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Festival coverage

Docs Ireland

20 June – 25 June 2023

The fifth edition of Ireland's biggest documentary festival includes a record number of Irish-made feature documentaries alongside contributions from 24 other countries. It opens with Let the Canary Sing,, which profiles Cyndi Lauper, and will close with a conversation between Carl Frampton and Patrick Kielty on Northern Irish politics, education and identity.

The festival runs from 20 to 25 June.

Other years (3)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Much Ado About Dying
    Review preview for Much Ado About Dying

    Although its central perspective is rather simplistic, there’s so much packed in around the edges that quite different narratives emerge there, making for a complex and satisfying whole.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Looking after his gay actor uncle, filmmaker Simon is engulfed in a whirl of Shakespeare and clutter, as uncle David lends his credit card to neighbours, greets visitors in the nude and teaches Simon a profound lesson on dying happy
  • I Dream In Photos
    Review preview for I Dream In Photos

    Aslin and Lennon convey this very effectively, without being too blunt.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A documentary about the life and work of Pulitzer Prize-Winning photographer Cathal McNaughton.
  • Bobi Wine: The People's President
    Review preview for Bobi Wine: The People's President

    Though we spend a good part of the film inside offices or private homes, there is also a lot of footage from the streets, where passions run high.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A documentary about how Ugandan opposition leader, activist and musical star Bobi Wine took on the regime led by Yoweri Museveni, the person who led the country for 35 years.
  • Anhell69
    Review preview for Anhell69

    The film immerses us in the life of the city.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A funeral car cruises the streets of Medellin, while a young director tells the story of his past in this violent and conservative city.
  • Notes From Sheepland
    Review preview for Notes From Sheepland

    There’s an organic quality to it, like something knitted together intentionally yet with varicoloured wool so that the eventual outcome could not be fully anticipated.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A portrait of artist Orla Barry, who returned to Ireland after many years working in Brussels, planning to do a bit of sheep farming on the side, and fell in love with the sheep.
  • Tish
    Review preview for Tish

    Details leap out from the photographs, not just the faces of those she captured, but the twist of cigarette smoke, metal ashtrays recalling the tang of wet ash, plasters on scrubbed knees.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A working-class photographer captures the impact of Thatcherism on the north of England but is unable to escape the poverty and inequality she exposed.
  • All Of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars
    Review preview for All Of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars

    Through her collages of stories and images, Rainsford explores the cultural shift precipitated by the disaster, and the different ways of looking at the world which enable people to keep on living in uncertain times.

    Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
    In Japan, people still struggle to cope with the legacy of the 2011 tsunami, whilst on the Hawaiian island of Kaho’olawe, volunteers collect Japanese debris from the beaches.
  • The Last Rider
    Review preview for The Last Rider

    The structure of the documentary itself is formulaic but well executed.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    The incredible story of the greatest cycling race in history, the 1989 Tour De France, and how American Greg LeMond faced down betrayal, childhood sexual abuse and death, completing one of the most inspiring comebacks in history.
  • The Devil's Drivers
    Review preview for The Devil's Drivers

    Do you like watching car chases? These men do them for a living.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Filmed over eight years, this documentary follows drivers who smuggle Palestinian workers in and out of Israel risking jail in the process.
  • Atomic Hope
    Review preview for Atomic Hope

    Atomic Hope is intriguing as a portrait of a movement, but falls well short as an interrogation of a scientific proposition.

    Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
    Is nuclear energy the solution to the climate crisis? Whether it is the only carbon-neutral technology capable of tackling the crisis or a fatally convenient stopgap, time is running out.

A–Z of Docs Ireland 2023 reviews

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