Vue Cinema
Ashbourne, Co.Meath
14th JUNE 2025
Ashbourne Film Festival is proud to announce our Forth annual film festival on June 20th 2026 in the VUE Cinema & June 21st in the Pillo Hotel, Ashbourne.
Ashbourne Community Initiative in conjunction with SiúySiú Productions Ltd and William Palmer Music and Entertainment Ltd are hosting the “Ashbourne Film Festival” in the Vue Cinema and the Pillo Hotel, Ashbourne. The event is also proudly sponsored by McGroddy Brennan LLP Solicitors.
This year we’re holding a short film competition across six categories with some amazing prizes.
We’re also bringing some great special guests for some extra cinematic glitz and glamour! Information will be added below as details are finalised so check back soon!
Tickets
from €7.50
Now Available on Eventbrite
OAP & Student Discounts Available
COMPETITION 2026
Enter our short film competition to be in for a chance to win some great prizes.
Submit Short Film Entry
BOOK NOW
Festival Schedule 2026
*Note: schedule times may be subject to change without notice.
June 20th – Morning Session from 10am – Ticket price €7.50
- Festival Official Opening
- Introduction of Judging Panel
- Competition Short Film Screenings
- Announcement of Winners
- Prize Presentations
- Photo Opportunities
June 20th – Afternoon Session 2pm – 6pm – Ticket price €9.50
- Short Film Screening
- Guest Speakers
- Special Screening
- Followed by a Q&A
June 20th – Evening Session 6pm – Late – Ticket price €12.50
- Tasty Treats
- Q&A
- Festival Closing speeches.
- Feature Film
written & directed by Deirdre O’Connor, a second-generation Irish-American whose roots trace back to Ashbourne in County Meath.
FULL DAY FESTIVAL PASS (10am til late) – €20
Discounts available for Students and OAPs on all tickets.
Please visit EventBrite for full details.
Note: Our schedule is subject to change as new announcements are made.
Some highlights from the
2024 Ashbourne Film Festival…
2025 Feature Film – Exclusive!
Irish Cinema Premier:
One Moment
One Moment is a heartwarming and bittersweet family dramedy that captures the chaos, humour, and tenderness of adult children caring for an aging parent. At the centre is Joe McGuinness, a proud Irish-American widower played with charm and depth by the late, great Danny Aiello in his final screen performance. As Joe’s health and independence begin to decline, his grown children—each with their own quirks and challenges—must navigate the shifting roles and responsibilities that come with caring for an aging parent while managing their own lives.
The McGuinness family’s strong Irish-American identity adds richness and authenticity to the story, with cultural threads of loyalty, resilience, and stubborn pride running through each character. Their shared heritage becomes both a comfort and a source of comic friction as they face the realities of aging, grief, and love.
One Moment is written and directed by Deirdre O’Connor, a second-generation Irish-American whose roots trace back to Ashbourne in County Meath. Her Irish sensibility shines through in the film’s blend of wry humour, emotional honesty, and deep familial ties. This debut feature is a personal and poignant tribute not only to the experience of caregiving, but to the enduring bonds of Irish family life.
Director: Deirdre O’Connor
Starring: Danny Aiello
with Guest Speaker Deirdre O’Connor (Writer & Director)
Guest Speakers 2025
Deirdre O’Connor
Film Director, Writer, Producer
One Moment, Boondoggle
Deirdre O’Connor is an independent film director, writer and producer. After making several short documentaries and writing narrative screenplays, she made her feature directorial debut with the comedy, One Moment (2022), starring Danny Aiello in his final screen performance. The film won numerous festival awards and secured distribution with Indican Pictures and Magnolia Home Entertainment.
Gerry Browne
PRODUCER / WRITER / ACTOR / ARTIST MANAGER
A producer, writer, actor, artist manager, Gerry has covered the entire entertainment spectrum.
A business and stage partner to Brendan O’Carroll for 20 years in which they were hugely succesful with their ‘Mrs Browns Boys’ stage shows/ radio plays/ theatre plays. Gerry also starred in the RTÉ tv show ‘Hot Milk and Pepper’.
He co-produced, alongside director Jim Sheridan,the feature film ‘Agnes Browne’ starring Angelica Huston, and he also starred in the film ‘Angelas Ashes’.
Gerry is delighted to share a live read through of ‘Early Cabs’, a series he is currently producing for radio/tv, at this years Ashbourne Film Festival.
Katie Lee Lynch
Screen Writer, Script Editor, Producer
Why the Sun & Moon Live in the Sky,
Small Town, Big Story
Katie Lee Lynch is a Screenwriter and Script Editor, currently employed as Assistant Producer at Hot Cod Productions. She was Assistant Script Editor on the first season of the Sky Series, “Small Town, Big Story” and is currently working in script development.
Katie produced the short film “Why the Sun & Moon Live in the Sky” directed by Aisha Bolaji, which had its Irish premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 2024 and its international premiere at Aesthetica Film Festival 2024. It was nominated for Best Short Film at the Kinsale Shark Awards this year, and won the Best First Time Filmmaker Award at the 2025 Catalyst Film Festival.
Her writing is character-first comedy with an elevated, contemporary Irish sensibility.
Aisha Bolaji
Screenwriter / Director / Curator
Aisha Bolaji is a Nigerian-Irish screenwriter, director, and curator based in Dublin with a creative ability to blend folklore, speculative fiction, and deeply human narratives. With a fun and fantastical flare, Aisha is quickly establishing themselves as one of the most exciting new voices in Irish cinema.
Natasa Paulberg is an award-winning Australian/Irish composer with compositions for the concert hall, television, film, advertising and gaming.
Brighid Breathnach
Television Producer
Brighid Breathnach is a Commissioning Editor for TG4 and is Executive Producer on a varied slate of multi-platform programming on behalf of the broadcaster.
Bob Corkery
TV & Film Director
Bob Corkery started working in film production beginning in London, and later in RTÉ in Dublin and has enjoyed a long career in Broadcast TV Film Production, TV Programme series and Independent documentary projects.
Festival Schedule 2023
5pm – 6:15pm
Short film screenings. These will be followed by a Q & A session with the film makers/composers
6:30pm – 7pm
Launching of a short film competition for Ashbourne Film Festival 2024 presented by RTÉ producer Brighid Breathnach and TV & Film Director Bob Corkey
7pm – 7:30pm
Live film music played by The Dublin String Quartet. Refreshments available!
7:30pm – 8pm
Special Guest speaker Natasa Paulberg gives us an insight into her career as a composer for screen and the music of Ennio Morricone.
8pm – Late
Screening of the classic film ‘Cinema Paradiso’
Note: Our schedule is subject to change as new announcements are made.
2025 Special Screening – Afternoon session
Wilding
Based on Isabella Tree’s best-selling book by the same title, Wilding tells the incredible story of a young couple that bets on nature for the future of their failing, four-hundred-year-old estate. They set to work with their groundbreaking vision, battling entrenched tradition and hostile forces along the way, daring to place the fate of their farm in the hands of nature.
Ripping down the fences, they set the land back to the wild and entrust its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. It is the beginning of a grand experiment that will become one of the most significant rewilding experiments in Europe and beyond.
Followed by a Guest Panel Q&A with local environmental and biodiversity leaders discussing a local wilding project in County Meath.
short film screenings 2025
Along with a selection of winning entries for our 2025 Competition we will also be screening the following award-winning short film.
Why the Sun & Moon Live in the Sky
Directed By Aisha Bolaji
Written by Aisha Bolaji
Produced by Katie Lee Lynch
Starring : Anita Ikharo and Daniel Nwambu
Living in the mundane suburbia of a small Irish town, teens Diana and Sol plan to escape by building a spacecraft and living in the sky. When doubt starts to set in, they have to decide whether to pursue their dream or remain in their familiar world and face the inevitable.
STRANGE WEATHER
by Tom Shrapnel
Starring : Lex Shrapnel, Maxine Peake, Matti Houghton
Two strangers witness a mysterious natural phenomenon that reawakens their senses and draws their lives together.
The Pageturner
by Siúbhán Ní Ghríofa
Starring : Iarla McGowan , Seamas Griffin, John Palmer, Siúbhán Ni Ghríofa
A local of Ashbourne Siúbhán is a violinist in the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
A lover of films and in particular film music she wrote and directed her first short film ‘The Pageturner’ along with writing the films score.
The main theme for the film was recorded by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra with trumpet soloist Will Palmer (Brass Warriors) and can be heard regularly on RTÉ Lyric fm.
Since the film’s premier last year at the Ashbourne Film Festival the short has gone on to win several awards including : Brooklyn International Short Awards, LA Independent Women Film Awards, London Movie Awards, New York Movie Awards, Philadelphia International Filmmaker Awards: ‘Best Female Short Director’ ,Edinburgh Film Awards, Tokyo Shorts, Naples Film Awards, Frida Film Festival,8 & Halfilm Awards, Robinson Film Awards (International Film Festival).
RETURN TO SKYE
by Kurt Rosenberg
Kurt fell in love with the Isle of Skye, Scotland, during Spring Break from the University of Bath, some 45 years ago. He has returned to Skye several times since then – it keeps calling him back! Kurt was a British History Major at University. So, when he composed the music and wrote the lyrics for the Return to Skye song, Kurt always knew that it would be about a Scottish Clansman who fought at the Battle of Culloden, survived the melee, and fled to Skye to escape the pursuing British soldiers … just like Bonnie Prince Charlie did. Once the song was finished, Kurt asked Tim Gorman to orchestrate it. The WM Palmer Orchestra recorded the music in Dublin, Ireland and Jake Morgan conducted. When the soundtrack was ready to go, Mallard Productions, Glasgow, Scotland produced the film. Brent Rogers co-edited the film and Zach Stevens was a producer on the project. The film was shot on location on the Isle of Skye and in the Culloden Battlefield’s ancient, thatched-roofed bothy. Kurt thanks all involved for contributing to producing such a phenomenally lovely, cinematic, and poignant film.
THE KNACKERMAN
by Tom Shrapnel
Starring : Donald Sumpter, Adam Long, Charlotte Luxford, Teresa Banham
An aging Knacker, responsible for the disposal of dying horses must face his own mortality,and in doing so entrust responsibility to the next generation.
latest news
location
VUE Cinema
Ashbourne Retail Park,
Rath, Ashbourne, Co. Meath
Eircode: A84 YX83
2025 Sponsorship & Advertising Opportunities
Promote your brand with a unique
Movie Premier Cinematic Experience
As a way of making Ashbourne Film Festival a more inclusive event across the wider community, we’re now offering sponsorship and advertising opportunites to local businesses and organisations looking to enhance their visibility and connect with a diverse audience. This event promises unparalleled exposure in a cinema setting, making it the perfect opportunity for your brand to shine.
