Rathmullan Film Challenge 25: Lights! Camera! Gaelige!

The Digital Film Archive has worked with the Rathmullan Film Festival in Donegal for three years now. Each year, one of the projects is the Film Challenge in which amateur filmmakers are given a selection of films from the archive and have to create new pieces. 

Year upon year, we have seen new talent and amazing films emerge from this challenge and 2025 was no exception.

In this third year of the Rathmullan Film Challenge, the bar was raised again with our filmmakers creating completely new pieces, telling an original story as Gaelige.

With creative and editing training from our partners, Póca Productions and only three minutes in which to tell their story, the filmmakers produced nine films: poignant, poetic, funny, topical and beautifully crafted.

This year too, we brought in judges from the Irish Language and Broadcast communities with Bairbre Uí Chathail, Comhordaitheoir Pleanála Teanga at Líonra Leitir Ceanainn and James Jamison MacLouglin from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcasting Fund team. Both also helped us with script editing and we are grateful for all their help.

Bairbre and James had a hard task picking the winner but agreed that Líomanáid by Carol Wilson had the perfect balance of well-crafted and original storytelling, telling a lovely tale of a gift that took a while to reveal its true value.

All the films were screened in the beautiful setting of Rathmullan Presbyterian Church and received warmly by a full house. Afterwards, a reception for the filmmakers was held at the Beachcombers Public House.

Thanks for everyone who took part in the Challenge and we cannot wait to see what you do next!

You can view all of this year's films here: https://digitalfilmarchive.net/collection/rathmullan-film-festival-2025-lights-camera-321

And the full collection of Rathmullan Film Festival Challenges is here: https://digitalfilmarchive.net/collection/rathmullan-film-festival-the-creative-film-320