Irish Documentaries
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- DirectorRisteard O'DomhnaillStarsBertie AhernMary CorduffWillie CorduffWhat do people do, when the law prevents them from protecting themselves? Documentary film on the small Irish village that stood up to Big Oil.
- DirectorEd GodsellStarsTom HickeyAn hour long documentary about Barack Obama's long lost cousin, Henry Healy, and his efforts to bring the American president to visit him in the remote Irish village of Moneygall. Filmed over the course of nearly four years, this is the story of how the most famous man of the 21st century came to the village that time forgot.
- DirectorJeroen BerkvensAgainst the backdrop of four decades of live performances in the temple of pop, Paradiso in Amsterdam, To stage or not to stage depicts the craving and fright for the stage by performers and visitors alike.
- DirectorTom CollinsStarsPaul BradyPhil CoulterEdward DalyDocumentary following the lives of several great Irish figures, including Nobel Laureates Seamus Heaney and John Hume, who have helped transform modern Ireland and who all attended the same small school in Derry in the 1950s.
- DirectorFrank BerryStarsRon CooneyTara O'BrienDarren ScullyMusic teacher Ron Cooney has been working in the Republic of Ireland's only high-rise housing estate for fifteen years. During this time he has seen the area undergo a dramatic transformation, including the demolition of six of it's seven tower blocks. The young people of Ballymun have had an extraordinary experience, and Ron sets out to produce a collection of music that gives voice to their story. Working with composer Daragh O'Toole, Ron's ambition is to create a 'world class' collection of music for his talented students to play and write lyrics for. This music will challenge the negative views many still hold of the area - views that have the potential to hold his students back, and undermine the aims of the Ballymun Music Programme. The music that is produced attracts the attention of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and is soon recorded by them in a unique collaboration with the students. A dynamic funny and driven man, despite his own health problems, what Ron and his students have achieved is simply amazing. 'Ballymun Lullaby' is a story that needs to be heard.
- DirectorRoss WhitakerThe madcap week when legendary boxer Muhammad Ali went to fight in Ireland at the height of his career.
- DirectorAndrew GallimoreStarsPhil CoulterBarney EastwoodHerb GoldmanThe dramatic historical connotations and true story behind the epic world featherweight title match that took place between Barry McGuigan and Eusebio Pedroza, a now legendary fight that gripped an entire Irish nation on one hot summer's night in 1985.
- DirectorFrank MartinStarsJohn FitzpatrickBrenda BruceJackson BurnsDocumentary about rebel group IRA (Irish Republican Army), and their view of the conflict against the British and the Protestants of Northern Irleland.
- DirectorGerry Gregg
- DirectorSeán Ó CualáinStarsFionnula FlanaganPeter QuinnRic BurnsThe story of "Lunch atop a Skyscraper," the iconic photograph taken during the construction of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
- DirectorAlex FeganStarsLiam AherneWillie AherneBobby BlackwellThe tradition of the Irish pub. Speaking to pub owners all over Ireland, Alex Fegan gets into the heart of what makes "the Irish pub" the institution that it is.
- DirectorKeith FarrellStarsHugh O'ConorOwen McDonnellRick BurnA Terrible Beauty is the story of the men and women of the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, Irish and British, caught up in a conflict many did not understand and of the innocent men and boys, executed because of what transpired in The Battle of Mount Street Bridge. The British soldiers were the last of the Great War volunteers, who joined up together to fight the Germans. They knew that there was a strong chance they would die in France, but to die in Dublin would never have crossed their minds. The Irish Volunteers were weekend warriors many of whom had no idea they were about to take part in large scale battles on the streets of Dublin.
- DirectorPat CollinsStarsGabriel Byrne
- DirectorDonald Taylor BlackStarsSamuel BishopMuirne BloomerDavid BolgerA feature length documentary looking at the recession/crash in Ireland through a number of artists who are using it as subject matter for their work: emigration, ghost estates, and the legacy of politicians and bankers.
- DirectorSé Merry DoyleStarsPeter BogdanovichGabriel ByrneCharles F. FitzSimonsThis documentary delves into the psyche of John Ford and his twenty year struggle to bring his homage to his parents homeland to the screen.
- DirectorAoife KelleherThere are one million stories in Glasnevin Cemetery. Including one you'll never forget.
- DirectorSinead O'BrienStarsUché Gabriel AkujobiThe story of 11 young Irish Dunnes Stores workers who went on strike following their refusal to handle South African produce.
- DirectorMark McCauleyA portrait of Derry-Londonderry. Personal and intimate recollections of a city and it's people through half a century of history. A time that saw a rise from poverty and neglect, to headlines across the world.
- DirectorClaire DixStarsWilla LeeJames CostelloG.I.Git, Costello and Willa Lee are street poets, hip-hop artists and songwriters from north Dublin. For these young men self-expression in the form of poetry, rap and song has become a spiritual experience. Their aim is simply to articulate the chaos that surrounds them and to fight it with their words and voices alone. In the end, the place where they live and their words are one and the same, constantly in flux, full of darkness and light. It is proof that these suburbs - that have bred darkness, murder and hate - have also inspired poetry and these unlikely artists are using words alone to fight back.
- DirectorSteve HumphriesStarsDervla KirwanMartha CooneyChristina MulcahyInterlocking interviews of 4 women interred in various Magdalene asylums and/or orphanages because of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, being sexually assaulted, or just being "too pretty".
- DirectorPeter FlynnStarsKevin BrownlowLouisa Burns-BisognoThomas FinnBlazing the Trail tells the story of two of the cinema's earliest mavericks--Sidney Olcott and Gene Gauntier--of New York's Kalem Film Company who made a series of groundbreaking films in Ireland in the early 1910s.
- DirectorSteve CarsonStarsStephen DenverAnthony DevittRory Mullen
- DirectorGary LennonStarsAdrienne MacCarthyAidan MacCarthyNicola MacCarthyAn Irish doctor survived the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki and was given a Samurai sword for the lives he saved. 70 years later his family searches for the origin of their father's sword.
- DirectorRoss WhitakerStarsSimone GeorgeSimon O'DonnellJohn O'ReganTen years after losing his sight at the age of 22, Mark Pollock became the first blind person to race to the South Pole. The psychological impact of that achievement put blindness behind Mark and he moved on with his life, becoming engaged to his girlfriend Simone. But three weeks before the planned wedding, an horrific accident left Mark paralysed from the waist down and fighting for his life. This emotional, film - six years in the making by award-winning company True Films - tells the story of Mark's rollercoaster life, the accident that almost killed him, his rehabilitation and his fascinating search for answers in the worlds of technology and science.
- Martin J. Walsh took his seat as the 54th mayor of Boston in January 2014. Narrated by his mother, Mary Walsh, this is the inspirational story of the hardships overcome and the familiar reoccurring immigrant story, that drove Martin J. Walsh to take on the biggest battle of his political career and succeed.
- DirectorAlex FeganStarsWinnifred AndersonBridget AspellDolly AtleyTells the story of a hundred years of a life as seen through the eyes of thirty Irish centenarians.
- DirectorAnthony WonkeStarsTony McCoy'Being AP' premiered at Toronto Film Festival 2015, and documents one of Northern Ireland's greatest ever sportsmen during his last racing season. The story of AP's final season is a fascinating mix of sacrifice, doubt, decisions, triumphs and failures, injury and ultimately, finding a way to leave the stage. With unprecedented access to a top athlete, the film tracks all the elements that make up McCoy's life. We see him in action at racecourses across the UK and Ireland. We are with him at the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree. We see him struggling with injury at home, setting himself new targets and grappling with the decision whether to retire or not. We track the successful early part of the season, when AP harbours the outrageous idea of riding 300 winners in a season. We see the shattering effect of injury on body and psyche. We witness the torment of deciding whether this is to be his last season, and we are there as he goes through the public agony of playing out his retirement in public. And then it's no more. Our cast is the team around him; the billionaire owner, JP McManus, the trainers, the fellow jockeys that make up that unique band of brothers, and above all, his wife Chanelle, who has lived through everything at his side. This is far from just being a story about racing, although there will certainly never be another AP McCoy. It is about universal themes, recognisable to the widest audience; relationships, decisions, sacrifices.
- DirectorTrevor PootsStarsOlenka FranklDocumentary in which the survivors of the eleven members of a Belfast schoolboy football team in 1969, talk about their experience of the troubles in Ireland and about two others members of the team UVF member Michael Atcheson, now in prison, and IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands.
- DirectorColm QuinnTrying to save his struggling mattress business, Michael Flynn reinvents himself as the eccentric online persona 'Mattress Mick', under the guidance of his friend Paul Kelly. As business begins to grow, their friendship starts to implode.
- DirectorDavid KinsellaStarsCorey McKinleyJin Han PakThomas PurdyFilmed in North Korea and Northern Ireland, "The Wall" juxtaposes the story of Yung Hee, a young North Korean female poet, with images of David Kinsella's native Belfast.
- DirectorDes HendersonStarsLiam NeesonThe extraordinary untold story of how an NYPD bomb disposal expert played a key role in helping defuse the decades old "Troubles" in Northern Ireland.
- DirectorMichael FanningStarsSeán Bán BreathnachKevin CullenRonan Mac Con IomaireThe story of boxer Sean Mannion, born in the 1950s in Ros Muc in county Galway, Ireland, his boxing career, his emigration to America and the effect it had on him, his brush with organized crime in Boston.
- DirectorHenrietta NortonStarsBobby MathiesonDanny HumphriesBilly McManusBorn and Reared is a moving documentary that explores contemporary Northern Ireland, through the lives of 4 men living in the aftermath of violent conflict. It's a story about re-imagined identity of place and the fragility of masculinity.
- DirectorBrendan ByrneBrendan J. ByrneStarsGerry AdamsMichael AlisonHumphrey AtkinsIn the spring of 1981 Irish Republican Bobby Sands' 66-day hunger strike brought the attention of the world to his cause. Drawing on an Irish Republican tradition of martyrdom, Sands' emotive, non-violent protest to be classified as a political prisoner became a defining moment in 20th century Irish history. Sands' death after 66 days marked a key turning point in the relationship between Britain and Ireland, and brought a global spotlight to the Northern Irish conflict which eventually triggered international efforts to resolve it. 66 DAYS is a major feature length documentary exploring Sands' remarkable life and death, 35 years on from his ultimate sacrifice. The spine of the film is comprised of Sands' own words, drawn from his hunger strike diary, a unique insight into the man and his beliefs as he embarked on his final journey. Directed by award winning filmmaker Brendan J Byrne and produced by Trevor Birney of Fine Point Films, this landmark non-fiction feature film will have its world premiere at a major international film festival in 2016.
- DirectorLiam McGrathStarsDolores KeaneTara KeaneIrish singer Dolores Keane's distinctive deep, soulful voice is loved the world over. But Dolores' life was overshadowed for many years as she battled with alcoholism, depression and more recently, breast cancer. Now she has re-emerged from the shadows to share her story.
- DirectorMark Christopher CovinoStarsMike CarneyJerry HayesAndrew JacobTwo descendants of an Irish king journey to an island where he once presided-not to reclaim the land, but to surf the waves.
- DirectorRisteard O'DomhnaillStarsBrendan GleesonDocumentary about the two big resources in the North Atlantic, fish and oil, and the impact of their exploitation on the environment in various countries on both sides of the Atlantic.
- StarsLeonard MaltinMichael WayneToni WayneDocumentary about the making of the John Wayne classic, The Quiet Man.
- DirectorLaura McGannAn unflinching and poignant insight into the trials and tribulations, both personal and sporting, of the women on the forefront of Ireland's burgeoning Roller Derby scene.
- DirectorMark NoonanKevin Roche: The Quiet Architect is a feature documentary film that considers many of the key architectural questions through the 70 year career of Pritzker Prize winning Irish-American architect Kevin Roche, including the relationship between architects and the public they serve. Still working at age 94, Kevin Roche is an enigma, a man with no interest in fame who refuses retirement and continually looks to the future regardless of age. Roche's architectural philosophy is that 'the responsibility of the modern architect is to create a community for a modern society' and has emphasised the importance for peoples well-being to bring nature into the buildings they inhabit. We consider the application of this philosophy in acclaimed buildings such as the Ford Foundation, Oakland Museum and at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for whom Kevin Roche was their principal architect for over 40 years.
- DirectorEmer ReynoldsStarsFrank DrakeCarolyn PorcoJohn CasaniIt is one of humankind's greatest achievements. More than 12 billion miles away a tiny spaceship is leaving our Solar System and entering the void of deep space - the first human-made object ever to do so.
- DirectorThaddeus O'SullivanStarsTom Vaughan-LawlorMichael GambonMarty ReaThis is a feature documentary set in Dublin, Ireland in the early years of the twentieth century, a time of political ferment and the forging of a new Irish cultural identity. It tells the story of Hugh Lane's hard fought project to establish a public modern art gallery, showing the work of living artists, his untimely death on the Lusitania and his contested will. It's a story that continues in the here and now, as Citizen Lane plays its part in the long-running, still charged, campaign to recover Lane's Bequest of 39 "Continental" paintings, including masterpieces by Monet, Renoir, Manet, and Pissarro, for Ireland. In a narrative intercut with scripted drama, acted by a distinguished cast including Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and Sir Michael Gambon, a series of "character interviews" with Lane's friends and family develops a story richly illustrated with the paintings now hanging in the gallery founded by Lane, one of the greatest benefactors of the arts in Ireland, and the paintings lost for now to the National Gallery in London.
- DirectorIan PalmerStarsJames Quinn McDonaghPaddy Quinn McDonaghMichael Quinn McDonaghAn epic 12-year journey into the brutal and secretive world of Irish Traveler bare-knuckle fighting. This film follows a history of violent feuding between rival clans.
- DirectorJulien TempleStarsShane MacGowanThe PoguesSiobhan MacGowanA look at the life of Irish singer/songwriter and Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan.
- DirectorGillian MarshDocumentary about the life and work of Irish artist Seán Hillen.
- DirectorJohn ConnorsStarsNatalie DolotovaAnthony McCannEoin McCannWhat becomes of love and grief in our disconnected digital age?
- DirectorAodh Ó CoileáinStarsRóisín SeoigheTommy TiernanThe diverse glories of the city of Galway are celebrated in song, performance and imagery in this lyrical bilingual documentary.
- DirectorRuán MaganStarsLiam NeesonCormac Ó'GrádaNiamh GallagherThe Story of the Irish Famine of the 1840s.
- DirectorAideen KaneLucy KennedyMaeve O'BoyleStarsWendy GraceAndrea HoranAilbhe SmythThe 8th tells the story of Irish women and their fight to overturn one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. After a 35-year struggle, the pro-choice side must radically shift tactics to try to bring this historically conservative electorate over the line.
- DirectorEmer ReynoldsStarsPhil LynottSarah LynottCathleen LynottThe story of how a young black boy from working class 1950's Dublin, became Ireland's Greatest Rock Star. As lead singer of Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott was a songwriter, a poet, a dreamer, a wildman.
- DirectorDeclan McGrathNeasa Ní ChianáinStarsKevin McAreveyJan-Marie ReelSchool headmaster Kevin McArevey tries to change the fortunes of an inner-city Irish community plagued by urban decay, sectarian aggression, poverty and drugs.
- DirectorRoss WhitakerStarsEddie HearnPeter TaylorPete TaylorBehind-the-scenes documentary on Irish boxing champion, Katie Taylor, as she attempts to rekindle her career by turning pro.
- DirectorFrank ShouldiceBobby Coote is in his eighties, but he still has a dream: one day he wants to fly. He has built himself a hangar, and he has a runway of sorts, all he needs is a plane. And now he is finally going to buy one and make his dream come true.
- DirectorColin HickeyStarsShane CorcoranLiam CotterOrla GleesonAn entirely dialogue-free dramatic feature film, a visual tone poem following several workers on a building site as their daily work and family lives become infused with their deepest memories, dreams, anxieties and desires.
- DirectorAdrian McCarthy
- StarsMichaella McCollumTatiana PenfoldSade GilibertiThe story of Michaella McCollum who was arrested whilst drug smuggling in Peru in 2013.