Irish Film and Television Network

Directed by Frank Berry (Michael Inside) and written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (The Salt Path), the drama tells the story of local historian Catherine Corless, whose painstaking research into the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co. Galway, revealed evidence suggesting that up to 796 children had been buried in unmarked graves at the site. The screenplay is inspired by Dan Barry's reporting for The New York Times. Excavation work at the site began in summer 2025.

Produced by Belfast-based Village Films with support from Northern Ireland Screen's Irish Language Broadcast Fund, this comedy drama follows Brighid, a fiercely independent woman in the early stages of dementia, played by Marion O’Dwyer (The Quiet Girl), and a young cleaner, Naomi, played by Hazel Doupe (Say Nothing). When Brighid hires Naomi to drive her from Belfast to her childhood home in County Donegal, their unlikely friendship takes them on an unexpected adventure.

Screen International has named actors Cal O’Driscoll and David McKenna among its 2026 Stars of Tomorrow. Now in its 23rd year, the annual selection highlights emerging talent working in film and television across the UK and Ireland. Dublin-born O’Driscoll received an IFTA nomination earlier this year for Video Nasty. He has since filmed a role in the upcoming Peaky Blinders sequel series, alongside Jamie Bell and Charlie Heaton, and appeared in Lenny Abrahamson’s feature Hillside Drive.

Hyland, whose credits include Towards Zero and Fifteen-Love, joins the returning cast led by Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire. Irish actress Agnes O’Casey is also among the cast for the six-part season, alongside Andrew Buchan, Ambika Mod, Sam Riley, Neve Campbell and Kathryn Hunter. The new season finds Helen (Knightley) continuing to pass national secrets to the covert Black Doves organisation.

The series airs on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, with Derry Girls star Siobhán McSweeney as host. The reality competition brings together contestants who are secretly assigned roles as Faithfuls or Traitors. The group completes missions to build a prize pot, while the Faithfuls try to identify and banish the Traitors before the game ends. The commission was announced as the second series concluded on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player. Further details about the third series have yet to be announced.

Maher, a producer of Everybody Digs Bill Evans, will join Spain’s Adrià Monés (The End of It), Norway’s Dyveke Bjørkly Graver (Fjord) and Brazil’s Rodrigo Teixeira (I’m Still Here) for a panel exploring cross-border filmmaking. The session forms part of the Forum’s programme of industry discussions and networking events, which runs from 8–15 October. Everybody Digs Bill Evans was developed with support from Screen Ireland and filmed at West Cork Film Studios.

This year’s four-day festival brings an eclectic programme of Irish and international features, documentaries, short films, workshops, and family activities to venues across Killarney. Speaking about KIFF 2026, Festival Programming Director Amy Louise O’Callaghan said: “As always, it is so exciting to return to Killarney with a packed festival programme.

The award was announced as the festival’s 51st edition drew to a close on Sunday. Spanish drama La Bola Negra took home TIFF’s overall People’s Choice Award. Scott stars in Elsinore as Scottish stage and screen actor Ian Charleson, who was best known for his performances in Chariots of Fire and Gandhi. The film follows Charleson as he prepares to play Hamlet at London’s National Theatre while living with AIDS.

The proposed initiative would give teenagers access to cinema screenings, theatre performances, concerts and other cultural experiences. If its initial rollout proves successful, the scheme could be extended to include 17-year-olds in the following year’s budget. Minister for Arts, Media and Culture Patrick O’Donovan is understood to be finalising the details ahead of discussions with Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers.

Open to Irish producers working across television, film, animation, games, XR/VR and publishing, the Lab will select eight companies to take part in a project-led programme running from November 2026 to January 2027.