Ruairí McCann

You can now listen to my music on @subvertworld , a new alternative to Bandcamp that's run on a cooperative model. I'm hopeful about it. You can stream and buy my solo album, Crows Like Clockwork, which I put out in a very limited way at the end of 2023. See link in bio

Films from Jabal Amel and Al-Dahiyeh: A Fundraising Screening for Community Aid in the South of Lebanon Rabie Mustapha and Ruairí McCann present Films from Jabal Amel and Al-Dahiyeh, a fundraising screening in support of community aid in the South of Lebanon. Featuring four films made in Jabal Amel and Beirut within the last three years, followed by a pre-recorded conversation between director and photographer, Fatima Joumaa, and writer, Ruairí McCann. Screening on the 24th of May in Black Box, the main room at 5pm. Tickets, on a sliding scale, are available via the link in bio and the Black Box website. We will also be collecting donations on the day. Programme: – Lemon Blossom, a video by Hassan Fneich (2026, 10”) – Perfect Harmony, Sabah Jalloul (2024, 19”) – From My Mother’s Novel, Fatima Joumaa (2025, 9”) – A Girl, Gazing: Fragment #5, a video essay by Fatima Joumaa (2025, 6”) Curated by Rabie Mustapha. Thank you to the Black Box team and Isabella Koban for their support. أفلام من جبل عامل والضاحية عرض سينمائي خيري لدعم المجتمعات في جنوب لبنان. أفلام من جبل عامل والضاحية. عرض سينمائي خيري لدعم مبادرات المساعدة المجتمعية في جنوب لبنان. يتضمن البرنامج أربعة أفلام صُوّرت في جبل عامل وبيروت خلال السنوات الثلاث الماضية، يليها حوار مُسجّل. مسبقًا بين المخرجة والمصوّرة فاطمة جمعة والكاتب روري ماكان العرض في 24 مايو، في القاعة الرئيسية، الساعة 5 مساءً. .التذاكر متوفرة عبر الرابط في النبذة/أدناه. كما سيتم جمع التبرعات خلال يوم العرض البرنامج: زهر الليمون، فيديو لحسن فنيش (2026، 10 دقائق) انسجام تام، صباح جلول (2024، 19 دقيقة) قالت أمي في روايتها، فاطمة جمعة (2025، 9 دقائق) عيون الفتاة: شظية رقم ٥، فيديو تأملي لفاطمة جمعة (2025، 6 دقائق) اختيار الأفلام: ربيع مصطفى شكر خاص لفريق بلاك بوكس و إيزابيلا كوبان على دعمهم

I had a fulfilling time as a member of the international competition jury at @glasgowshort last week It was a strong selection of films, and my astute jurymates, Naziha and @nicolasgourault and I had some great conversations about the work. We had a difficult decision to make but at the same time, I'm happy with our choice of the awarded film, Manal Issa, 2024 by Elizabeth Subrin and Manal Issa, and the two special mentions, CUL DE SAC! by Clyde Gates and Gabriel Sanson and Daria's Night Flowers by Maryam Tafakory. I would thoroughly recommend them all!

Meet our GSFF26 International Competition jury! Naziha Arebi is a BAFTA nominated filmmaker and visual artist working at the intersections of art and activism, with a focus on class, memory, ecology and collective power. She is co-founder of film collectives Rawiyat and HuNa, is a Sundance Lab fellow, a Lumières d’Afriques artist and a member of the Palestine Film Institute. Adjacent to her artistic practice she also works as a film programmer, mentor and cultural facilitator. She is currently developing hybrid project Fertile Void, whilst exploring expanded forms of film, sound and movement. Ruairí McCann (@langsmonkey ) is an Irish writer, programmer, illustrator, musician and library worker from Belfast and County Sligo. He is the co-editor of the film journal and virtual cinematheque, Ultra Dogme, and has contributed to a wide range of publications, including photogénie, aemi online, Screen Slate, Defector, Documentary Magazine, Film Hub NI, BOMB Magazine, OVER Journal, Senses of Cinema and Sight & Sound. Nicolas Gourault (@nicolasgourault ) is an artist and filmmaker based in Paris with a background in visual arts and visual studies. He has worked with Forensic Architecture before graduating from Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts. His work is imbued with this double training, navigating between online open-source investigations and the critical use of new media as documentary tools. The Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film will be presented at our closing event on Sunday 22 March at 8pm 🎟️ Link in bio to our ticket shop

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭, 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 @ultradogme , 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 #𝟓, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. The program can be accessed (for free) for 30 days on chutecoop.com. STARS IN MY POCKET - 7 films where the enormity of nature and our relationship to it is conveyed through cinema and with varyingly simple, unusual and highly expressive formal approaches. 🌌🌌🌌🌌🌌🌌🌌 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 Presenting a monthly curated selection of films sourced from open archives, Chute Open serves as a testament to the richness and importance of the archive. The program aims to showcase how the archive serves as an invaluable, easily accessible resource and how it has provided a home for films that might otherwise remain hidden. Chute Open #5 is made possible with the generous support of @stroomdenhaag (thank you!)🌀 the wonderful @ultradogme , @langsmonkey , @arthouseathome ❤️‍🔥 and @luwonuor ! This beautiful teaser by @npatuska (as always) 💖

NEW FREE INTERVIEW ON THE SUBSTACK Holding the Land: An Interview with Holly Márie Parnell on hole in the stone Over email, I chatted with Holly Márie Parnell @hache__p about her short film, hole in the stone (2025), a vivid and impressionistic account of the work, joys and emotional and political hardships of 'small farmers' in Carlow and Wexford. This is one of my favourite films of last year, and Holly Márie writes beautifully and perceptively about her work, so please take the time to read. It's free and you can get to it via the link in my bio.

Up to the South (Jayce Salloum & Walid Raad, 1993), an essential film about resistance in the South of Lebanon and a refutation of the typical Western media lens/panopticon. Free to watch on Salloum's vimeo page.

For @ultradogme I wrote about Gunvor Nelson's ecstatic explorations of perception, youth, ageing and family in Moons Pool, My Name Is Oona, Red Shift and Time Being, all of which were shown at @corkfilmfest last November as part of two programmes curated by @aemi_ie & @stiftelsen.filmform Read it now over at ultradogme.com

We're ringing out the year with a new mix, Waves & Flames, featuring a brand new song by us called First Autumn Rain, along with a host of sounds, voices and elements by artists we admire. Listen to it now on mixcloud via the link in our bio.

For issue 4 of OVER, a journal published by @photoireland , I wrote an essay on the video work of @marianne_keating and her linking of the colonial and revolutionary pasts and presents of Ireland, Jamaica and Barbados. Out now so pick up a copy if you can!

We have two more stunning events coming up next weekend as part of How We Get Free: A Black Feminist Performance Art Programme, curated by Clodagh Assata Boyce @clodaghassataboyce 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ Saturday 6 December, 7pm-8pm  Osaro Azams: live performance and screening of Things Are Tough - Things Are Glorious Things Are Tough - Things Are Glorious is a Super 8 film that carries a sense of reconnection by depicting scenes of Osaro’s family, held in frame until they blur out. @osarohello programmed by Ruairí McCann @langsmonkey Image courtesy of @fullfridgeandleftovers More info and free tickets via Eventbrite, link in bio! 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ Sunday 7 December, 1pm-2pm  Venus Patel: performance walking tour Setting off from PS² at 1pm, the tour will last approximately one hour. Please dress for Belfast’s early December weather! The event draws inspiration from Patel’s ongoing research into monsters as sites of exploration and imagination. This performance deals with the erasure of queer people and people of colour throughout history. Venus Patel will act as a tour guide, taking the viewers through the streets of Belfast to uncover our past through a speculative historical lens. What has been lost due to systemic erasure and denial of existence? She will unlock the true secrets of our past: the existence of a civilisation of queer monsters that lived here before us. @msvenuspatel More info and free tickets via Eventbrite, link in bio! 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

A couple nice 35mm photos taken by @maximilienluc in Dublin in June