Docs Ireland

Latest reviews

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  Forever Is Now

  Review preview for Forever Is Now

  Ní Chianáin captures the sense of monumental shift – coming one way or another no matter what we do – with images of giant, ancient trees uprooted in a valley through which the flood waters have passed.

  Set between 2023 and 2025, this documentary follows Irish Green Party leader and Cabinet Minister Eamon Ryan during his final 18 months in government. Once buoyed by Europe’s Green wave, Ryan now faces waning public interest in climate issues as he advocates globally for renewable energy and climate justice for the Global South.
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  American Doctor

  Review preview for American Doctor

  A fourth doctor, unsuccessful in his efforts to get to Gaza, helps in whatever ways he can. This enables the film to move between intense scenes within Gaza itself, and the US, where it’s easier to breathe.

  When three American doctors — Palestinian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian — enter Gaza to save lives, they find themselves caught between medicine and politics, risking everything to expose the truth.
• 
  Displace: The Battle For Dublin

  Review preview for Displace: The Battle For Dublin

  Here you will find that perfect fusion of specificity and ubiquity that is gold to documentarians.

  As the city shifts beneath their feet, communities of all kinds endure the trauma of developer-led change, yet slowly rediscover their collective power as they refuse to be pushed out.
• 
  Immrám

  Review preview for Immrám

  Perhaps speculation is itself inappropriate here. Everything is focused on the present moment.

  For one full year between the harvest festivals of Samhain, Immrám follows a charismatic family who are at the centre of a growing movement that aims to reclaim indigenous Irish identity, customs, religion and language. In a post-Catholic, neo-liberal Ireland, they are attempting to propagate new cultural and religious roots in tune with nature.
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  Lesbian Lines

  Review preview for Lesbian Lines

  A valuable contribution to the archives and also a fascinating watch.

  A hidden history through an underground network of telephone helplines. The calls, recorded in handwritten notes, were preserved during a time of profound constitutional change in Ireland, when women were fighting for their rights in a restrictive and conservative society.
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  Journacide: The War On Truth

  Review preview for Journacide: The War On Truth

  Having set the stage in the first half, Murray spends the latter part of the film telling personal stories.

  As of early May 2026, over 260 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The UN and various organisations have described this as the deadliest conflict for journalists in history. With Israel’s new surge of ethnic cleansing in South Lebanon the total has now reached 28 for the same period.
• 
  An Irish Atlantic Rainforest

  Review preview for An Irish Atlantic Rainforest

  A vital piece of cinema.

  Based on the bestselling novel of the same name, An Irish Atlantic Rainforest tells the story of Eoghan Daltun, a leading climate activist at the forefront of saving native Irish oak forests in the face of climate change and political indifference on the edges of the West Coast of Ireland.
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  Celtic Utopia

  Review preview for Celtic Utopia

  Doesn’t just reflect the reality of modern Ireland but actively embraces it when it makes its presence felt.

  Documentary considering Ireland's contemporary music scene, but also that of a postcolonial society wrestling with its heritage.
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  Cutting Through Rocks

  Review preview for Cutting Through Rocks

  The idea of her as a lone voice is emphasised by striking cinematography, often of her riding her bike across the landscape, which has the wide-open quality of a western.

  As the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages. When accusations arise questioning Sara’s intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil.
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  I Know Catherine, The Log Lady

  Review preview for I Know Catherine, The Log Lady

  Though parts of the film are repetitive and others don’t quite knit together, there are some real gems hidden in there.

  Explores Catherine E Coulson's life and her role as Twin Peaks' Log Lady, featuring interviews and archival footage that reveal her artistic journey and the character's cultural significance.

A–Z of Docs Ireland 2026 reviews →

Features

• The human story
  Seán Murray on Lebanon, the death of Amal Khalil and Journacide: The War On Truth
• Everything on the line
  Cara Holmes on the power of community, preserving history and Lesbian Lines
• 'We were banned from leaving the country for one year'
  Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki on the challenges of shooting and distributing Iranian doc Cutting Through Rocks
• 'We never set up interruptions but we were open to being interrupted'
  Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén on language, music and community in Celtic Utopia
• The story behind it
  Richard Green on Catherine E Coulson, David Lynch and I Know Catherine, The Log Lady