This year’s «Focus on Ireland» programme at the 65th Krakow Film Festival unveils a side of Ireland rarely seen on screen. Moving beyond the country’s postcard-perfect image, the selection of seven contemporary documentaries highlights personal and political struggles shaped by religion, patriarchy, migration, and artistic defiance.

Anchoring the programme are films that spotlight women’s experiences under conservative regimes. In Housewife of the Year, Ciaran Cassidy revisits a televised competition for homemakers, revealing how it both liberated and constrained Irish women. Pray for Our Sinners by Sinead O’Shea delivers a chilling account of church abuses in 1960s Navan, exposing systemic violence and community complicity.

Other films explore memory, migration, and the blurred lines between art and life. In Don’t Forget to Remember, street artist Asbestos reflects on his mother’s Alzheimer’s through public murals. I Dream in Photos follows Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Cathal McNaughton as he returns from global conflict zones to rural Ireland, grappling with trauma and family ties.

Meanwhile, Notes from Sheepland profiles queer artist-shepherd Orla Barry, who challenges traditional gender roles while advocating for sustainable farming. The diaspora is addressed in The Graceless Age: The Ballad of John Murry and My Lost Russian Mother, which chart emotional journeys of reinvention and reckoning across Ireland, America, and Russia.

The programme is presented in partnership with #Docs Ireland# and includes several titles in competition. The 65th Krakow Film Festival runs from 25 May to 1 June 2025, with online screenings available from 30 May to 15 June on KFF VOD.