This April, the Italian Film Festival Ireland 2026 is back for its fifth edition!

The festival will take place in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway from 23 April to 1 May. It is organised by the Italian Institute of Culture in collaboration with N.I.C.E., with the support of the Embassy of Italy in Ireland. Showcasing the best of contemporary Italian films, the programme presents some of the most compelling voices in Italian filmmaking today.

Make sure you don’t miss any screenings!

Screenings:
La Valle dei Sorrisi – Sat April 25th at 6pm – ticket link here
Remis is a small village nestled in a secluded valley in the mountains. Its inhabitants are all unusually happy. It seems the perfect destination for new PE teacher Sergio Rossetti, haunted by a mysterious past. Thanks to an encounter with Michela, the young owner of the village inn, the teacher discovers that behind the seeming peacefulness lies a disturbing ritual: one night a week, the villagers gather to hug Matteo Corbin, a teenager capable of absorbing the pain of others. Sergio’s attempt to save the young man will awaken the dark side of the man everyone calls the Angel of Remis.
Film director Paolo Strippoli will attend a Q&A session on Sat 25th April after the 6pm screening of his film ‘La Valle dei Sorrisi’.

Duse – Sat April 25th at 8.45pm – ticket link here
Eleonora Duse’s legendary career seems over, but in the ferocious times between the Great War and the rise of fascism, the Divina feels a call stronger than any resignation and returns to where her life began: on stage. With her art as her only weapon, she defies time and disenchantment, transforming every word and gesture into a revolutionary act. But the price of beauty against the brutality of power and history is high: her loved ones seem to fade away, and her health deteriorates. Yet, Eleonora will face her final journey, demonstrating that one can renounce life itself, but never one’s own nature.

Primavera – Sun April 26th at 4pm – ticket link here
A talented violinist, Cecilia, confined in an orphanage, meets Vivaldi who becomes her teacher. Under his mentorship and through his music, she gains courage to break free from the life she was destined for and pursue her passion.

Fuori – Sun April 26th at 6.30pm – ticket link here
After the magnum opus The Art of Joy she has been working on for a decade is rejected by the Italian publishing world, writer Goliarda Sapienza ends up in prison for stealing jewelry, but the encounter with some young inmates turns out to be a life-changing experience. After their release and over the course of a sweltering summer, the women continue to meet, and Goliarda forms a deep bond with Roberta, a repeat offender and political activist. A connection no one on the outside can truly understand, but through which Goliarda rediscovers the joy of living and the drive to write again.

Le Città Di Pianura – Sun April 26th at 8.45pm – ticket link here
Carlobianchi and Doriano, two broke fifty-year-olds, have one obsession: going out for one last drink. One night, while wandering from bar to bar in their car, they happen to meet Giulio, a shy architecture student. Meeting these two unlikely mentors will profoundly change Giulio’s way of seeing the world and love, and of imagining the future. A road movie set in the endless Venetian plains that travels at the speed of a hangover.

Image of Le Città Di Pianura.