This year, I attended the Fastnet Film Festival for the third consecutive year, and not even a week later, I’m already planning my trip to Schull for 2026. Not even the miserable weather could have put a damper on the atmosphere at the festival. Especially when there’s a chance you’ll bump into the likes of Donal Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, or Nicola Coughlan when you’re popping to the shop.
The Fastnet Film Festival is a short film festival which is unique for many reasons, one being that the town it is held in does not have a cinema. Instead, films are shown all over, from the church to the pubs. You can even watch a film outdoors in the park, and if the weather cooperates, it is always my highlight of the festival.
I have always been impressed by the line-up of events and guests at the Fastnet Film Festival, but this year, it really was a who’s who of Irish film talent. I had the pleasure of attending an event titled ‘Choosing the Right Project’, which was moderated by Irish film producer and co-founder of Element Pictures Ed Guiney. The guests consisted of national treasure Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar-nominated director Lenny Abrahamson, and producer of the award-winning Kneecap, the band’s self-titled film. Getting to hear these titans of the Irish film industry discuss how they work and how they choose what to work on was such a unique experience.
But it isn’t all industry panel talks and workshops. In fact, the most anticipated event of the festival was the film quiz on Saturday night. Unlike the other events held at the festival, the quiz is first-come first first-served. I would tell you that I was lucky to get in, but luck had nothing to do with it. I started queuing an hour before the event.
And I’m glad I did, as over 100 people who queued up behind me were not so fortunate, and they missed out on an incredibly fun night. The quiz was hosted, as it had been for the two previous years, by Irish writer and director duo Tom Berkeley and Ross White. The two attended the festival in 2023 after their short film An Irish Goodbye won best short at the Academy Awards. And it’s so obvious why they keep being asked back. They hosted an incredible quiz, joking (and drinking) the entire way through.
By far the most exciting part of the night was the final round, where players could perform a song to win extra points for their team. The final round of this contest was judged by a star-studded panel consisting of Domhnall Gleeson, Marie Doyle Kennedy, Nicola Coughlan and Barry Keoghan, who had been taking part in the quiz themselves. Robert Sheehan was also in attendance, but his team was positioned much further from the stage and much closer to the bar. When the gentleman who had stood up to sing a beautiful love ballad to his wife was declared the winner, you could honestly feel the room shake as everyone lept to their feet to applaud and cheer for him
And while the quiz was certainly a highlight, my other favourite moment of the weekend was much quieter. The Fastnet Film Festival offers unique ‘Choose Your Own Programme’ events, where you can walk into a venue and choose which of their many short programmes you would like to see. One such venue that hosted these events was Hackett’s pub, or ‘The Carlton’ as it is known during the festival. After attending the ‘Choosing the Right Project’ event, I was curious about a short film Domhnall Gleeson had mentioned. I crammed myself, my parents, and my Grandmother into a tiny room above the bar, where people sat on couches around the sides and a mishmash of chairs in the middle. The rain poured outside while we sat, pints in hand, and watched a gorgeous selection of diverse short films. I can’t think of anywhere else in the world where I could have that kind of weekend.
