EU and MEDIA Film News January 2026
- IFI, Dublin and IFI@Home
- Triskel Arts Centre, Cork
- Lighthouse Cinema, Dublin
- Access Cinema Network of regional cinema clubs
- MyCinema.ie is an EU-supported platform, operated by access>CINEMA Ireland, on which you can you can rent a curated selection of the best world cinema.
Alpha (2025 France, Belgium) | Triskel Arts Centre Cork 11 to 14 January
Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducournau’s previous films include Raw and Titane. In Alpha, she uses elements of body horror to tell the story of Alpha, a rebellious 13-year-old. She lives with her single mom, a doctor with an at-home practice amid the context of a strange new bloodborne disease. When Alpha returns from a house party, drunk, her mother discovers an amateur tattoo on her daughter’s arm. Worried she might have been infected, their world is suddenly turned upside down, as fear invades their family unit, triggering a chain reaction which unleashes repressed trauma and dread.
Sentimental Value (2025) | IFI Dublin, Triskel Cork, Lighthouse Dublin
Directed by Joachim Trier and nominated for LUX Audience Award 2026. Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star. Suddenly, the two sisters must navigate their complicated relationship with their father and deal with an American star dropped right into the middle of their complex family dynamics.
Flora Kerrigan: Dream Maker | IFI Archive Player
Kerrigan’s work was recently rediscovered through a collaboration between the IFI Irish Film Archive and Maynooth University. Flora looked after her films minding them carefully in Cork and London and bringing them home when she returned to Ireland some years ago to the care of her family. Her films came to the attention of Dr Sarah Arnold (MU) and Kasandra O’Connell (IFI) during their collaboration on the Women in Focus research project. The films are now preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive.
Restored with support from ACE – Association des Cinémathèques Européennes and Creative Europe MEDIA as part of A Season of Classic Films 2024.
IFI presents this collection with a new music accompaniment by renowned avant-garde free-improvisational pianist Paul G. Smyth and double bass virtuoso John Edwards.
About Flora Kerrigan
Filmmaker Flora Kerrigan, born in Cork in 1940, attended Crawford Art College before becoming an active member of the Cork Cine Club in the late 1950s and 1960s. Over eight years, she crafted remarkable animation and live-action shorts on 8mm film, earning international accolades and an airing on RTÉ. The surreal playfulness of her animations belies the painstaking meticulousness of their production, while her live-action films, featuring friends and family, are absurd, comedic, haunting and, most strikingly, explore female sexuality and desire. Many of her live-action films are located on the recognisable streets of Cork city.
Songs of Blood and Destiny (Ireland 2023) | IFI International Player
Marina Carr’s epic poem iGirl has been reimagined into this genre-defying feature film by veteran filmmaker and artist Trish McAdam. Infused with Beckettian humour and honesty, an acclaimed playwright casts a cold eye on Homo Sapiens and considers humankind’s collective bequest to the universe in the light of our likely future extinction. Using live footage, animation and music to create a cinematic immersion with vivid performances from renowned actors Eileen Walsh, Brian Gleeson, Cathy Belton and Brian Quinn and newcomers Holly Sturton and Ella Lilly Hyland.
It Was Just An Accident (Iran, France, Luxembourg) | Triskel Cork
Also nominated for LUX Audience Award 2026, the Iranian film It Was Just An Accident directed by Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or in 2024. Night driver Eghbal, on a trip with his pregnant wife, has a car accident. He seeks help at Vahid’s garage, unaware his rescuer believes him to be the prison officer who tortured him. What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences.
LUX Audience Award 2026 | Vote for your favourite film
Christy, Deaf, It Was Just an Accident, Love Me Tender and Sentimental Value are the five films that have been nominated for LUX Audience Award 2026.Watch the five films and rate them from one (poor) to five stars (excellent)before April 2026 on the LUX website.
You will be in with a chance to win a range of prizes including a trip to the European Parliament in Brussels to attend the LUX Award Ceremony in April 2026 and meet directors and film crews of the nominees.