This year’s festival features Spilt Milk, Báite, Abode, The Siege of Paradise and a short films program.
Thursday, September 17
6.30pm: Spilt Milk
Directed by Brian Durnin (91 mins)
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Spilt Milk stars Cillian Sullivan (in his feature debut) as Bobby O’Brien, an 11-year-old boy who idolizes TV detective Kojak and sets up a “private investigation” with his best friend Nell Casey (Naoise.) Set in 1984 in a gritty Dublin inner-city neighborhood, Spilt Milk capturing the social and political tensions of the early 1980s, including unemployment, emigration, political instability, and the rising heroin epidemic. The film premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2024 and went on to win the MUBI Audience Award at Glasgow Film Festival, the Golden Slipper for Best Film at Zlín, and the Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People It was nominated for multiple IFTA Awards, including Best Film and Best Director
Opening Night reception follows screening. Sponsored by The Consulate General Ireland, San Francisco
Friday, September 18
6.30pm: Short Stories, Tall Tales
A selection of the very best in Irish short films. (approximately 2 x 60 mins)
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The festival’s signature showcase of short films celebrates Ireland’s emerging writers and directors. This two-part block highlights bold new voices through a series of short films. Some stories are linked by the central thread of motherhood, and Ireland’s 2026 Oscar nominee in 2026, Retirement Plan, narrated by Domhnall Gleeson, is included. The program is rounded out with a beautiful homage to Benbulben, narrated by Niall Breslin and an intense event for an aging rock star in Northern Ireland, played by Aiden Gillen and directed by Emmy nominated Kathryn Ferguson, of Belfast.
Sponsored by Casements, SF
Saturday, September 19
3.30pm: Abode
Directed by Liam O Mochain (81 mins)
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Five stories connected by the theme of home and what it means to the different characters, all inspired by true stories. Whether they are living in mansions, on the street, in a big city or countryside, home has a different meaning for each of them. Benedict is closing his family restaurant for the Christmas break; he sees Carol sleeping outside and asks her to move on, she’s not going anywhere. Peggy receives a visit from a former suitor; her son is not happy and will do whatever it takes to keep them apart. Molly is anxiously getting ready for a big event; her husband and children tiptoe around her. Skylar and Sam, buy a smart oven for their new home, it slowly takes over their lives. Conor and Maria are on a weekend away without their children, but not everything goes to plan.
5.30pm: Báite
Directed by Ruán Magan (94 mins)
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September 1975. Summer is coming to an end. Peggy Casey (Eleanor O’Brien) prepares for a big weekend of fishing. Her pub will be full to the door, and she desperately needs the business. It has been a few months since it rained and, as a result, the water level is extremely low. When a body is found in the receding waters of a lake, the discovery is big news in the local. Detective Sergeant Frank Ryan (Moe Dunford) is sent from Dublin, and what he discovers sheds a disturbing insight into the history of the valley, and the difficult relationships that bind Peggy and the three older members of her family. Over the course of his investigation, Detective Ryan not only reveals the terrible truth behind the dead woman’s story, but also the deepest secrets of the Casey family.
Irish Language with English subtitles
7.30pm: The Siege of Paradise
Directed by Gar O’Rourke (102 mins)
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Director Gar O’Rourke delivers a sharply funny and tender documentary looking outside Ireland to Italy’s northern Riviera. The Siege of Paradise contrasts the lives of 3,000 local residents against the backdrop of four million summer tourists, capturing a paradise under pressure in the age of social media tourism. The documentary captures six lives playing out in parallel, offering a humorous and observant look at a small community facing the realities of modern social media tourism.
Sponsored by Ranger Pipelines