WRITER & DIRECTOR OLIVER MCGOLDRICK’S
THREE KEENINGS
Solas Nua's 20th annual Capital Irish Film Festival is proud to announce that the fifth recipient of the Norman Houston Short Film Award is THREE KEENINGS, written and directed by Oliver McGoldrick. This year’s winning film follows a struggling and down-on-his-luck actor, Ian, (BAFTA-winner Seamus O’Hara, AN IRISH GOODBYE, HOUSE OF GUINNESS) who finds work in the unconventional role of a professional mourner while caring for his ailing father. As he tours the rural Northern Irish countryside, his practised mask of apathy begins to slip amongst the humour and heartache of the local funeral circuit.
THREE KEENINGS is centered on the ancient Irish social practice of ‘keening,’ an emotional and vocal lament for the dead, where unrelated mourners of the deceased gathered to collectively vocalize the pain and grief of loss. Once an integral part of traditional Irish funeral rituals passed down in the oral tradition, the practice is now mostly forgotten.
THREE KEENINGS is the remarkable debut by Northern Ireland filmmaker Oliver McGoldrick, whose credits on the film include director, screenwriter, editor, and producer. The film received its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival and has screened and won multiple awards internationally, including best short film at the Oscar qualifying 2025 Galway Film Fleadh as well as being broadcast on CanalPlus.
McGoldrick grew up in the countryside outside Belfast and graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School, working as a doctor before pursuing an MFA in Film at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He divides his time between Northern Ireland, where he continues to work in Medicine, and New York City, where he has graduated from New York University’s Graduate Film programme. He is a BAFTA North America Scholar and was selected as part of the Film at Lincoln Center Artists Academy cohort for the 2024 New York Film Festival. His next short film, MELTER, will be Executive Produced by Spike Lee. He is currently in development for his debut feature, BARNYARD.
Responding to the news of the award, McGoldrick shared, "it is an honour to receive the Solas Nua Norman Houston Short Film Award at the Capital Irish Film Festival, one of the largest showcases of Irish film in America. Thanks to the selection committee and everyone involved! I'm excited to travel to Washington, D.C. to receive the award and attend the screening."
Solas Nua Capital Irish Film Festival Director Maedhbh Mc Cullagh added, “Oliver McGoldrick’s dark comedy stood out for its complete vision, striking visual precision, and deeply resonant emotional core. The film weaves intimate storytelling with a sense of mythic depth culminating in a masterful debut that feels both timeless and contemporary. THREE KEENINGS exemplifies the type of bold and artfully crafted filmmaking that makes short films so vital. It’s the kind of film that remains with you long after you’ve seen it and we cannot wait to share this with our audiences in February.”
Praise for THREE KEENINGS:
“A masterclass in short-form storytelling. This is a cultural memory brought vividly, mournfully, and magnificently to life.”
– Declan Reid, Film Business
HONORABLE MENTION
Northern Ireland filmmaker and 2023 Norman Houston Short Film Award winner Caleb J. Roberts received an honorable mention from the selection committee for his multi-award-winning film PUREBRED (Belfast Film Festival: LUMI Jury Award, GAZE LGBTQ+ International Film Festival). Starring Pete MacHale and Diarmuid Noyes, the film explores how the nature of a transgender man’s relationship with his on-again, off-again lover is called into question after taking a pregnancy test.
PUREBRED will screen as part of the 2026 Capital Irish Film Festival shorts programs.
ABOUT THE AWARD
The Norman Houston Award was initiated in 2022 by Solas Nua in Washington, D.C. to honor the life, spirit, and legacy of the former longstanding director of the Northern Ireland Bureau in the United States, who died in 2021. As an unwavering advocate for the arts in his beloved Northern Ireland and Ireland as a whole, Norman Houston demonstrated his understanding throughout his life and career that the artists who call Ireland home express the imagination, creativity, resilience, and voice of the island beyond borders and across communities. Norman believed that it is through the arts that we see a reflection of our own lives in the lives of others, and engaging with the arts will build bridges of empathy, appreciation, and hope for the future. He spent a significant part of his extraordinary life and career promoting the importance and vitality of the role that the arts can play in all of our lives. He mentored young people from across the island of Ireland and always strived for inclusivity in his tireless efforts to promote peace in his hometown of Belfast.
All 2026 Capital Irish Film Festival short film FilmFreeway submissions from Northern Ireland and Northern Irish filmmakers were automatically entered into The Norman Houston Short Film Award competition.
Now in its fifth year, previous Norman Houston Short Film Award recipients include:
2025: TRAVEL SOCKS, written and directed by Tess Annan and Joseph Madden.
2024: Cinemagic’s THE SILENT PEOPLE, written and directed by Keith O’Grady.
2023: HOMEBIRD, written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Caleb J. Roberts.
2022: Oscar-winning AN IRISH GOODBYE, written and directed by Tom Berkeley and Ross White.
ABOUT CAPITAL IRISH FILM FESTIVAL
The Capital Irish Film Festival (CIFF) runs from February 26 - March 1, 2026 in partnership with the American Film Institute's AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center (Silver Spring, MD). Capital Irish Film Festival passes are on sale now and individual tickets go on sale in January.
The Capital Irish Film 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 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. The 2026 festival program includes North American and East Coast premieres, debut features, VIP guests and dignitaries, Q&As, talkbacks and gala events, as well as special talent appearances.
Capital Irish Film Festival passes are on sale now with individual tickets on sale January 30, 2025.
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.
