The Irish shorts programme opens with themes of land, community and identity: the individual and the collective. Showcasing imaginaries of Ireland's future and its past, and honouring community, reconciliation, and self-actualisation above all. From kaleidoscopic desert futures to standing your own ground, reverence for a quiet rural past and hopes for its vibrant future, through to inner conflict, interspecies restitution, and the courage to live the life you always wanted. Mermaid of the Sands Tzarini Meyler / Ireland, Spain / 2025 / 21:11 In a climate-scarred future, a lonely scavenger survives by salvaging the remnants of a lost world. His solitary existence changes when he encounters a mysterious woman whose arrival stirs hope, tenderness, and a connection he never imagined. But in a land where every secret carries weight, her presence threatens to unravel the fragile reality he?s built and reveal truths the wasteland can?t contain. Queen Lizzie David McDonagh / Ireland / 2026 / 14:12 Queen Lizzy offers a raw and honest insight into the life of Traveller and hip-hop artist Elizabeth Connors and her relationship with her family, who cannot come to terms with her sexuality. The film documents Elizabeth?s attempt to reconnect with her family and to build a new family for herself through Dublin?s hip-hop and spoken-word scene. One by One, the Lights Go Out Kathy Raftery / Ireland / 2024 / 6:30 As the filmmaker's 87-year-old father steps away from the land he has tended for decades, the film captures the quiet end of an era for a family farm steeped in history and memory. Narrated by the acclaimed Irish writer Michael Harding and inspired by his essay The Lights Go Out on Another Solitary Country Life, the film offers a tender meditation on legacy, loss, and the passage of time. Irish Farmers: A Love Story Haven Worley / Ireland / 2026 / 16:36 Three multigenerational Irish female farmers reclaim the Irish landscape to reconnect with nature. Linking food, ecology, and regenerative agriculture to future generations and challenging outdated gender norms in farming, these women share insights into their farms and lives in the hope of inspiring a better future for Irish farming. The Weight of It Kilian Pettit / Ireland / 2025 / 12:44 Drawing on her own experiences of body dysmorphia and gym culture, Sarah Hosford?s screenplay is a deeply personal reflection on the hidden battles she faced throughout her twenties. Through the lead character, Orla, an Irish nurse living in London, the film explores the hidden dangers of our image-centric society. This powerful short film examines how the pressures of social media and the messaging of the fitness industry can both cause and disguise mental health issues. Grab Em Dylan Delaney / Ireland / ???? / 10:00 A telepathic cat therapist unearths cat-aclysmic trauma in cats who've been petted without consent. This dark, deadpan mockumentary highlights important issues of bodily autonomy and consent that transcend species boundaries and challenge naive human assumptions about our feline companions. Ireland's Oldest Altar Boy Luke Curley / Ireland / 2026 / 13:24 When a popular TV crew arrives in a small parish to profile the country?s oldest altar boy, they inadvertently set in motion an unexpected coming-of-age moment for an ostracised man shaped by ridicule. Fionnula McGahern, with the help of a young friend, is forced to confront his status as a parish ?character? and the way it has shaped even the way he views himself - and to change his life for the better. Accowntant Isaac Coughlan / Ireland / 2026 / 6:52 Follow Gar, the farm accowntant, as he goes about his duties on the farm and, in the process, remembers why he got into the business in the first place. It?s interesting. And maybe, if we?re lucky, we?ll meet Beetroot the cow!