At the core of Festival programming is a celebration of some of the most distinctive works of new cinema being made around the world today. The New Cinema selection pushes against the boundaries of genre, form, and convention with liveness and agency.

This year, New Cinema features four programmes of new works from Ireland, the United States and United Kingdom, with two international premieres and three World Festival Premieres.

Jenny Brady & Roy Claire Potter

Reflecting on the fragility and complexity of communication, Jenny Brady’s latest film offers a compelling exploration of communication and interpretation, alongside a scratch performance amplifying autistic perspectives by Roy Claire Potter, ahead of the premiere later this spring with Liverpool Biennial.

The Glass Booth • Jenny Brady • Ireland, Belgium • 2025 • International Premiere

COMMS FAIL (Scratch Performance) • Performance by Roy Claire Potter • 2026

Jordan Lord

Two films by Jordan Lord offer a critical look at media, politics, and disability.

Concealed and Denied • Jordan Lord • USA • 2025 • International Premiere

An All-Round Feel Good • Jordan Lord • USA • 2024

No Irish Need Apply & Carceral Jigs

Premieres of films by Eoghan Ryan and Marianne Keating offer a compelling examination of Irish identity, migration, and systematic control.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Isobel Harbison, an Irish art historian, critic, and Senior Lecturer at Goldsmiths, London.

Carceral Jigs • Eoghan Ryan • Ireland • 2025 • International Premiere

No Irish Need Apply • Marianne Keating • UK • 2025 • World Festival Premiere

Soft Fruit

Drawn from a larger installation at Site Gallery, Sheffield, Rehana Zaman’s Soft Fruit follows migrant seasonal workers, sharecroppers, tenants and day labourers as they pick, prepare and transport cash crops.

Soft Fruit • Rahana Zaman • United Kingdom • 2026 • World Festival Premiere