EU & MEDIA Film News May 2026
News about European films supported by the EU funding and highlighting independent cinemas and cinema clubs that are part of the Europa Cinemas network in Ireland. Includes films made thanks to EU initiatives such as Eurimages Cinema Fund, European Film Promotion as well as events such as the European Film Awards, European Cinema Month, A Season of Classic Films, and the LUX Audience Award.
- 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.
Once Upon a Time in a Cinema | IFI, Lighthouse, Triskel, The Ark Cork and cinemas nationwide
Once Upon a Time in a Cinema is a European co-production from Ireland's Wide Eye Films, Germany's Tossell Pictures, and Belgium's Umedia. Backed by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and the Los Angeles-based Myriad Pictures. Co-funded by MEDIA's European Co-development funding scheme.
This feature drama, shot in Limerick, explores community, courage, and resilience during crisis inspired by writer-director David Gleeson’s childhood memories of growing up in rural Ireland.
Colin Morgan (Belfast, Merlin) stars as Earl Clancy, the manager of a small-town cinema who is dealing with a Friday night from hell while contemplating the sale of his cinema to a shady politician. Shot on location in Limerick city and in the former Royal Cinema in Limerick.
May Fest at Triskel Arts Centre | 1 - 3 May
A weekend of music, cinema, visual and digital arts at Triskel Arts Centre Cork. From workshops demystifying digital to a light installation, to two nights of immersive ambient electronica, to a film that was revolutionary at the time for its use of digital video, Triskel invites you to explore digital on the May bank holiday weekend.
- Discover Digital #1, 1 May, 1pm to 2.30pm: Niall Austin is Curator of Imaginations at PURE & Second Screen Entertainment, specialising in AR Interactive Gaming, Text to Video AI, and Creating Extraordinary & Immersive Live Experiences. Niall will open up the digital world through the lens of storytelling first, technology second. Drawing on his interactive productions at The Civic Theatre, including 7 Deadly Sins, BaDaBoom! and Unveiled, he will demonstrate how games, AI, live performance and audience choice can combine to create shared narrative experiences.
- Peter Vogelaar with Conor Walsh & Roisin McGrath, Two Nights of Immersive Ambient Electronica, 1 & 2 May at 8pm: The Waterford Electronica producer will perform two intimate nights of ambient and experimental electronica. The performances will take place across two evenings, offering audiences a deep, immersive journey through sound, texture, rhythm and live electronic performance. He is joined by Conor Walsh on drums & guitar and Roisin McGrath on piano with special guests on both nights.
- Klostės/Pleats/Folds (film screening), 1 to 3 May, 10pm to 1am: Klostės translated as Pleats or Folds is a Black & White, non verbal, 67 minute feature film created by the People of Kaunas, Lithuania, together with Artist & Filmmaker Aideen Barry. This Experimental Art Film was commissioned by Kaunas 2022, The European Capital of Culture. The film takes inspiration from Kaunas Architectural Modernism and the hidden histories associated with the magical city.
- Discover Digital #2, 2 May, 1pm to 2pm: Matt Szczerek, Sean Burns and Jack Foster will introduce audiences to the digital world not as something abstract or intimidating, but as a creative playground where art, movement, music and technology meet. Using EKO Project as a live case study, they will demonstrate how a simple webcam and accessible tools like TouchDesigner and MediaPipe can transform everyday movement into immersive visuals and responsive sound.
- Timecode (film screening), 3 May, 7pm: Directed by the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Mike Figgis, this is a satirical melodrama about sex, power, and rage in Hollywood. The film Timecode (2000, US) was revolutionary at the time for its use of digital video as the action unfolds in real time with no cuts and the screen is presented in four quarters with four cameras rolling simultaneously for the entire duration of the running time something that couldn’t have been achieved pre-digital with celluloid film.
LUX Audience Award Winner 2026
The winner of the 2026 LUX Audience Award is Deaf (Sorda) from Spain, directed by Eva Libertad.
The film tells the story of Ángela, a deaf woman expecting a child with her hearing partner. Ángela’s fears about motherhood and her ability to communicate and interact with her daughter mount as she confronts the reality of raising a baby in a world not built for her.
LUX – The European Audience Film Award (short: LUX Audience Award) was introduced in 2020 and is presented every year by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, in partnership with the European Commission and Europa Cinemas.
This is Not a Murder Mystery | from 29 April on Channel 4
This is Not a Murder Mystery is crime drama set in the 1930s about a group of young Surrealist artists, including Dali and Magritte, who are trapped in a lavish mansion with a serial killer on the loose.
Shot in Ireland and Belgium, this is a co-production between Irish company Deadpan Pictures and Belgium company Panenka. In 2023, Deadpan Pictures Ireland was awarded TV & Online Content funding for the project as beneficiaries.
The Commoner (aka Harald & Sonja) | US & Norway on Prime Video & Apple TV
The Commoner (aka Harald & Sonja) is a 4 part TV series about the nine-year struggle of Harald, Crown Prince of Norway, to get permission to marry Sonja Haraldsen, an ordinary, non-royal 'commoner.'
The Commoner was produced by Paradox with Irish company, Newgrange Pictures, as co-producer who received TV & Online Content funding for this project in 2023.
Available to stream in the US and Norway from April 2026 on PrimeVideo and Apple TV.
The Blue Trail (2025, Brazil) Lighthouse Dublin 1 - 7 May
A film by Brazilian director, Gabriel Mascaro. Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlinale 2025. Set in the near future, this is a sci fi drama in which the eldery are hidden out of sight in a colonies. Tereza, 77, refuses to go and embarks on a journey through the Amazon that will change her life. Along the way, she meets various people, including Cadu, who smuggles her onto his boat and introduces her to the magical powers of a blue liquid derived from a snail. Not too long after, Tereza encounters Roberta who will introduce her to a whole different perspective on life. (Source: Cineuropa)
Funded by the Creative Europe MEDIA via Hubert Bals Fund which supports filmmakers from countries where local film funding and infrastructure is lacking or restrictive.