Capital Irish Film Festival

Solas Nua’s annual Capital Irish Film Festival in Washington, D.C., presents one of the largest programs of Irish cinema in North America, showcasing the latest Irish dramatic and documentary features, shorts, art films, and animation releases by Irish and Ireland-based filmmakers. The 19th edition of the four-day festival takes place February 27- March 2, 2025, in partnership with the prestigious American Film Institute's Silver Theatre & Cultural Center (Silver Spring MD).

The festival provides a US platform that magnifies the work of independent filmmakers working in Ireland and beyond and celebrates the great contemporary cinematic culture of Ireland. The program highlights the rich cultural heritage of Ireland but also fosters an inclusive and diverse community of Irish filmmakers. Capital Irish Film Festival amplifies emerging voices on Irish screen, showcases the exceptional talent and skills in Irish filmmaking, and reflects the robust and vibrant screen industry that has grown in Ireland in recent years.

Filmmakers are encouraged to share their unique stories and perspectives with us and all short film submissions from Northern Ireland filmmakers are automatically entered into consideration for annual Norman Houston Short Film Award.

The Capital Irish Film Festival is supported by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme, Culture Ireland, Screen Ireland, the Embassy of Ireland, the Northern Ireland Bureau, Northern Ireland Screen, and the Irish Film Institute’s IFI International Programme supported by Culture Ireland. Solas Nua is also supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

The Norman Houston Short Film Award

The Norman Houston Short Film Award is part of the Norman Houston Project - a project initiated by Solas Nua in Washington D.C., dedicated to the memory of Norman Houston, the former Director of the Northern Ireland Bureau (NIB), in the United States.

The Norman Houston Short Film Award is an annual honor for the best new short film created by a filmmaker based in or from Northern Ireland made within the previous two years. The award includes prize money of $2,500, and the winning filmmaker is invited to travel to Washington, D.C. to attend a special screening of their film at the annual Capital Irish Film Festival and to receive the award in person.

All Capital Irish Film Festival 2025 short film submissions from Northern Irish filmmakers are automatically entered into The Norman Houston Short Film Award.

***Former Norman Houston Award winners are eligible for consideration three years post-win.***

Solas Nua's Capital Irish Film Festival accepts submissions of features, documentaries, shorts, and animations, from Irish and Ireland-based filmmakers.

Please note that all non-English language films must include English subtitles.

Submissions are accepted from July to October 2024.

Please fill out all sections of the submission form.

For consideration, the Festival can screen from Vimeo or YouTube formats but will require DCP format for films selected for inclusion in the program.

All images and promotional videos submitted to help promote the film will be available for the Festival to reproduce in advertising and Festival programs without payment to submitters or any partners involved in the production of such images.

Official Selections
All 'official selections' are included in the Festival program and screened once as part of the Festival in partnership with AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center.

If your project is selected, we will contact you directly.

Honorable Mentions
Please note that 'honorable mention' does not mean that your film has been selected, it is an acknowledgement of your great work.

Overall Rating

Quality

Value

Communication

Hospitality

Networking

Elena Horgan

Attending the Capital Irish Film Festival was an incredibly rewarding experience! A heartfelt thank you to the amazing audience, staff, and volunteers who made our visit so special. We’re truly grateful for the opportunity to screen our short film Cumha and hope to return in the future.

March 2025

Helpful

Response from festival:

A chara, Elena. Thank you for travelling to be with us in DC. It was such a privilege to screen CUMHA to our audiences. We have received such positive feedback and the themes of language, land and identity struck a chord with so many of our patrons. It is the perfect meditation for these times we are living through. Math thú.
Nathaniel McCullagh

A wonderful festival and a passionate, very communicative team behind it. Would definitely apply with my next project.

March 2024

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Response from festival:

A chara, Nathaniel, Thank you so much for your thoughtful and considerate note and for sharing your work with us. The CIFF audience loved it and everyone is excited to see what your do next.
Keith O'Grady

My review has nothing to do with me winning the award, but I think it is quite simply the best festival experience I have had in many years. It was the most organised and best scheduled festival I've ever been to. The festival organisers should be very proud. A networking specific event where filmmakers can meet producers, writers, etc for an evening might be a good addition. Hard to see where it would fit though in such a brilliantly put together event.

March 2024

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Response from festival:

Keith, thank you so much for this considerate feedback. We look forward to seeing you back at the festival some day.
Paul McCambridge

Thank you Capital Irish Film Festival for hosting our short film. We’ve received fantastic feedback from some of those who have seen it!…cheers Paul

March 2024

Helpful

Response from festival:

Paul, I'm so glad to hear it. Making Waves was such an important documentary film to screen in the program as we focus on presenting excellent contemporary Irish film that expresses and reflects Ireland today. The storytelling had such positive impact and ignited great conversation. Thank you for sharing your work with us and for engaging our community.

Capital Irish Film Festival