DOCFEST 26-30 OCTOBER 2023
         Online Across Canada!

Legendary actor Richard Harris as seen through the eyes of his three sons, BAFTA Award-winning actor Jared Harris, actor Jamie Harris and director Damian Harris.

“100 Years of Ulysses”, sets out on the 100th anniversary of Ulysses’ publication, to unlock one of most impregnable and explosive books of modern times. Featuring interviews with writers and scholars including Eimear McBride, Paul Muldoon, John McCourt and Margaret O Callaghan, illuminative archive film and photographs, newly commissioned art works by Jess Tobin, Brian Lalor and Holly Pereira and a beautiful original score by Natasa Paulberg “100 Years of Ulysses” brings viewers on an enlightening journey into the heart of one of the most inspiring and influential novels and reveals how it remains as relevant today as it ever was.

10 May 1943. Something is spotted drifting ashore off the coast of Northwest Donegal, Ireland. Something that would change the lives of the local people forever.

An evocative film-poem exploring the literary and other ghosts of the bohemian quarter bordering Dublin’s Baggot Street during the mid-20th century where there was a radical flourishing of artistic and intellectual activity.

‘Baggotonia’ was both an area and a cultural movement, populated by writers, artists, eccentrics, and other intellectuals living an anarchic life at odds with the conservative mores of the time. Inspired by luminous black and white photographs from artist Nevill Johnson, Alan Gilsenan’s richly evocative work draws on the writings of Patrick Kavanagh, Samuel Beckett, Flann O’Brien, and Brendan Behan, among others, to conjure a psycho-geographic tapestry of place and memory. Gilsenan employs an impressionistic, poetic visual language for this highly personal film, which takes the form of a collage of overlayed images, spoken recordings, narration, and music which creates an immersive, hypnotic experience.

‘Mincéir' is a very important and unique piece conveyed in the shape of a documentary that brings the audience on a journey across the Irish Traveller’s tradition their past traditions, present transitions and future views. 

The challenge of this documentary was to balance an accurate portrayal of Traveller life seen through the eyes of travellers and the necessary story elements needed to produce a great documentary and keep an audience engaged throughout. ‘Mincéir’ contributors tell intimate secrets and stories about the Traveller traditions that have never been told before. The project will be an archive of information for future generations to access and this is a very important point for the Travellers mental health. The documentary is driven by progressive, modern Traveller women and men that are a precedent for their community. It highlights how strong women are and have fought to follow their passions and become independent.

North Circular is a documentary musical that travels the length of Dublin's North Circular Road, from the Phoenix Park to Dublin Port, exploring the history, music and streetscapes of a street that links some of the country's most beloved and infamous places. The film evokes many narratives from the history of the city and nation, from colonialism, to mental health, to the struggle for women’s liberation while also engaging with urgent issues of today, including the battle to save the legendary Cobblestone Pub, center of Dublin's recent folk revival, from destruction at the hands of cynical property developers. The film also includes musical performances from artists local to the North Circular, including John Francis Flynn, Séan Ó Túama, Eoghan O'Ceannabháin, Ian Lynch & Gemma Dunleavy.