IFI Education Announces Schools Programme 2025/2026
Irish Film Institute, Dublin announces IFI Education’s launch of the Schools Programme 2025/2026
An inspiring and colourful line-up of films, special guests and study materials for primary and post-primary schools In-cinema and online!
October 2025 - May 2026
Tickets on sale now Via ifi.ie/learn/booking
Access the Schools Programme 2025-2026 PDF HERE
Images and Trailer free to use across all media can be downloaded HERE
25th September 2025: Today the Irish Film Institute (IFI), Dublin announces its exciting and expansive new Schools Programme 2025-2026, which comprises film screenings, events, workshops, and resources to support film across curricula, including the new subject, Drama, Film and Theatre Studies. Curated by the IFI Education team to align closely with primary and post-primary curricula, the programme aims to breathe new life into students’ studies with film and expand their learning beyond the classroom.
The programme will take place in the IFI in Temple Bar, as well as nationally across 18 partner venues, and online via the IFI@Schools platform; the streaming offering for this academic year will launch on Wednesday, October 1st. Free updated study guides for both Junior and Senior Cycle Spanish, French, and German will be made available via the IFI website.
The IFI welcomes the introduction of two new Leaving Certificate subjects, Drama, Film and Theatre Studies (DFTS), and Climate Action and Sustainable Development (CASD), both part of the ambitious Senior Cycle Redevelopment by the Department of Education and Youth. The IFI’s line-up will support Phase One schools undertaking both new subjects with cinema screenings at IFI and online.
The DFTS-prescribed films include Steven Spielberg’s classic blockbuster Jaws, Colm Bairéad’s Oscar-nominated An Cailín Ciúin, and Celine Song’s contemporary romance Past Lives. All three titles take to the big screen in Dublin, as well as nationwide via the new free streaming media service developed by the IFI for the Department of Education and Youth. The DFTS channel gives teachers in Phase One schools access to all materials on the curriculum, alongside learning resources. For Climate Action and Sustainable Development, Sandra Winther’s Lowland Kids screening at IFI offers a captivating insight into the human impact of the global climate crisis for CASD students.
Speaking about the launch of this year’s Schools Programme, IFI Director Ross Keane said:
“2025 has been an exciting year for IFI Education. Following on from the recent launch of our new streaming platform to deliver prescribed texts directly into classrooms around Ireland for the new Leaving Cert subject of Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, we’re now delighted to also launch a stimulating new IFI Education programme for the 2025/26 academic year. Featuring a dynamic selection of films connected to subjects right across the curriculum, screenings will take place at IFI in Dublin and at partner venues all around Ireland. This inspiring programme, alongside our DTFS Channel and our IFI@Schools streaming platform, offers a bigger choice than ever before for teachers and students around the country.”
IFI Head of Education Alicia McGivern said:
“The newspaper style redesign of the schools programme makes for easy browsing, so teachers can see how the screenings might best support their subject. The centre page pull out features our new Transition Year bundle offer, covering classic, indie, world and Irish cinema as introductory Film Studies titles, with further choices available online. DFTS is now embedded in the curriculum, so there’s never been a better time to introduce film into the classroom, or support future careers with our Next Generation programme. We hope teachers across the country will engage with us or our partner venues during this school year, to introduce their students to some wonderful new, diverse and classic films.”
The Schools Programme offering sees the return of familiar highlights such as new films to support Modern Foreign Language (MFL) subjects: Emmanuel Courcol’s heart warming and comedic The Marching Band for Senior Cycle French; María Zanetti’s gripping coming-of-age drama Germany for Senior Cycle Spanish; Natja Brunckhorst’s Two To One which follows a comical East German heist in the reunification era for Senior Cycle German; Claude Barras’s stunning deforestation animation Savages for Junior Cycle French; Olga Osorio’s terrific sci-fi romp through time Jump! for Junior Cycle Spanish; and the tale of an 11-year-old Syrian arriving in Berlin in Soleen Yusef’s football-infused Winners.
These titles are platformed further by the IFI’s collaboration with Think Languages Week taking place November 17th-21st 2025, with screenings across the country and at the IFI. Schools can also bring cinema to the classroom with a discounted Think Languages Week bundle and a free film for the week available on IFI@Schools. Additionally, schools can take a chance on a Mystery Film at the IFI and at The Model, Sligo on Thursday, November 20th.
Wider Senior Cycle offerings include a diverse mix of Irish and international titles. Titles for English include the Donmar Warehouse production of Macbeth, starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo, alongside celebrated Claire Keegan adaptation Small Things Like These, starring Cillian Murphy. History students can delve deeper into film’s propaganda potential with Andres Veiel’s documentary Riefenstahl. Art students can enjoy a study of a renowned Irish architect with E.1027: Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea, which brings the viewer into one of Grey’s most famous designs. As Gaeilge, Aislinn Clarke’s folk horror Fréwaka sees mythological forces arise at the edge of a remote village in this Irish cultural twist on genre filmmaking. Lastly, Maths and Business students can enjoy Ross Whitaker’s documentary Beat the Lotto which follows the 1992 National Lottery scandal with all the excitement of a heist movie.
Transition Year Film Studies at the IFI offers a well-rounded introduction to Film Studies through key films: Alfred Hitchcock's magnum opus Vertigo; Chloé Zhao’s Oscar-winning Nomadland; Wong Kar-wai's heady romance In The Mood For Love; Lenny Abrahamson’s feature debut Adam & Paul; and this year’s winner of the Berlinale Generation’s top prize, Brendan Canty’s Cork-set Christy. There will be a fifth film under the banner Next Classic, which will be decided by the students themselves.
Junior Cycle students are presented with a wonderful mix of films, with a range of exciting guests and post-screening workshops on offer too. Also as Gaeilge, schools can enjoy a selection of Irish language Gearrscannáin curated for students to celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge (SnaG) 2026, with a special SnaG bundle also available to stream in-classroom via IFI@Schools. Music will see two portrayals of musical legends. Miloš Forman’s Amadeus takes an epic adventure through the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and will feature a post-screening workshop on the life and music of the composer. Switching scores, James Mangold’s acclaimed Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown will also be supplemented with a post-screening workshop on the American folk music revival. Two titles will be available for students studying History, CSPE, and English. Aoife Kelleher’s documentary Testimony will support the new Junior Cycle Module on the Mother and Baby Homes, and the screening will feature a guest introduction. To mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2026, the IFI will screen Michel Hazanavicius’s animation The Most Precious of Cargoes.
Four titles will be on offer for Primary. Gints Zilbalodis’s dialogue-free, Oscar-winning Flow brings to the screen an animated journey of a lonely cat, traversing a mysterious land in the aftermath of a storm. Screening in collaboration with Children’s Books Ireland, primary pupils can enjoy beloved adaptation How To Train Your Dragon for World Book Day 2026. For Earth Day 2026, Damon Gameau’s Future Council introduces young activists to an adventure at the heart of the global climate emergency, while Steve Coogan delights as a foreigner abroad in Peter Cattaneo’s The Penguin Lessons, filled with animal antics in Argentina.
Finally, as part of the IFI’s Next Generation (15-19) Programme, funded by Screen Ireland and led by IFI Education, the IFI is proud to announce both the return of IFI Careers in Animation on October 15th and the annual IFI Careers in Screen on March 4th, 2026. IFI Careers in Animation will feature director Nora Twomey, of multi-award-winning studio Cartoon Saloon, as well as Screen Ireland’s National Talent Academy for Animation panel. IFI Careers in Screen will introduce students to the industry through screenings, illustrated talks with established filmmakers, and demonstrations of aspects of filmmaking. These are ideal events for young people thinking about futures in animation and in film.
