We are delighted to be partnering with the Galway Film Fleadh to bring you a series of podcasts spotlighting filmmakers whose work is screening at this year’s festival.

In this podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Malcolm Willis,  co-director of The Essence of Eva with Alex Fegan, which premieres at this year’s festival.

The Galway Film Fleadh runs 8-13 July 2025.

Featuring previously unheard songs, and exclusive archival footage, Eva paints a vivid portrait of legendary singer Eva Cassidy, from the perspective of her family, friends, and fellow musicians. A woman whose soulful voice transcended genres, captivating audiences with its purity and emotional resonance. Her interpretations of classic songs, such as “Over the Rainbow” and “Fields of Gold”, are explored in depth, showcasing her ability to breathe new life into familiar tunes with her stirring voice. A heart-tugging story about a talent gone too soon.

The Essence of Eva screens at The Galway Film Fleadh on 12th July 2025.

https://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/

https://filmireland.net/

We are delighted to be partnering with the Galway Film Fleadh to bring you a series of podcasts spotlighting filmmakers whose work is screening at this year’s festival.

In this podcast Gemma Creagh talks to Gar O’Rourke, Director of Sanatorium, which screens at this year’s festival. And introducing Fleadh programmer Holly Buckley, who casts an eye over the programme.

The Galway Film Fleadh runs 8-13 July 2025.

On the outskirts of Odesa, stands Kuyalnyk Sanatorium. Each summer, thousands of Ukrainians come here, drawn by Soviet-era therapies and the chance to relax beside the salt lake. The biggest attraction though, is the mysterious black mud, said to cure infertility, physical disabilities and other ailments.

Sanatorium takes us through a summer season at this place, following the staff as they work hard to provide care, comfort, and entertainment for visitors – even with the war nearby. For the guests, it’s a time to seek healing, love and renewal. Despite the airstrikes close by, there’s something about the pastel pink and lime green halls of the sanatorium that keeps pulling people back.

Sanatorium screens on 11th July at 15:30 at the Town Hall Theatre as part of Galway Film Fleadh 2025.

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Ross Whitaker about his latest documentary, Beat The Lotto.

When downtrodden 1980s Ireland inaugurated a National Lottery the people began to dream.  For Cork-based mathematician Stefan Klincewicz, it was an obsession.  Spotting a flaw in the system, he recruited a ragtag team of chancers, and masterminded an audacious plan to fix the draw the win the millions.  The heist became public knowledge, and in a race against time, the lottery did everything they could to try and stop the steal, dividing the nation on a very public caper.

In cinemas from 4th July 2025

www.beatthelottofilm.com

About Ross Whittaker

Ross is producer/director of the feature documentaries Beat the Lotto (2025), Katie (2018), Between Land and Sea (2016), Unbreakable (2014) and Saviours (2007). His recent work includes the TV documentaries Birdson (2024) for RTE and (acquired by) BBC, Peter the Great (2023) for NBC, Rachael Blackmore: A Grand Year (2021) for ITV/RTE, Barney Curley Beat the Bookies (2021) for BBC/RTE and The Boys In Green (2020) for RTE. His short docs include the award-winning Bye Bye Now (2009) and Home Turf (2011) and the documentary commercial SLEEPING Flags (2019), which won prestigious D&AD and Cannes Lions Awards. He is a former festival director of IFI DocFest and editor of Film Ireland magazine.

We are delighted to be partnering with the Galway Film Fleadh to bring you a series of podcasts spotlighting filmmakers whose work is screening at this year’s festival. 

In this podcast, Gemma Creagh talking to Aisha Tyler to talk about her debut feature shot in Ireland, 'I Hope We Can Still Be Friends'.

The Galway Film Fleadh runs 8-13 July 2025.

A high-powered executive wakes up alone, trapped inside a wooden cell. He has food, water, a bed – and absolutely no idea how he got there. As days pass, panic turns to anger, then grief, and finally despair. When he discovers a woman trapped in the box next to his, they realise cooperation is their only hope of escape. Their shared suffering brings them closer, and as they start to trust each other, they reveal their darkest, most unspeakable secrets. As the manipulative game of their jailer is slowly revealed, neither can be sure whether the other is friend, foe… or something else entirely.

Director: Aisha Tyler

Writers: Emmett Hughes, Aisha Tyler

Stars: Caroline Morahan, Emmett Hughes

'I Hope We Can Still Be Friends' screens on Thursday, 10th July at 22:15 at Pálás Screen 3.

https://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/

https://filmireland.net/

We are delighted to be partnering with the Galway Film Fleadh to bring you a series of podcasts spotlighting filmmakers whose work is screening at this year’s festival. In this podcast Gemma Creagh talks to 3 filmmakers about their short films: Georgie Cowan-Turner (The Generators), Caleb J. Roberts (Purebred) and Katie-Ruby Mclaughlin Robinson (Sam Rom).

The Galway Film Fleadh runs 8-13 July 2025.

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to José Miguel Jiménez, Director of 'Amanda', which is screening at Docs Ireland (23-29 June 2025). We also catch up with Festival Programmer Stuart Sloan about this years' line up.

Amanda has painted in isolation for years, using art as both expression and refuge. Now, she must face the challenge of speaking out about a painful past she wishes to leave behind.

Once institutionalised and labeled by others, Amanda reclaims her narrative through her unique canvases — works that evoke the chaos of her experience, paintings marked by scars that mirror her own.

As she prepares for her first retrospective and her story reaches national newspapers, Amanda navigates the vulnerability of sharing both her art and truth. Will this confrontation lead to healing, or reopen old wounds?

Through observational hangouts and immersive explorations of her luminous works, the film captures her journey to transform silence into radiance.

Directed by José Miguel Jiménez

Produced by Roisín Geraghty

Funded by: The Arts Council of Ireland's Reel Art Fund

Amanda screens on 27th June 2025 as part of Docs Ireland.

Tickets: https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/Amanda

https://www.littlerose.ie/amanda-2025

In this Film Ireland podcast Gemma Creagh talks to Modern Lanternist Jeremy Brooker who is in Dublin as part of the Bloomsday Film Festival (11-16 June). The Festival presents A Magic Lantern Odyssey on Saturday, 14th June at 7pm in Belvedere College, a live Magic Lantern performance based on Ulysses.

We’re also delighted to welcome Irish screenwriter Stephen Shields on to the podcast to talk to Matthew Briody about the craft of writing across genres in film and television, creating strong characters, hitting deadlines and his 2024 American vampire horror comedy, Abigail.

In May earlier this year in Ballina Arts Centre, we were thrilled to host Local Voices, Global Stories: Celebrating Screen Creative Talent in partnership with Mayo-based production company HeartFelt Drama and the National Talent Academy for Film & TV Drama and Film Mayo.

This live event consisted of two panels which showcased the work of talented producers, creators and writers; celebrating creative voices and spotlighting the wonderful work being achieved out of the West of Ireland.

In this Film Ireland podcast, we are delighted to bring you an edited recording of the second panel that took place – Producing: People, Projects, Partnerships featuring:

Jennifer Davidson (Writers’ Guild of Ireland Chair and HeartFelt Drama Founder / Director)

Roisin Geraghty (A Want In Her, Sunlight)

Vanessa Gildea (IADT, Documentary & Film)

Gar O’Brien-Collins (Western Region Audiovisual Producers Fund)

Niamh Fagan (Screen Ireland)

This event was supported by WDM Entertainment and Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Galway. The National Talent Academy for Film & TV Drama is an initiative of Screen Ireland and is managed by Ardán. Film Mayo promotes filmmaking in the beautiful County of Mayo in the West of Ireland.

Gene Wilder with an Irish brogue? In this very special episode of the Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh chats with New England filmmaker Frank Durant, who has travelled to Dublin to explore the locations featured in the 1970s Gene Wilder film Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx. Joining him on this nostalgic journey is Ireland-based filmmaker Meghan Mickela, who is documenting the experience.

Later in the episode, we were very privileged to catch up with Quackser director Waris Hussein, who shares his memories of filming on the streets of Dublin and gives his insights into bringing this cult classic to life.

Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx is a 1970 comedy film, shot on location in Dublin, directed by Waris Hussein, written by Gabriel Walsh, and starring Gene Wilder and Margot Kidder. It focuses on a poor Irish manure collector (Wilder) who falls in love with an American exchange student (Kidder) after she almost runs him over. The film opened in Ireland on 9th June 1972.

In this Film Ireland podcast Gemma Creagh talks to Alessandra Celesia, Director of The Flats.

Joe and his Belfast neighbors reenact childhood memories from the violent Troubles era in their Catholic district, exploring the collective experiences that shaped their lives and community.

The Flats is in cinemas from 23rd May 2025.

https://filmireland.net/