Festival of Irish films returns to Casa del Cinema in Rome.

The Irish Film Festa, the festival dedicated to Irish cinema and culture, returns to Rome’s Casa del Cinema in Villa Borghese from 25-28 May.

The event, now in its 14th edition, offers the public a wide selection of feature film premieres and meetings with filmmakers as well as a short-film competition.

The films are screened in their original language with Italian subtitles, with free entry to the venue until full capacity is reached.

This year’s programme focuses on Irish-language cinema as a tribute to the international success of The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin) in the presence of director Colm Bairéad and producer Cleona Ní Chrualaoí.

“This is the year of Irish and Irish-language cinema, with the significant Oscar nomination of The Quiet Girl/ An Cailín Ciúin" - says Susanna Pellis, IFF director - "It is also the year when An Irish Goodbye, the winner of the Irish Film Festa’s Best Short Award in 2022, won both the BAFTA prize and an Oscar. It is the year when Irish actors who reaped a ripe harvest of nominations ceased to be defined as British anymore."

The programme features Irish-language drama Tarrac which will be presented in Rome by director Declan Recks, screenwriter Eugene O'Brien and actors Lorcan Cranitch and Cillian Ó Gairbhi.

There are also Irish-language shorts: Big Griff - Lánchúlaí (Fullback) and the animated short An Béal Bocht (The Poor Mouth) a tribute to director Tom Collins, who died last year.

Among the feature films is Aisha, Frank Berry's most recent work which has just won two IFTA Awards as best director and best screenplay.

The festival will also screen The Sparrow, Michael Kinirons’s directorial debut which won the Best Irish First Feature Award at the Galway Film Fleadh last year.

The programme ranges from the horror comedy Let the Wrong One In by Conor McMahon, set in a Dublin under vampire attack, to Claire Dix's bromance Sunlight whose lead actor, Barry Ward, will meet the public at Casa del Cinema.

Also included on the programme is My Sailor, My Love, an Irish-Finnish co-production directed by Klaus Härö and starring James Cosmo and Bríd Brennan.

The only Northern-Irish co-production in this edition is Ballywalter, set in a small fishing village near Belfast. Directed by English newcomer Prasanna Puwanarajah it stars Seána Kerslake and stand-up comedian Patrick Kielty.

Among the documentaries is The Ghost of Richard Harris, dedicated to the life and career of the great Limerick actor.

Scopri il programma di #IRISHFILMFESTA, dal 25 al 28 maggio alla @CasadelCinema di Roma

Con @IrlEmbRome, @IFI_Dub, @culture_ireland, @ScreenIreland, @RedazioneFilmTvhttps://t.co/v7P7n2m4vf

— IRISH FILM FESTA (@IrishFilmFesta) May 15, 2023

Seán Mullan's short film HYFIN, produced as part of the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund, features a young rapper from Derry and asks if you can rap with a Northern Irish accent?

How to Tell a Secret, a mix between documentary, fiction and theatrical performance, charts the experiences of those living with a diagnosis of HIV. The producer Zlata Filipovic will be present at the screening.

The Irish Classic chosen for this edition, 20 years after its release, is Joel Schumacher's Veronica Guerin.

For full details of the 2023 programme, see the Irish Film Festa website.