Skip to main content

Docs Ireland · 2026

Docs Ireland 2026

Features

Programme

39 films · 10 reviews

Jump to a film

Afterlives

Explores how images of Medusa of Hatra, ISIS propaganda, and digital archives influence reality and memory while examining violence.

(Country: Germany, Belgium, France; Year: 2025; Director: Kevin B Lee)

Always

Portrait of a gifted young poet growing up in rural China.

(Country: US, China, France, Taiwan; Year: 2025; Director: Deming Chen)

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.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
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.

(Country: US, Palestinian Territory, Malaysia, Qatar, Denmark, Japan; Year: 2026; Director: Poh Si Teng)

Full review

Answering The Call (Freagairt Na Gairme)

A contemplative documentary that follows the fragile survival of Ireland’s corncrake, one of the country’s most endangered birds. Set against the windswept beauty of the Atlantic coast, the film traces the efforts of ecologists, farmers, and volunteers working to restore habitats and revive the bird’s elusive nocturnal call.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2025; Director: Martin Danneels)

An Irish Atlantic Rainforest

Review preview for An Irish Atlantic Rainforest

A vital piece of cinema.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
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.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2025; Director: Gary Lennon; Stars: Eoghan Daltun)

Full review

Celtic Utopia (Útóipe Cheilteach)

Review preview for Celtic Utopia

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

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
Documentary considering Ireland's contemporary music scene, but also that of a postcolonial society wrestling with its heritage.

(Country: Ireland, Sweden; Year: 2025; Director: Dennis Harvey, Lars Lovén)

Full review See: Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén on language, music and community in Celtic Utopia

Chris Packham: People's Emergency Briefing

What’s happening with climate and nature, and what does it mean for everyday life in the UK? This documentary, based on the National Emergency Briefing in Westminster, brings together nine leading UK scientists and experts with the latest evidence and looks at why it matters.

(Country: UK; Year: 2026; Director: none)

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
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.

(Country: Qatar, Chile, Iran, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, US; Year: 2025; Director: Mohammad Reza Eyni, Sara Khaki)

Full review See: Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki on the challenges of shooting and distributing Cutting Through Rocks

Desert Passages

The Colorado River is drying up. Reservoirs are falling to record lows and drought ravages the borderlands of the United States and Mexico. The heavily engineered water systems of the American Southwest buckle under the strain of an expanding population. Life for those on the fringes begins to unravel.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2026; Director: Laurence Durkin, Kevin Brennan; Stars: Rebecca Solnit)

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.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
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.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2026; Director: James Redmond)

Full review

Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That's The Weight Of The World)

The boisterous, decades-spanning story of this legendary American band and its enigmatic founder, Maurice White.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson)

Enough Is Enough (Trop c'est Trop)

Thirty years of war, seven million displaced, ten million dead. A plunge into the chaos of the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

(Country: France, Congo; Director: Elisé Sawasawa)

The Fix

The Fix follows events and people at The Church on the Street in Burnley, Lancashire – run by two former addicts with criminal pasts. In a town on its uppers, people in crisis arrive daily to Bishop Mick and Pastor Emma looking for help with addiction, poverty and mental illness.

(Country: UK; Year: 2026; Director: Aaron Black, Rory Carson)

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.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
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.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2026; Director: Neasa Ní Chianáin; Stars: Eamon Ryan)

Full review

A Fox Under A Pink Moon

At just 16, Soraya is already creating stunning drawings and sculptures that are as beautiful as they are dark. This strong-willed Afghan sculptor and illustrator has been trying for five years to escape Iran and join her mother in Austria.

(Country: France, UK, US, Denmark, Iran; Year: 2025; Director: Mehrdad Oskouei)

Gealtra

Centred on The Kabin Studio, a youth-led creative space on Cork’s northside, this film follows teenagers exploring identity, community and the Irish language through songwriting and poetry.

(Year: 2025; Director: Brendan Canty)

Ghost In The Machine

he untold origins of artificial intelligence lie not in machines but in power, revealing the fantasies behind the hype that got us here and where we go next.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Valerie Veatch)

Guggi

An intimate portrait of Irish artist Guggi - from his anarchic days with post-punk legends Virgin Prunes to his quiet mastery as a contemporary painter - revealing a life shaped by beauty.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2026; Director: Ian Thuillier)

Hospital

Restored documentary about the Metropolitan Hospital in NYC.

(Country: US; Year: 1970; Director: Frederick Wiseman; Stars: Eugene Friedman, Stanley Friedman, Robert Schwartz)

Immrám

Review preview for Immrám

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

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
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.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2025; Director: Mieke Vanmechelen, Michael Holly; Stars: Siobhán de Paor, Diarmuid Lyng, John Moriarty)

Full review

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.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
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.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Richard Green; Writer: Jane Albusche, Jake Bluenote, Kyley Scheier; Stars: David Lynch, Kyle MacLachlan, Grace Zabriskie, Kimmy Robertson, Charlotte Stewart, Harry Goaz, Michael Horse, Will Haugse)

Full review See: Interview with Richard Green about I Know Catherine, The Log Lady

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.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
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.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2026; Director: Seán Murray; Stars: Seán Murray, Ali Shoeib, Fatima Ftouni, Mohamed Ftouni)

Full review See: Interview with Seán Murray about Journacide: The War On Truth

Last Movies

What will be the last film you watch before you die? What if that film reveals something about you as a person? What if that film makes you die? Cinema has been shaped in the image of our stars. This documentary reconstructs the history of the moving image through the last films ever watched by these stars.

(Country: UK; Year: 2026; Director: Stanley Schtinter)

Lesbian Lines

Review preview for Lesbian Lines

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

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
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.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2026; Director: Cara Holmes; Stars: Claire Hackett, Louise Walsh, Heather Fleming, Ruth McCarthy, Joni Crone)

Full review

Lomu

A Tongan/Kiwi warrior who could run 100 metres in under 11 seconds. Lomu was the youngest All Black to put on the jersey and still holds the record for the most tries scored in World Cup history.

(Year: 2025; Director: Gavin Fitzgerald, Vea Mafile'o)

Magilligan

Between the all-too-familiar prison walls and his mother's house, Ryan grapples with himself, eventually finding an escape with the sheep in the verdant fields of Northern Ireland.

(Country: UK, US, Ireland; Year: 2026; Director: Ross McClean; Writer: Ross McClean, Bronte Stahl)

No Stone Unturned

Investigation of a pub massacre in 1994, when six men were gunned down and five wounded while watching a World Cup soccer match in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland.

(Country: Northern Ireland, US; Year: 2017; Director: Alex Gibney)

Once You Shall Be One Of Those Who Lived Long Ago

Documentary about a small town that is collapsing into the mines beneath it.

(Year: 2025; Director: Alexander Ryneus, Per Bifrost)

Phenomena

A psychedelic odyssey into the fabric of the universe, guided by a filmmaker and his immersive practical experiments that blur the lines between art and science to reveal nature’s inner workings.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2026; Director: Josef Gatti)

The Python Hunt

Every year, the Florida government asks the general public to compete in an invasive python removal contest in the Everglades. For ten nights, an eclectic group of hunters confront the dangerous terrain, nocturnal creatures and their own tiny demons.

(Year: 2025; Director: Xander Robin)

Remake

The filmmaker revisits footage of his life as he works through the grief of losing his adult son.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Ross McElwee)

The Road To Mexico

After the heroics at the 1982 World Cup and Gerry Armstrong's famous goal against Spain, no one expected Northern Ireland to repeat the feat. Especially with a squad starting to age and no longer playing for the top clubs. Could they possibly do it again?

(Country: UK; Year: 2026; Director: Evan Marshall)

Steal This Story, Please!

Independent US journalist Amy Goodman has spent three decades holding the powerful to account, reporting from conflict zones and the Democracy Now! newsroom. This is her story.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin; Stars: Amy Goodman)

The Story Of Documentary Film

This new 16-hour epic tracks the journey of non-fiction cinema from the end of the 19th century to modern day. Told in 16 chapters and covering 13 decades, it showcases documentaries from all corners of the world in a quest to uncover how our world is moulded by and reflected in documentary film.

(Year: 2025; Director: Mark Cousins)

The Strike

The Strike is a feature documentary that tells the story of a generation of California men who endured decades of solitary confinement and, against all odds, launched the largest hunger strike in US history. The high-security Pelican Bay prison was designed for mass-scale solitary confinement, often for a decade or more, and with little due process. In 2013, 30,000 incarcerated people went on a hunger strike that spread into a feat of unity across California prisons.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Joebill Mūnoz, Lucas Guilkey)

Sun Ra: Do The Impossible

A biographical, musical journey into the work and vision of Sun Ra, exploring his jazz roots, endless innovations, and ceaseless artistic and social quests.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Christine Turner)

Super Nature

Super 8 consideration of nature.

(Country: UK; Year: 2025; Director: Ed Sayers)

To This I Belong

Four Luail choreographers showcase new dance performances across the islands.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2026; Director: Nicky Larkin)

Under Pressure: The Prison Officer's Story

The stories of ex-prison officers who experienced the violent political conflict in the North of Ireland between 1968 and 1998.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2026; Director: Kevin McSorley, Cahal McLaughlin)