Shorts Programme 1
A selection of new Irish short films, brining some of best gems from the last year. This programme brings you through the whole array of emotions
Admission – €8
Age Suitability: 18+
Accessibility: Wheel chair accessible
Wife from the Future
Rory Hanrahan | Sci-fi Comedy Drama | 13:55
Logline
In his garden shed, love-sick 18-year-old Liam encounters a masked middle-aged woman who claims to be his future wife, traveling back in time through an old fridge to prevent him from making a bizarre decision – eating a slug.
Synopsis
Liam, an 18-year-old grappling with unrequited love decides he is going to eat a slug to impress a girl. He is interrupted by Mandy, a masked middle-aged woman who emerges from a rattling old fridge. Mandy claims to be Liam's wife from the future, urgently pleading with him to avoid eating a slug he found in the garden. Mandy reveals that the slug harbors a deadly parasite that will paralyze Liam for 17 years, derailing his life and leading to their eventual meeting in a rehab center.
Despite his initial disbelief and mockery, Liam's curiosity and fear gradually give way to a reluctant acceptance of her bizarre story. Mandy's desperate bid to save Liam from a tragic fate culminates in a heartfelt connection. Her mission, however, also carries a poignant consequence: ensuring Liam's safety means erasing the future where they fall in love.
Winner of Best First Short Drama at the Galway Film Fleadh and was nominated for the Best Live Action short film at the IFTAs
Daddy’s Dead
Conor Lambert | Drama - Dark Comedy | 9:37
Logline
When the end comes it’s never over.
Synopsis
A cruel sense of self entitlement contrasts with gentle restraint between twin brothers Pat and Malachy. As their Father is dying upstairs, this rural Irish odd couple struggle with the impending death of 'Daddy'. Pat believes himself to be sole beneficiary when his father passes, as inheritance traditionally goes to the first born son, but which one is the eldest?
Bunker Baby
Lorcan O’Hanlon & Conor McCormick | Drama - Comedy | 16:33
Logline
In the midst of Ireland's housing crisis, soon-to-be parents Theo and Lauren grapple with impending parenthood.
Synopsis
Set against the backdrop of the Irish housing crisis Bunker baby is a drama comedy which follows Theo and Lauren. A young couple coming into their late twenties who unexpectedly learn they are expecting their first child together in Lauren’s while in Laurens childhood bedroom. The couple try to navigate the pregnancy under the ever present eye of Lauren’s overbearing parents. Theo’s neurotic tendencies are amplified as the claustrophobia of their situation reaches a tipping point, putting a strain on their relationship.
Feeling a lack of options Theo spirals out of control and finds comfort in a mysterious project in the garden. Can the couple reconnect under the circumstances ...or has Theo’s obsession gone too far?
Winner of the Discovery Award at DIFF 2025
Purebred
Caleb J Roberts | Drama - LGBTQ+ - Mature Audience | 16:00
Logline
During a heatwave in Belfast, transgender man Owen returns to the flat of his on-off-again lover Seán after taking a pregnancy test.
Synopsis
During a heatwave in Belfast, transgender man Owen returns to the flat of his on-off-again lover Seán after taking a pregnancy test. Assuming pregnancy wasn’t a possibility, the nature of their casual relationship is called into question.
Shortlisted for the prestigious Iris prize 2025 which recognises excellence in LGBTQ+ cinema.
Farmers!?
Freddie Leydon | Drama - Surreal | 14:59
Logline
I KNEW YOUR PEOPLE… JESUS MINE TRAPPED ME.After an Irish farmer’s breakdown and death, his friends struggle to express grief. His ghost’s appearance at an estate auction finally releases their repressed emotions in unexpected ways
Synopsis
A farmer in the west of Ireland tries to connect with a local young man over their shared artistic interests. When he is rebuffed, it devastates him. In his anguish, he returns home and performs a song in his office, ending with an explosive emotional outburst, and his death.
Later, a group of his farmer friends gather at the auction of his estate. These men find themselves completely unable to connect or express their grief. Intense repression leads to further explosions, and the emotional release they desperately need finally comes through ceremonial dance and primal screams, conjured by the ghost of their deceased friend.
“FARMERS!?” is an atmospheric and subversive short film that defies traditional storytelling, obscuring the tropes of the depressed Irish farmer and offering a visceral and cathartic experience that transcends the boundaries of language.
Freddie Leydon won Best Director: Irish Short at Cork International Film Festival and Best Editing at the British Short Film Awards, and the film was also nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the Irish Film & TV Awards
Dancing With Strangers: From Ireland to Palestine
Gavin Fitzgerald & Dr Rita Marcalo (Instant Dissidence) | Performance Act - Palestine | 5:58
Logline
From Palestine to Ireland, a choreographic act of resistance where four dancers in Gaza offer people in Ireland an embodied experience of their personal story of occupation and genocide.
Synopsis
"Dancing with Strangers: From Palestine to Ireland" is a performance piece by Instant Dissidence, where four dancers in Gaza create duets with Irish dancers remotely, using them as "body avatars" to share their experiences of occupation. This collaborative effort aims to offer an embodied experience of Palestinian life to audiences in Ireland, fostering solidarity through dance.
Dancing With Strangers is a choreographic concept that I originally created in 2012, to give people who can not be at a particular place (for instance because they are in prison, or in a refugee camp, etc) a vehicle for their voices to be heard and for their bodies to be felt. So I created this concept of working with them (for instance, in the refugee camp), and then using my body as an avatar to take their movements and their recorded stories to the context where they can not be.
Winner of the Jury Commendation Award at the Tyre International Short Film Festival in Tyre, Lebanon