“We are really and truly satisfied: a full house at each screening, all the films highly appreciated, the meetings well attended and great interest shown also in the documentaries and shorts. An IRISH FILM FESTA that could not have been more festive and which strongly encourages us to continue our work of making Irish cinema widely known”: these were Festival artistic director Susanna Pellis’s comments upon closing the 16th edition of the IRISH FILM FESTA, which took place from the 26th to the 30th of March 2025, at Rome’s Casa del Cinema.
In an edition focused more than ever on actors, the meetings with Pat Shortt (member of the Dead Man’s Money cast and protagonist of the Irish Classic Garage, who also presented the short Warts & All, his debut as a director), Eva Birthistle (at the festival for the Italian première of Kathleen Is Here, her debut as a director and accompanied by actors Hazel Doupe and Peter Coonan) and a Special Screening of the National Theatre’s Vanya with Andrew Scott, filmed live on stage during its West End run, all stood out.
This year’s Best Short Award went to Retirement Plan by John Kelly
Retirement Plan by John Kelly won the Best Short Film Award in the Festival’s competition section, which this year featured thirteen works ranging from fiction to animation and documentaries, while also featuring two non-competing productions.
The jury, composed of Antonio Bibbò (Assistant Professor, UniTrento), Costantino Margiotta (Producer) and Kelly O’Connor (Head of Cultural Affairs – Embassy of Ireland, London), stated that “this might be the most quintessentially Irish animation of the last decade – addressing the intense human need to seek to create a full and balanced life, while exploring the hilarious futility of this pursuit. Taking a line from the script, this film is itself, “a devastating yet optimistic piece of poetry”.
The jury awarded a Special Mention to the documentary The Memories of Others by Pauline Vermare and Marc Lesser: “A welcome, fresh opportunity to consider The Troubles in a way that honours the people on the ground there, and the everyday life of Northern Ireland. Using the eye of an outsider, and the rediscovery of Okamura’s work, the filmmakers pay tribute to global compassion and to Irish history”.
The Students’ Jury, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures of Rome’s Roma Tre University, also chose Retirement Plan: “For the universality of the theme, supported by the use of a dialled down colour palette and the simplicity of the stroke. Never ending in clichés, we are left reconsidering how we live our lives: we postpone life to death”.
