– The Belfast-based festival returns for its eighth edition with a strengthened industry programme, a robust Marketplace and enhanced opportunities for emerging documentary talent
Director Soso Ní Cheallaigh, who is taking part with i gCuimhne mo Mháthar (In Memory of My Mother)
Docs Ireland returns for its eighth edition (16-21 June) with an expanded industry programme featuring panels, workshops, talent development initiatives and curated networking opportunities. This year, the Belfast-based festival continues its commitment to supporting documentary filmmakers navigating an increasingly challenging production landscape, while reinforcing its position as a key meeting point for the international non-fiction community.
As part of its industry programme, the festival will host Creative Documentary Making in Focus, a series of events designed to foster creativity, professional development and collaboration among documentary filmmakers from Ireland and the UK. Sessions include a case study on the recent Doc Society-funded film Super Nature, an examination of the current documentary festival landscape featuring representatives from Visions du Réel, Dok Jihlava and Square Eyes, and discussions with filmmakers working in short-form documentary.
The programme also addresses the realities of documentary production in today’s environment through the panel “The New Doc-Making Reality: Producing Docs in a Precarious Landscape”, featuring representatives from ARTE France, BBC Storyville, EyeSteelFilm and other leading organisations. Additional events include “Who Gets to Tell the Story?”, bringing together prominent Irish women filmmakers to discuss creative autonomy and career sustainability; “Making Your Movie Matter”, focusing on impact distribution strategies; and “Anatomy of an Audio Doc”, which explores contemporary audio storytelling through case studies and discussions with leading podcast creators and commissioners.
The Docs Ireland Marketplace (19-20 June) remains the only industry market on the island of Ireland dedicated exclusively to documentary. It facilitates one-on-one meetings between selected Irish and international filmmakers and leading decision makers, including broadcasters, funders, sales agents, distributors and exhibitors. This year, 35 projects have been selected for the Marketplace, alongside projects developed through the IGNITE-Docs Talent Development Programme and partner initiatives.
For the second consecutive year, the Jacob Burns Film Center in New York will award one Marketplace project a creative residency, providing filmmakers with accommodation, editing facilities, production resources and financial support to further develop their work. Last year’s recipient was filmmaker Leo Regan with Hear My Voices.
The festival also continues its support for emerging filmmakers through the sixth edition of the IGNITE-Docs Talent Development Programme, a joint initiative with the Cork International Film Festival supported by TG4, the Arts Council of Ireland and Screen Ireland. It is also launching LASAIR, a new Irish-language documentary development initiative supporting short-form non-fiction storytelling, alongside the Guth Gafa and Story Matters Impact Distribution Lab, a programme focused on developing impact strategies for socially engaged documentary filmmaking.
Roisín Geraghty, head of Industry and Marketplace at Docs Ireland, stated: “We continue to expand our reach internationally, with industry guests from 20 countries around the world, including representatives from organisations including ARTE, BBC Storyville, POV and SVT. This year, our industry programme will focus on emboldening emerging doc-makers, the craft of creating audio docs, ‘the new doc-making reality’, and financing and producing documentaries in precarious times, amongst many other topics.”
Here are the projects selected for the 2026 Docs Ireland Marketplace:
Blackest Ever Black – Roisin Agnew – IGNITE-Docs
Chopped – Karam Ali
Producer: Mohanad Yacubi
Horseplay – Maggie Contreras
Producer: Ina Fichman
Innocent – Trial & Error – Hannah Currie
Producer: Sandra Leeming
Ímpeto – Henrique Daniel, Susanna Lira
Producers: Henrique Daniel, Susanna Lira, Gretha Viana
Silent Stories – Eleanor Emptage
Producers: Eleanor Emptage, Kathryn Ferguson
The Love Lives of Irish Farmers – Alex Fegan
Producer: Rachel Lysaght
Blood, Sugar and Salt – Frankie Fenton, Laurie Townshend
Producer: Kathryn Kennedy
A Tune for the Girls – Molly Furey – IGNITE-Docs
Producer: Alex Fegan
Dreams Covered in Chrome – Trëndelina Halili
Divided Islands – Stephen Gerard Kelly
Producer: Jeremiah Cullinane
The Lough – Guy King
Producers: Natalie Maynes, Rachel Hooper
Who Am I If We Are Gone? – Peadar King, Alice McDowell – IGNITE-Docs
Producers: Peadar King, Alice McDowell
The Fast & the Fabulous – Sharon Lawless – IGNITE-Docs
What Time Is Love? – Glenn Leyburn, Phil Kieran
Producers: Hen Norton, Sara Gunn-Smith
Seeds from Kivu – Nestor Lopez
Producer: Pilar Sancho
Dreams for Sophie – Edward Lovelace
Producers: Fleur Nieddu, Kat Mansoor
Before Us Stands Yesterday – Mick Mahon, Paul Sng
Producers: Reece Cargan, Clare Stronge
Whiddy – Adrian McCarthy
Producer: Maria Horgan
Off Rope – Katie McFadden
Producer: Simeon Costello
Garden County – Luke McManus
Producer: Ruth Card
The Potato Heads – Alison Millar
Producer: Callum Roberts
i gCuimhne mo Mháthar (In Memory of My Mother) – Soso Ní Cheallaigh – IGNITE-Docs
Producer: Andy Wilkinson
Sisterhood – Neasa Ní Chianáin
Producer: David Rane
I Dreamt About Luke Kelly Last Night – Peter O’Brien – IGNITE-Docs
Dear Ancestor – Dónal Ó Céilleachair
Producer: Anna Mannion
Peter Perrett: The Cleansing – Greg Purcell – IGNITE-Docs
Shades of Snow – Ira Putilova
Producers: Sasha Odynova, Alex Tondowski, Charlie Phillips
Untitled Priest & Artist Project – Dawn Richardson – IGNITE-Docs
Producers: Cian Smyth, Paul Doran
The Other Preppers – San San F Young
Producers: Ed Owles, Rebecca Wolff
Family Trees – Amanda Saveland, Olivia Rodriguez Tejle
Producer: Sara Börje Ramberg
Echoes Underneath – Sumair Shamsi
Pink Lakes – Clare Stronge
Producer: Gary Lennon
Beacon of Light – Patricia Wagner
Mexico Is Ours – Eoin Wilson
NI Screen Pitch Titles
Murder on the Skyhope – Daire Collins
Producer: James O’Brien Moran
Radio Banditland – Colm S Herron, Fiachra O Longain
Producer: Jim O’Hagan
My Name Is Hazel – Kenny Mac Giolla Phádraig
Producer: Róisín O’Dea
Sisterhood – Neasa Ní Chianáin
Producer: David Rane
Close Enough – Colin Peppard
Producer: Claudia McCormick
Untitled Priest & Artist Project – Dawn Richardson
Producer: Paul Doran
Rave in Ireland: Ancient History / Réabh in Éirinn: Stair Ársa – Paul Webster
Producers: Deirdre Learmont, Paul Webster
LASAIR
Na Máistrí Rince – Seán Hughes, Kyle Macaulay
A Dark Day on the Blaskets – Cormac Morel
Producer: Lia Nic Craith
Leos – Soso Ní Cheallaigh
Tairseach Ár Linne – Ainle Ó Caireallái
Producer: Hazar Azzeh
Part-time Fixers – James Skerritt, Ciana March
Untitled Football Fans Project – Molly Wallace
In Aon Bhreith (Born Together) – Paul Webster
Producer: Deirdre Learmont
