AONTAS
Sunday, March 1 • 6:00 PM • T1
Dramatic Feature | Award Winner | Woman Writer | Irish Language
Screening generously sponsored by Colette & Barry Breen
Three unlikely thieves, led by a woman on the brink, rob a rural Irish Credit Union. Opening in the tragic aftermath of the heist-gone-wrong, the story uses reverse chronology to unravel the events that led to this point. What starts as a poorly executed robbery becomes a portrait of a wilful woman trapped in her own past—a fractured puzzle about the impact of our choices and the memories that we can’t escape.
DIR Damian McCann; SCR Sarah Gordon, Damian McCann; PROD Órfhlaith Ní Chearnaigh, Christopher Myers; CAST Carrie Crowley, Bríd Brennan, Eva-Jane Gaffney, Seán T Ó Meallaigh, Marcus Lamb, Art Parkinson, Naseen Morgan, Niall Mac Eachmharcaigh, Bríd Ní Chumhaill, Mary Ryan, Christopher Grant, Frankie McCafferty, Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhrighde; DOP Damien Elliott; SCORE Daithí Ó Drónaí. Northern Ireland, 2025, color, 91 min. In Irish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
AWARDS: San Diego International Film Festival: Best Feature; Manchester International Film Festival: Narrative Feature Jury Award & Best Director; San Luis Obispo International Film Festival: Narrative Feature Jury Award; Maryland International Film Festival: Narrative Feature Jury Award; Breckenridge Film Festival: Narrative Feature Best Director & Best Writing; Hell’s Half Mile Film Festival: Narrative Feature Jury Award & Best Supporting Actor; Gradaim Chumarsáide an Oireachtais: Film of the Year
“A cinematic exercise in how far you can take a classic narrative and get away with it.” – Screen International
“Aontas is a rare gem - a thriller that leaves you on the edge of your seat as the revelations spool out, but also a masterwork of film construction and craft.” – Film Threat
“The film isn’t simply moving backward, it’s pulling us deeper into a story that’s been hiding in plain sight.” – San Luis Obispo Review
“A Pitch-Perfect Cinematic Puzzle” – That Shelf
“Irish heist film ‘AONTAS’ is a twisting good time” – Daily Grindhouse
“McCann rejects order in ethics and cinematic structure to craft a criminal scenario of sentimental value” – Josh at the Movies
Funded by Northern Ireland Screen, TG4, BBC Gaeilge, and Yellowmoon.
🎟 For further information regarding bookings:
Please call 301-495-6720 between M-F, 9 AM - 5:30 PM or email silverinfo@AFI.com
Damian McCann (Director/writer) is an award-winning Belfast-based director. He makes work in his native Irish language to deal with themes of place, memory and reclamation. His first feature drama, Doineann, premiered at Newport Beach Film Festival in 2021 and was released theatrically in the UK and Ireland (Wildcard Distribution). It won a Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama. Damian has been making documentaries for almost twenty years, including four feature docs, most recently Iarsmaí (which premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh 2024), dealing with the colonial legacy of museums and cultural institutions.
DINNER AND A MOVIE DEAL
Our festival partner, McGinty's Public House, has generously offered an ongoing discount from February 27 through March 2 for all CIFF ticket holders! When you dine at the restaurant, show your CIFF ticket or pass for a 10% off discount on your bill. Located just around the corner from AFI Silver Theatre, McGinty's (911 Ellsworth Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20910) is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat between screenings.
The Capital Irish Film Festival is supported by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme, Culture Ireland, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Embassy of Ireland, Northern Ireland Bureau, Northern Ireland Screen, and the Irish Film Institute’s IFI International Programme supported by Culture Ireland. Solas Nua is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.
