IFI Documentary Festival 2026

The IFI Documentary Festival 2026 opened last night with a screening of Pete Muller’s Bucks Harbor, and it’s a good insight into what is to come with some of the best new Documentaries doing the festival circuit. The Festival only runs from September 23rd to 27th, so blink, and you’ll miss it!

One of the most interesting aspects of the Festival is the number of after-screening talks with the filmmakers, so if you want to put them on the spot with some difficult questions, now’s your chance!

If we had to pick just three, we’d pick Acting (Sophie Fiennes), Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie and Coco’s Law, but you can pick your favourite below! Full details can be found here.

Opening Film: Bucks Harbor
Against the spectacular yet unforgiving Maine coastline, Pete Muller’s beautifully observed film explores the inner lives of a generation of fishermen. Screening Wednesday 23rd at 19.30, followed by a reception in the IFI foyer.

Try!
Four Irish teams train tirelessly to compete in the Mixed Ability Rugby World Cup – a wholly inclusive league where 15-a-side, full-contact rugby is played by people with and without disabilities. A warm, funny and powerful celebration of the power of sport. Screening Thursday 24th at 18.10.

Traces
‘Traces’ shines a light on Ukrainian women who, after surviving conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and torture during Russia’s war, refuse to remain silent. The film weaves a collective portrait of trauma while opening space for hope. Screening Thursday 24th at 18.15.

All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea
When a mysterious ecological event severely impacts England’s north-east coast, veteran fisherman Stan Rennie finds his community and livelihood under threat. Screening Thursday 24th at 20.40.

IFI Spotlight: Rich and/or Famous
Is the future of documentary filmmaking reserved for celebrity stories or filmmakers with independent means? As funding becomes increasingly concentrated around high-profile subjects, what space remains for original, independent voices? Friday 25th at 11.30.

Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie
Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney follows acclaimed author Salman Rushdie in the aftermath of the 2022 attack that nearly claimed his life. Screening Friday 25th at 18.15.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem
A cinematic time capsule, built around the late filmmaker William Greaves’s extraordinary footage of a 1972 gathering of surviving Harlem Renaissance luminaries at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. Screening Friday 25th at 20.45.

IFI & DCU: Masters of Documentary
From the journalistic and the deeply personal, to the poetic and the political, this programme from emerging filmmakers testifies to the elasticity of the documentary form. Screening Saturday 26th at 12.00.

Magilligan
Ryan, a young man cycling in and out of prison in Northern Ireland, finds fleeting purpose working with sheep in correctional programs. What begins as a path toward rehabilitation slowly reveals itself as a deeper struggle from prison, grief and addiction. Screening Saturday 26th at 14.20.

Adam’s Apple
A transgender teen and his mother collaborate to chronicle their lives over two decades, documenting a family in flux, and offering an authentic counterpoint to the hostility facing trans youth today. Screening Saturday 26th at 14.45.

All About the Money
Fergie Chambers, heir to one of the biggest fortunes in the United States, rejects his family and their values and establishes a communist collective in rural Massachusetts, bestowing his largesse on like-minded political groups around the world. Screening Saturday 26th at 17.40.

The Siege of Paradise
In the picturesque Italian villages of Cinque Terre, fewer than three thousand locals contend with over four million tourists each summer. Across one chaotic season, we meet an array of local characters torn between community and the economy that sustains them. Screening Saturday 26th at 20.20.

IFI & Galway Film Fleadh
Seven short documentaries turn their cameras on the rituals – sacred and everyday – that hold Irish communities together. Across faith, friendship, and tradition, each film finds something universal in the small and specific. Screening Sunday 27th at 13.00.

Mother Ireland
Charting the relationship between feminism and nationalism in Ireland, Anne Crilly’s controversial documentary interwove archival material and interviews. Anne Crilly, Margo Harkin and Trish McAdam will join a post-screening discussion. Screening Sunday 27th at 14.00.

Acting
Renowned theatre company Cheek by Jowl join forces with filmmaker Sophie Fiennes to observe and document the company’s unique approach to acting and rehearsal. Screening Sunday 27th at 16.10.

Coco’s Law
After the tragic suicide of her beloved daughter due to online bullying, Jackie Fox embarks on a campaign to change Irish and EU law to make online bullying a crime. Screening Sunday 27th at 19.50.