CIFF 2026: Shorts Program 2

WHINS
On Daire’s final morning at home, everything seems as it has always been. He has breakfast with his sister Saorlaith before she drives him to the airport. A lifelong inclination to never discuss what is actually at hand leads to meaningless conversations and arguments while the push and pull of a sibling relationship leads them along winding roads to the airport, where they refuse to say goodbye. DIR/SCR/PROD Eimear Fearon; PROD Benjamin Jacob Smith. Northern Ireland, 2025, color, 13 min. NOT RATED

NIGHT DRIVER
A taxi driver struggling to support her children in Dublin begins extorting one of her passengers when she witnesses them being unfaithful in her taxi. DIR/SCR Michael Carolan; PROD Emer Durcan. Ireland, 2025, color, 20 min. NOT RATED

I FOUND A PLACE
Seán has just recently moved up to Dublin from a small rural town. Not wanting to inherit the collapsing family farm and all its debt, he aims to show his parents he can really make something of himself. Naturally entrepreneurial, he has a plan for a great start up — he just needs to catch a break. But things are not going to plan for Seán: Rent in the city is spiraling out of control and his family cannot afford to support him as he finds his way, forcing him to make things work on his own. In the meantime, he will have to fake it until he makes it… How far will he go? DIR/SCR Zoë Gibney; PROD Jo Halpin. Ireland, 2024, color, 8 min. NOT RATED

SEAHORSE
George has just one weekend to close the painful distance between him and his son, Adam. He brings Adam to a familiar seaside town in the hope of unlocking a precious memory they can both revel in, but when Adam rejects the memory and reveals a hidden trauma, the nature of their estrangement becomes evident. George’s unspoken longing reaches further depths as their reunion comes to an end — until Adam suddenly reaches out in the most curious way. DIR/SCR Rory Keenan; PROD Robert Walpole, Arianna Owens, Rebecca O’Flanagan. Ireland, 2025, color, 17 min. NOT RATED

Nominee, Best Animated Short Film, 2026 Academy Awards®
RETIREMENT PLAN
Apathetic about his life, Ray (Domhnall Gleeson) dreams of the beauty and joy he will find in retirement. DIR/SCR John Kelly; SCR Tara Lawall; PROD Andrew Freedman, Julie Murnaghan. Ireland, 2024, color, 7 min. NOT RATED

TRASNA NA LÍNE
[ACROSS THE LINE]
This mockumentary comedy follows student teacher Emma, who through a white lie finds herself working at a Dublin Gaelscoil without knowing a word of Irish. Terrified of being caught, she teams up with Múinteoir Eoin and Múinteoir Aisling, who vow to get her Irish into shape by the end of the day for the highly anticipated Back to School Assembly. Under the guidance of her new friends, Emma nervously takes to the stage to present. All seems well, until, go tobann… DIR/SCR Niamh Bryson; SCR Heather O’Sullivan; PROD Lisa Turnbull-Daly. Ireland, 2025, color, 17 min. In English and Irish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

PUREBRED
During a heatwave, a transgender man returns to the flat of his on-again, off-again lover after taking a pregnancy test. DIR/SCR Caleb J. Roberts; PROD Jon Beer, Callum Harrison. Northern Ireland, 2025, color, 15 min. NOT RATED

Approx. runtime: 97 min.

Run Time: 97 Minutes

Opening Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026

Genre: Shorts program

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