Foyle Film Festival’s Reel Lives Returns with Bold and Diverse Film Season This JuneFoyle Film Festival’s Reel Lives Returns with Bold and Diverse Film Season This June

Running from Tuesday 3 June to Saturday 28 June, the programme transforms the Nerve Centre Cinema into a space for challenging, entertaining and eye-opening cinema from around the world.

From internationally acclaimed new releases to hidden gems and newly restored classics, Reel Lives 2025 is a curated journey through some of the year’s most thought-provoking films. The selection shines a spotlight on themes of inequality, racism, LGBTQIA+ identity, human rights and disability, continuing Foyle Film Festival’s commitment to showcasing diversity, inclusion and equality across all communities.

“This season offers a cinematic experience like no other,” says Christopher Morrison, Foyle Film Festival Programmer. “From groundbreaking new voices to beloved classics, every screening has been selected to inspire meaningful reflection and conversation.”

Programme Highlights

Among the powerful new releases are:

• Four Mothers (3 June), an Irish comedy-drama exploring found family and generational connection, and On Falling (4 June), a story of alienation in the gig economy.
  
  

• A free screening of Iarsmaí (Remnants) (9 June), an Irish language feature directed by Derry-based filmmaker and Irish language activist Deaglán Ó Mocháin, who will also introduce the film on the evening.
  
  

• The BAFTA-nominated Sister Midnight (10 June) brings feminist energy and Mumbai surrealism in a wildly inventive debut.
  
  

• April (19 June), a Venice-awarded film tackling reproductive rights and rural medical care in Georgia, and Last Swim (18 June), a moving tale of mental health and adolescence.
  
  

Bold documentaries include The Flats (17 June), a powerful look at the unresolved agony of the Troubles, and Golden Bear-winning Dahomey (25 June), a poetic study on cultural restitution from acclaimed director Mati Diop.

Classic Cinema Revisited

Reel Lives also revives much-loved classics in its Cinematic Breakfasts offer — a series of Saturday morning screenings pairing legendary films with fresh croissants and coffee. Audiences can revisit iconic works such as:

• Roman Holiday (7 June) with Audrey Hepburn in her Oscar®-winning debut,
  
  

• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (14 June), a powerful depiction of interracial love in 1960s America,
  
  

• A New Leaf (21 June), Elaine May’s throwback to classic screwball comedies,
  
  

• and the Oscar®-winning racial drama In the Heat of the Night (28 June).
  
  

Also screening is Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (12 June), Chantal Akerman’s groundbreaking feminist masterwork recently voted the "Greatest Film of All Time" by Sight and Sound.

Access and Tickets

All screenings take place at Nerve Centre 7–8 Magazine Street, Derry~Londonderry. Regular screenings are priced at £6, with Cinematic Breakfast screenings also £6 (including refreshments).

Accessible seating is available upon request at time of booking.

For full listings and tickets visit foylefilmfestival.org

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