The ECIFF selection team was delighted to bring these beautiful Irish films to Seattle audiences. Each film was carefully curated to provide viewers with a view of the creativity and excellence of Irish films.
Return frequently for updates on the 2025 lineup!
Diana Jacobsen - Producer, ECIFF
Previously Screened Films
The People Before
Jess and her husband need a new start, so when the chance to buy a rambling old house comes up, they leap at it. But not everyone in Suffolk is welcoming. The locals know a secret about the Maple House, and soon, Jess realises they've made a huge mistake. Something bad happened in that house. Something nobody wants to talk about.
Holy Island
Rosa and David, two lost souls, try to escape a desolate purgatory town. They must find a rare ticket, and overcome their own personal struggles, before becoming stuck in this limbo forever.
Short Films
The ECIFF film selection team found a new friendship with Network Ireland Television to bring six short films to the Emerald City. This new program is an exciting opportunity to view a different genre of creating filmmaking.
Birdsong
Ornithologist Seán Ronayne from Cobh, Co. Cork is on a mission to record the sound of every bird species in Ireland. Along the way we get to know Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound has proven both a struggle and a strength. At once inspiring and cautionary, Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
Kneecap
When fate brings Belfast teacher JJ into the orbit of self-confessed "low life scum" Naoise and Liam Óg, the needle drops on a hip hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish, they lead a movement to save their mother tongue.
Shortlisted for the Academy Awards' Best International Feature Film and Best Original Song.
Join the ECIFF team, Irish Heritage Club & celebrated dignitaries as we open the 2025 festival season at our Premier Reception immediately following the film. This is a reserved event - tickets available for purchase on our ticketing webpage.
Stolen
ECIFF and the IHC re-screened by popular demand, this beautiful documentary 'Stolen.' Originally shown at our 2024 festival, this film resonated deeply with our audience and provided a fresh perspective on Irish history. We were thrilled to host a repeat screening for our Seattle audiences, in collaboration with Wildfire Films, offering our audiences another chance to witness this incredible film.
Verdigris
UPDATE: These 2 screenings of VERDIGRIS at the Tin Room Bar & Theater in Burien were sold out several days ahead of the event. Theatergoers enjoyed light refreshments and cocktails during the film in this historic theater space. ECIFF looks forward to hosting similar events in the future. Contact us via the contact page if you would like information on future events or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
This special screening was a collaboration between ECIFF and the Seattle - Galway Sister City Association.
Wolfwalkers
WOLFWALKERS, directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, is a story about young apprentice hunter and her father journey to Ireland to help wipe out the last wolf pack. But everything changes when she befriends a free-spirited girl from a mysterious tribe rumored to transform into wolves by night.
The film is the third installment in Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", along with the films Secret of Kells (2009) and Song of the Sea (2014).
1hr 43min. Ireland, 2020. Distributed by Gébéka Films, Kinepolis Film Distribution.
Roise & Frank
Bríd Ní Neachtain stars as the recently widowed Róise, who believes that a stray dog embodies the spirit of her late husband Frank. Isolated since his death two years ago, the appearance of the dog shakes her out of herself. Ignoring her son’s and others’ protests, a rejuvenated Róise goes all out to indulge the dog’s love of hurling, steak, and a favourite chair, while starting to believe in reincarnation. This is a warm-hearted, witty and uplifting tale of finding hope in the darkest of places.
DIRECTOR: RACHAEL MORIARTY & PETER MURPHY
90 mins, Ireland, 2022, Digital, Subtitled. F-Rated
The Secret of Kells
An Academy-Nominated animated film retelling of the provenance of one of Ireland's most cherished artifacts, the "Book of Kells." With the Viking hordes approaching, the monks of the Kells are forces to turn their attention from transcribing manuscripts to building barricades. The future of the precious book is in jeopardy, and it falls to Brendan, young nephew of the Abbot Cellach, to save the day.
Directed by Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey, produced by Paul Young, Didier Brunner and Vivian Van Fleteren, and staring Evan McGuire, Brendan Gleeson, Christen Mooney, Mick Lally (in his final film role), Michael McGrath, Liam Hourican, Paul Tylak and Paul Young. The film is the first installment in Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", preceding the films Song of the Sea (2014) and Wolfwalkers (2020).
70 mins, Ireland, 2009. Distributed by Gébéka Films, Kinepolis Film Distribution.
The United Irishmen
The names of the United Irishmen – Theobald Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet, William Drennan, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and Mary Ann McCracken – have become the stuff of legend, but the reality of what they achieved is often forgotten. In their struggle for independence from the British Crown, the United Irishmen proved unique in their embrace of all sides – Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter. Their ill-fated rebellions of 1798 and 1803 arguably laid the foundations for the violence that blighted Ireland until the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Now, as Irish people attempt to find new ways to live in harmony across the island, the story of the United Irishmen deserves to be re-told with Gilsenan’s signature authority and great visual and aural flair. The Society of United Irishmen was founded in November 1791 in the Eagle Tavern on Eustace Street, now home to the IFI and neighbors.
DIRECTOR: ALAN GILSENAN
100 mins, Ireland, 2023, Digital
Tarrac
Aoife (Kelly Gough) returns home to help her father (Lorcan Cranitch) recover from a heart attack. Day to day they get along just fine but never talk about the loss of Aoife’s mother. Over the summer, Aoife gets pulled back into the competitive world of rowing in Naomhóg boats, establishing new friendships and reigniting old ones, but as the big race approaches, Aoife feels an unbearable strain as years of suppressed grief and sadness begin to catch up.
Filmed against the spectacular backdrop of the Kerry Gaeltacht and celebrating the value of sports, female friendship, and family ties, Tarrac is a worthy and uplifting addition to TG4’s Cine4 strand.
DIRECTOR: DECLAN RECKS
96 mins, Ireland, 2022, Digital, Subtitled