Irish Film, Close to Home – Cinema North West

There’s something magical about cinema arriving where you least expect it. Not the rush of a multiplex, or the sticky-floor familiarity of a Friday night blockbuster, but something softer.. A gathering. A shared story. A room, hall, or arts centre, where people come together not just to watch, but to feel something. That’s exactly what’s happening right now with Cinema North West. Because this isn’t just about films. It’s about access.

Across Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon, a network of local venues – from The Model, Sligo to community spaces in Leitrim and Roscommon, to the fabulous Art Deco in Ballymote – are coming together under one shared programme. The wonderful folk at Cinema North West have carefully chosen Irish language films, and are bringing them to local people.

There’s such an interest in Irish film at the moment, and it’s thanks, in part, to the huge success of An Cailín Cuain – which introduced Irish film to a worldwide audience.

That sense of community has always been at the heart of Cinema North West, which has long brought films into rural spaces in ways that feel personal and shared. This is not “just” a film programme, it’s a chance to connect people. It’s about valuing Irish stories in Irish voices

If you’re anywhere near Sligo, Leitrim or Roscommon over the few months, it’s well worth keeping an eye on what’s coming up via Cinema North West.

The programme opens this weekend with Báite (The Drowned), a new Irish-language film set in a Gaeltacht community, threading mystery through something deeply familiar: place, people, and the undercurrents of small-town life.