Spotlight: Films from Ireland
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, Telescope presents a selection of our favorite films from Ireland.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Two brothers in the IRA are at odds as they engage in guerrilla warfare against British forces in the 1920s.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany • 2006
- Director Ken Loach
- Cast Cillian Murphy, Pádraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald, Gerard Kearney, William Ruane
- Genre Drama, War
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Microsoft Store, Plex, Plex Channel
The Commitments
A group of working-class Dubliners form a soul band, inspired by the sound of African American musicians of the '60s.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom, United States • 1991
- Director Alan Parker
- Cast Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Dave Finnegan, Bronagh Gallagher
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Music
- Available on No streaming locations found.
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown
The true story of an Irishman born with cerebral palsy who learns to use his left foot to paint and write.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom • 1989
- Director Jim Sheridan
- Cast Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan, Declan Croghan, Eanna MacLiam
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, fuboTV, Epix Amazon Channel, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Once
Two aspiring musicians collaborate, finding love along the way.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland • 2007
- Director John Carney
- Cast Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Hugh Walsh, Gerard Hendrick, Alaistair Foley, Geoff Minogue
- Genre Drama, Music, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
In the Name of the Father
A small-time thief from Belfast is falsely implicated in the IRA bombing of a pub that killed several people.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom, United States • 1993
- Director Jim Sheridan
- Cast Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Emma Thompson, John Lynch, Corin Redgrave, Beatie Edney
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Magdalene Sisters
Four women are forcibly sent to a sadistic Magdalene sisterhood asylum to correct their "sinful" behavior.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom • 2002
- Director Peter Mullan
- Cast Anne-Marie Duff, Nora-Jane Noone, Dorothy Duffy, Geraldine McEwan, Eileen Walsh, Mary Murray
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
Hunger
The true story of Bobby Sands, a courageous IRA political prisoner who led hunger strikes in the Maze prison in 1981.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom • 2008
- Director Steve McQueen
- Cast Michael Fassbender, Stuart Graham, Liam Cunningham, Helena Bereen, Laine Megaw, Brian Milligan
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on AMC+ Amazon Channel, Plex Channel
The Guard
The FBI is about to discover that things work a little differently around here...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland • 2011
- Director John Michael McDonagh
- Cast Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham, Mark Strong, Katarina Čas, David Wilmot
- Genre Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Spotlight: Films of Nadine Labaki
Congratulations to Nadine Labaki, director of Capernaum, and nominee for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (2019)!
Capernaum
(کفرناحوم)
Zain, a hardened 12-year-old boy struggling to survive on the streets of Beirut, sues his parents for his conception.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon, United States, France • 2018
- Director Nadine Labaki
- Cast Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Nadine Labaki, Kawthar Al Haddad, Fadi Kamel Youssef
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Rio, I Love You
(Rio, Eu Te Amo)
An anthology film made up of 10 funny, tender, heartfelt stories of romance set against the backdrop of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- ✭
- Brazil, United States, France • 2014
- Director Andrucha Waddington
- Cast Vincent Cassel, Fernanda Montenegro, Eduardo Sterblitch, Basil Hoffman, Emily Mortimer
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on fuboTV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Crackle, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Freevee, Plex, Plex Channel
Caramel
(سكر بنات)
The intersecting lives of five Lebanese women in a Beirut beauty salon.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Lebanon • 2007
- Director Nadine Labaki
- Cast Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Al Massri, Joanna Moukarzel, Gisèle Aouad, Adel Karam, Sihame Haddad
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Where Do We Go Now?
(Et maintenant on va où ?)
The women of a Middle Eastern village must quell rising tensions between their Christian and Muslim men.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Lebanon, Egypt • 2011
- Director Nadine Labaki
- Cast Claude Msawbaa, Leyla Hakim, Nadine Labaki, Yvonne Maalouf, Antoinette Noufaily, Julian Farhat
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Spotlight: Women Directors, 2018 Edition
In honor of International Women’s Day (Friday, March 8th), Telescope celebrates the accomplishments of women in film, and presents some of the best films made by women directors and released in the past year.
High Life
A father and daughter must rely on each other to survive a dangerous mission to deep space.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, France, United Kingdom • 2018
- Director Claire Denis
- Cast Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin, Mia Goth, Agata Buzek, Lars Eidinger
- Genre Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
First They Killed My Father
A 5-year-old girl becomes a child soldier during the terrifying reign of the Khmer Rouge.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Cambodia, United States • 2017
- Director Angelina Jolie
- Cast Sareum Srey Moch, Phoeung Kompheak, Sveng Socheata, Mun Kimhak, Heng Dara, Khoun Sothea
- Genre Drama, History, War
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Zama
An officer must find a way to escape from South America in this film based on the 1956 novel.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Argentina, Brazil, Spain • 2017
- Director Lucrecia Martel
- Cast Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lola Dueñas, Matheus Nachtergaele, Juan Minujín, Nahuel Cano, Mariana Nunes
- Genre Drama
- Available on Metrograph, Strand Releasing Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
On Body and Soul
(Testről és lélekről)
Two introverts who discover they share the same dreams try to recreate them in real life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hungary • 2017
- Director Ildikó Enyedi
- Cast Alexandra Borbély, Morcsányi Géza, Réka Tenki, Nagy Ervin, Zoltán Schneider, Tamás Jordán
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Capernaum
(کفرناحوم)
Zain, a hardened 12-year-old boy struggling to survive on the streets of Beirut, sues his parents for his conception.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon, United States, France • 2018
- Director Nadine Labaki
- Cast Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Nadine Labaki, Kawthar Al Haddad, Fadi Kamel Youssef
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
You Were Never Really Here
A traumatized veteran and the trafficked girl he saved struggle to survive.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, United States • 2017
- Director Lynne Ramsay
- Cast Joaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts, Ekaterina Samsonov, John Doman, Alex Manette, Dante Pereira-Olson
- Genre Thriller
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Happy as Lazzaro
(Lazzaro felice)
A pure-hearted sharecropper Lazzaro forms an unlikely friendship that will change his world.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, Switzerland, France • 2018
- Director Alice Rohrwacher
- Cast Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Luca Chikovani, Alba Rohrwacher, Sergi López, Tommaso Ragno
- Genre Drama
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
I Am Not a Witch
An 8-year-old girl is convicted of witchcraft and brought to a penal colony where witches do hard labor.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, Germany • 2017
- Director Rungano Nyoni
- Cast Maggie Mulubwa, Henry B.J. Phiri, Gloria Huwiler, Nellie Munamonga, Dyna Mufuni
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Metrograph, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Freevee, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Faces Places
(Visages, villages)
Director Agnès Varda and street artist JR journey through rural France, forming an unlikely friendship through spectacular collaborative artwork.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2017
- Director Agnès Varda, JR
- Cast Agnès Varda, JR
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Cohen Media Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
The Breadwinner
An enchanting story of a brave young girl who puts her life at risk to provide for her family.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, Canada, Luxembourg • 2017
- Director Nora Twomey
- Cast Saara Chaudry, Soma Bhatia, Laara Sadiq, Shaista Latif, Ali Badshah, Noorin Gulamgaus
- Genre Animation, Drama, Family, War
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Spotlight: Films of Alfonso Cuarón
Congratulations to Alfonso Cuarón, director of Roma, and winner of Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Director (2019)!
Y Tu Mamá También
(Y tu mamá también)
Two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn about life — and each other.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico • 2001
- Director Alfonso Cuarón
- Cast Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Diana Bracho, Verónica Langer, María Aura
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Hulu
Roma
A meditative portrait of a domestic worker's journey through adversity in turbulent 1970s Mexico City.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico, United States • 2018
- Director Alfonso Cuarón
- Cast Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa
- Genre Drama
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2004
- Director Alfonso Cuarón
- Cast Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Alan Rickman
- Genre Adventure, Fantasy
- Available on NBC, fuboTV, USA Network, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Sólo con tu pareja
A playboy's life is thrown into chaos when an ex-lover falsifies his blood test, convincing him he has AIDS.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico • 1992
- Director Alfonso Cuarón
- Cast Daniel Giménez Cacho, Claudia Ramírez, Luis de Icaza, Astrid Hadad, Dobrina Liubomirova, Isabel Benet
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Amazon Video
Gravity
Two astronauts, unable to communicate with Earth after a sudden catastrophe, must survive in space on their own.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2013
- Director Alfonso Cuarón
- Cast Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris, Orto Ignatiussen, Phaldut Sharma, Amy Warren
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand