Private Project

Dive

Logline:

High above the Atlantic, Jess stands at a precipice between memory and momentum – where the past and future crash like the waves below.

Tagline:

Stillness. Salt air. A rush of release.

Synopsis:

In the wake of her mother’s death, Jess slips away from a family gathering at an Irish coastal hotel and heads to the Atlantic – towards a precipice where memory and momentum meet. As she stands suspended on the weathered diving tower, the landscape of her inner world begins to unfurl: flickering fragments of childhood fears, failed pregnancies, the intimacy of loss, and the messy beauty of motherhood.

Anchored in sensory detail and inner voice, Dive traces a woman’s private reckoning with past and present. It explores how the body holds trauma, how memory haunts the everyday, and how transformation sometimes begins with a single, defiant act.

Set against the elemental power of sea and sky, Dive is a lyrical meditation on the tension between holding on and letting go — where stillness gives way to motion. It asks what it takes to rise again – and whether that first step forward might feel like falling.

  • Amy-Joyce Hastings
    Director
    Kai, QED, Body of Christ
  • Amy-Joyce Hastings
    Writer
    Kai, QED, Body of Christ
  • Michelle King
    Producer
    Producer at The Gate Theatre, Dublin. Film work includes Intermission, King Arthur, The Last Duel
  • Alison McGirr
    Key Cast
    "Jess"
    Ladies in Black, Penny Dreadful, Vikings
  • Barry John Kinsella
    Key Cast
    "Swimming Instructor"
    Irish Blood, Maxine, Re-Creation
  • Graham Cantwell
    Cinematographer
    Who We Love, Lily, Anton
  • Joseph Conlan
    Composer
    NCIS, Who We Love, Verdigris
  • Amy-Joyce Hastings
    Editor
    Kai, QED, Body of Christ
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 27 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 2, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia, Ireland
  • Country of Filming:
    Ireland
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Blackmagic 6K, Drone, GoPro
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Galway Film Fleadh
    Galway
    Ireland
    July 9, 2025
    World Premiere
    In Competition (Academy Qualifying Award))
  • British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg 2025
    Luxembourg City
    Luxembourg
    September 16, 2025
    European Premiere
    Official Selection
  • San Francisco Irish Film Festival
    San Francisco
    United States
    September 18, 2025
    US Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Kerry International Film Festival
    Killarney, Co. Kerry
    Ireland
    October 19, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Waterford International Film Festival
    Waterford
    Ireland
    November 15, 2025
    Honorable Mention – Best Short Film
  • Chicago Irish Film Festival
    Chicago
    United States
    February 26, 2026
    Illinois Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Full Moon Film Festival
    Newcastle, Northern Ireland
    Ireland
    March 8, 2026
    Official Selection
  • Emerald City Irish Film Festival
    Seattle
    United States
    March 14, 2026
    Official Selection
  • Irish Film Festival L.A.
    Los Angeles
    United States
    March 20, 2026
    In Competition
  • Arizona International Film Festival
    Tucson, Arizona
    United States
    April 25, 2026
    Arizona Premiere
    In Competition
Director Biography - Amy-Joyce Hastings

Amy-Joyce Hastings is an IFTA-nominated actress and award-winning writer–director. She holds a BA in Acting Studies with Distinction from Trinity College Dublin and is a member of the Writers Guild of Ireland and Women in Film & TV Ireland. As a filmmaker, she enjoys experimenting with tone – from dark to playful – and uses bold visual motifs and sensory detail to powerful effect.

With a passion for crafting dynamic female characters, her work often explores complex human relationships and post-traumatic healing through a neurodivergent lens. Her stories aim to move audiences emotionally and challenge them to see the world from new perspectives. She has spoken about her writing on industry panels at the BFI in London and the San Francisco Irish Film Festival.

Amy-Joyce was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2022 IFTA Awards for Who We Love. She is the co-founder and creative director of Film Venture, a production company whose films have garnered nine IFTA nominations since 2016.

Her short film QED, addressing the sensitive topic of assisted suicide, premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh and went on to win Best Overall Short Film at the Santa Fe Film Festival and the Golden Palm Jury Award at the Mexico International Film Festival. It was later broadcast on RTÉ’s Shortscreen and earned her a Best Emerging Female Director nomination at IndieCork.

She also wrote and directed the micro-comedy Body of Christ, which aired on The Short Film Show on Sky Television, where it won Best Original Content, and was later distributed on Amazon Prime.

Her screenplay Perspective won Best Short Screenplay at both the 2023 Catalyst International Film Festival and the Waterford International Film Festival. Her first Irish-language screenplay Scaoileadh was runner-up for both the Comórtas Físín pitching competition and the DLR First Frames Award, and is currently in development with Loose Banana Productions.

She co-wrote and co-directed the Gaiety School of Acting’s graduation short films in 2023 and 2024. The 2024 film KAI is currently winning awards on the festival circuit.

Her latest short film Dive, based on her award-winning and first-published short story, premiered at the 2025 Galway Film Fleadh, has screened in Europe and the USA and received an Honorable Mention for Best Irish Short at the 2025 Waterford IFF.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Dive is an adaptation of an award-winning short story of mine, published last year. It is a very personal reflection, as my own mother was in hospital at the time of writing. The beauty of the story was in its simplicity – one character, one location – but the challenge in adapting it was how to depict her internal thoughts and memories on screen to shape the narrative journey. I was lucky that lead actress Alison McGirr brought so much of that to the screen with her eyes – she really depicts the interiority of Jess, as well as her courage tackling the physical demands of the role.

The film also leans into lyrical voiceover, evocative music and sound design, and sweeping cinematography. All together, Dive is a sensory meditation on memory, grief, and renewal. With minimal dialogue and a poetic structure, the film traces the quiet, defiant moment in which one woman dares to let go of the past and dive into the unknown.