15 & 17 March 2025
BABYLON BERLIN
Showcasing Irish screen creativity over St. Patrick’s Weekend in Berlin | March 15th and 17th
The Irish Film Berlin Festival is both a celebration of Irish film, and a cultural and social event that brings people together over St. Patrick’s Weekend. This year we bring you a mix of films, documentaries and shorts on the visual arts, with our regional focus on Northern Ireland, including seven screenings from or about the North.
Join us at the legendary Babylon Berlin to celebrate our third year and St. Patrick’s weekend. Come for the films and stay for the craic! There’ll be a live music session on Saturday to celebrate Irish music old and new. Join in or just savour the atmosphere.
Saturday
Saturday 15th March | 13:30
Art and Echoes -
Short Film Selection
Entry €10
Imogen From The Heart
An intimate meditation on the life of the renowned sculptor Imogen Stuart.
In 1949, an idealistic and talented 22-year-old German girl with an enormous curiosity for the world arrived in Dublin from Berlin. By the time of her death in 2024, seventy-four years after her arrival, Imogen was one of Ireland’s most pre-eminent and prolific sculptors.
Filmed over 13 years, Emile Dinneen directs this intimate and fascinating documentary with, and about, his grandmother sculptor Imogen Stuart and her remarkable life story.
Emile will attend and introduce the film.
Director: Emile Dinneen
2023 | 50 min.
A Wind And The Shadow
A short animation about the emotional and physical impact childhood illness and its treatments have on a six-year-old girl, her mother and the moment they first talk about it.
The story is inspired by real events.
Writer/Director: Kris Kelly
Cast: Niamh Algar, Catherine Clinch
2023 | 9 min.
Dead On Arrival
Writer/Director: Niamh McAllister
Cast Niamh McAllister, Diona Doherty, Helena Bereen
2024 | 12 min.
The Memories Of Others
A short documentary film uncovering Japanese photographer Akihiko Okamura’s extraordinary work in Ireland during the Troubles, and the artistic and emotional impact of its recent rediscovery.
Okamura moved to Ireland in 1969 with his family and spent the next 15 years of his life photographing the north and the south of the island. Exploring his unique perspective as both an insider and an outsider, this short film offers a nuanced portrayal of the complexities and contradictions of human nature.
This film was made in collaboration with Photo Museum Ireland, Dublin, and the Akihiko Okamura Archive, Tokyo.
Akihiko’s daughter Kusi Okamura will attend for a Q&A after the screening.
Directors: Pauline Vermare, Marc Lesser<
2024 | 20 min.
Saturday 15th March | 15:30
Good Vibrations
Entry €10In 1970s Belfast, Terri Hooley is an idealistic rocker who finds himself caught in the middle of Northern Ireland's bitter Troubles. Seeing a parallel in the chaos with Jamaica, Hooley opens a record shop, Good Vibrations, to help bring reggae music to his city to help encourage some harmony.
However, Hooley soon discovers a new music genre, punk rock, and is inspired by its youthful vitality to become an important record producer and promoter of the local scene. He struggles both with the industry's realities and his chaotic personal life that threatens to consume him.
However, he would also be instrumental in creating an alternative Irish community that would bridge his land's religious and social rivalries with an art no one expected.
Directors: Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Cast: Cathal Maguire, Richard Dormer, Peter Kelly, Jodie Whittaker, Dylan Moran
2012 | 1 hour 51 min.
Saturday 15th March | 17:45
U2 From The Sky Down
Entry €10Coincidentally arriving on the last flight into Berlin just before the fall of the Wall, U2 embarked on a creative journey that would redefine their musical identity. The documentary "From the Sky Down," directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, captures this pivotal moment as the band sought inspiration in the city's music scene and historical backdrop. Influenced by the electronic sounds of Kraftwerk, U2 delved into uncharted territory, blending Irish creativity with German artistic innovation.
The documentary offers a glimpse into their collaborative songwriting process at the legendary Hansa Studios, particularly the creation of the iconic song "One." This breakthrough revitalised their morale and marked a significant shift in their artistic approach. Building on criticism of their previous album, they re-emerged with a different sound and a rock-star look, reflecting their newfound musical and personal freedom.
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Cast: Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr., Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois
2011 | 1 hour 25 min.
Saturday 15th March | 19:30
Kneecap
Entry €10When Belfast teacher JJ crosses paths with “low-life scum” Naoise and Liam Óg, they become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue.
In this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic KNEECAP play themselves with raw authenticity and gleeful irreverence, blending their music with a powerful message of resistance and cultural preservation. But the trio must first overcome police, paramilitaries and politicians trying to silence their defiant sound - while their anarchic approach to life often makes them their own worst enemies.
Directed by Rich Peppiatt, the film captures the group's journey through dynamic storytelling and lively visuals, with the bold style and animated sequences mirroring the band's unapologetic spirit and creativity.
KNEECAP celebrated its world premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Award; the first of many. The film was submitted by Ireland as an entry for the 2025 Academy Awards for Best International Film.
Director: Rich Peppiatt
Writers: Rich Peppiatt, Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara
Cast: Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvai, Michael Fassbender
2014 | 1 hour 45 min.
Saturday 15th March | 21:30
GAZA
Entry €10GAZA is a unique documentary film from 2019 that reaches beyond news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient people who live their lives amidst the rubble of perennial conflict. It offers a cinematic and enriching portrait of people attempting to lead meaningful lives against the backdrop of ongoing conflict and lost lives.
The film was made in the period 2014-2018, not so long before the start of the current conflict and devastation. A film by Irish documentary filmmakers Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell, it was produced together with Belfast producer Brendan Byrne. GAZA premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 and was Ireland’s entry for the 2020 Best International Feature Film Award at the Academy Awards that year. The harsh realities of that period appear almost like a time of paradise compared to today’s hellish conditions.
Director: Garry Keane, Andrew McConnell
Editor: Mick Mahon
Cast: Dana Abed
2019 | 1 hour 32 min.
Saturday 15th March | 21:15
Seissiun Ceol
To end a day of music on screen, we will have live traditional Irish music in the Foyer and reception rooms at Babylon. All festival filmgoers are invited for this informal seisiun ceol, Irish music session.
Babylon will go Green for the night with Guinness and live music. If you play and instrument, bring it! If you can sing, sing it!
Musicians: Including Conor Kilkelly Seisuin Group
Monday
Monday 17th March | 17:30
The Irish Question
Entry €10Award-winning Irish writer, filmmaker and theatre director Alan Gilsenan presents a provocative, poetic, and cinematic exploration of the prospect of a united Ireland. As the likelihood of a border poll grows, this timely film asks: do we fully grasp the implications for those living on the island of Ireland, or are we sleepwalking into an uncertain future, much like Britain’s stumble into Brexit?
Gilsenan’s film weaves together personal and political narratives to examine the complexities of identity, history, and the road ahead, challenging viewers to consider the uncharted territories of unity and division, inviting us to reflect on what a shared future might look like for the island of Ireland.
With a stellar lineup of contributors, The Irish Question brings together political leaders, thinkers, and storytellers to explore the emotional and historical currents that shape the debate.
Director: Alan Gilsenan
Writers: John Walsh
Cast: Gerry Adams, Bertie Ahern, Bill Clinton, Linda Irvine, John Major, Mary-Lou McDonald, Monica McWilliams, Susan McKay, Mike Nesbi Fintan O’Toole, Peter Mandelson, Leo Varadkar
2024 | 1 hour 33 min.
Monday 17th March | 19:30
Breakfast On Pluto
Entry €10Neil Jordan Retrospective
Baby Patrick is left by his mother on the steps of the rectory in their small Irish town and placed in an abusive foster home. As a teenager in the 1970s, he identifies as being a young trans woman, "Kitten", setting out for London with a rock group in hopes of reuniting with her mother again. Along the way, Kitten works as a magician's assistant, a prostitute and a dancer.
Based on the novel by Patrick Mc Cabe and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Neil Jordan, this wonderfully surreal and magical tale explores the struggles of self-discovery and societal intolerance in a poignant rite of passage.
Director: Neil Jordan
Writer: Neil Jordan, Pat Mc Cabe
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Ruth McCabe, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Rea
2005 | 2 hour 8 min.
Monday 17th March | 22:00
The Flats
Entry €10Alessandra Celesia’s powerful award-winning documentary delves into the unhealed wounds of Belfast’s New Lodge estate, where the echoes of the Troubles still reverberate through the lives of its residents.
Joe McNally is a man haunted by the murder of his uncle and the unresolved pain of a violent past. Through Joe’s story and those of his neighbours, we gain a deeply human perspective on the complexities of collective trauma and reconciliation and the enduring impact of historical conflict on a community.
The film takes an unflinching look at the daily struggles of life in the estate, where domestic abuse, substance abuse, and the lingering effects of political violence meet. Moments of raw beauty and hope emerge as the residents confront their past through reenactments and reflections. These deeply personal scenes, inspired by Joe’s memories of the Troubles, offer a profound exploration of grief, memory, and the search for healing.
