light. BestCinematography at 2025 Galway Film Fleadh. Nominated for Best Feature Documentary at 2026 IFTAs.
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TESTIMONY (2025) Cinema and Online
Testimony tells the story of an extraordinary group of women, supported by the activist organisation Justice for Magdalenes, whose battle to hold the Irish government accountable for the abuses of the Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Home institutions and forcedfamily separation, takes them all the way to the United Nations. Nominated for BestDocumentary at 2026 IFTAs. Best Irish Film and Best Documentary at 2025 Dublin Film Critics Circle Award.
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THE LIGHT KEEPER (2026) Cinema and Online
Ireland, 1924. Seamus Og MacGrianna (Dominic Cooper) is a lighthouse keeper whose elaborate rituals keep him rooted in the past – tending the garden of the house where he used to live and rowing out to sea every morning, hoping to hear the call of the fabled Each-Uisce – an evil shape-shifting water-horse But Seamus’ carefully constructed world is blown wide open by three people who change the course of his life forever: Edith (Sarah Gadon), the mysteriousAmerican, whose quest for closure ignites something in him; Father MacGabhann (Aidan Quinn), the hard-line priest who makes it his mission to start a battle of wills with a man who has nothing to lose; and Maire (Sarah Bolger), the housekeeper whose unconditional love can no longer protect him from himself.
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TRAVELLING BACK ‘AG TAISTEAL SIAR’ Online Only (Irish with English subtitles)
Ag Taisteal Siar explores the rich musical heritage of Ireland’s Traveller community, a drivingforce in Irish music for many generations. Featuring intimate interviews and spellbindingperformances with Kathleen Keenan, Sarah Dunne, Sharyn Ward, Niamh Dunne and Steo Wall, among others, and alongside original poetry written by Martin Warde. This documentary uncovers a legacy long overlooked but deeply embedded in Irish cultural identity. As Steo Wall says, “People are slowly understanding the impact Travellers have had on Irish music and culture.”
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BURIED ALIVE ‘BEO FAOIN BHFÓD’ (2025) Online Only (Irish with English subtitles)
In 1968, Mick Meaney was buried six feet under the London soil in a simple wooden coffin. Hundreds came to see his burial and toast Mick on his way. The thing was, Mick was not dead. He was competing in the world record competition for ‘Longest Time Spent BuriedAlive’. Incredibly, Mick was not the first. Our story begins in 1920s California and ends with a Dutch nun buried under a fairground in Skegness. Using never before seen archive, animation and interviews with the people who personally knew Mick, this story is brought to life throughthe eyes of his loving daughter who grapples with her father’s bizarre legacy. A fascinating time capsule about the lives of Irish navvies in London in that period.
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DANIEL O’CONNELL: THE EMANCIPATOR (2025) Online Only
Born on Ireland’s west Kerry coast in 1775, Daniel O’Connell rose to become a powerful lawyer and advocate as well as visionary statesman, emancipationist and champion of human rights whose legacy continues to be felt today. To mark the 250th Anniversary of O’Connell’s birth, this powerful new documentary offers a fresh exploration of the life and enduring impact of one of Ireland’s greatest figures inviting audiences to reflect on how his vision for justice anddemocracy continues to shape our world.
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JAMES CONNOLLY: WE ONLY WANT THE EARTH (2025) Online Only
An iconic presence on the landscape of Irish socialism and republicanism, the name of James Connolly looms large in the trade union movement and wherever radical left-wing politics areespoused. The film places Connolly’s radical ideas and many political achievements against the landscape of the contemporary world as well as documenting his more prominent role in the 1916 Easter Rising.
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WILD BUNCH ‘Gealtra’ (2025) Online Only (Irish with English subtitles)
Set in the vibrant heart of Knocknaheeny, this documentary by Brendan Canty (Christy) follows a group of teenagers from The Kabin Studio, a youth-led creativity hub, as they embark on a journey to explore their identities through music, poetry, and the Irish language.Under the mentorship of renowned rapper and spoken word artist Séamus Barra Ó Súilleabháin, the young participants dive deep into their personal histories, cultural heritage, and the power of creative expression. Best New Irish Feature at 2025 Cork International Film Festival.
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LOVE LANE UNITED Online Only
Facing job loss and a best friend’s emigration, Benny forms a ragtag Sunday league footballteam to cling to the past, sparking a messy romance with his housemate, Laura, only to confront heartbreak and fading hope on and off the pitch. A raw, funny and heartbreakingly honest portrait of life in your
mid-20s, when standing still feels safer than moving forward. Audience Choice Award at the2025 Louth International Film Festival.
Tinteán 