Enjoy a magical weekend of popular comedies, thrillers, and dramas at the Subtitle Film Festival, which returns after a six-year absence to Town Hall Theatre Galway from Friday January 16 until Sunday January 18.
Subtitle is returning with a programme that captures what the festival does best: discovering the most exciting new European talent while celebrating the films that have shaped us.
This year brings five Irish premieres — bold, intimate, award-winning new work from across the continent — alongside five modern classics that remind us why European cinema endures. From luminous debuts and moral thrillers to beloved favourites like Amélie, The Intouchables and Headhunters, it’s a line-up full of heart, craft and cinematic storytelling at its finest.
See the full line-up for the festival below.
Don’t Call Me Mama
Norway | 2025 | 1h 48m | Drama
Premiering in competition at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Don’t Call Me Mama follows a high-school teacher married to the local mayor whose life unravels when she falls for a young asylum seeker.
As love and power collide, director Nina Knag delivers a bold, empathetic debut about passion, politics and moral awakening. Anchored by a standout debut performance from Tarek Zayat, this is sharp, courageous filmmaking at its most human. Don’t Call Me Mama will receive its Irish premiere on Friday January 16 at 6.15pm.
Headhunters
Norway | 2011 | 1h 40m | Dark comedy/thriller
Few European thrillers hit harder than the dark comedy Headhunters, the breakout smash that thrust Norwegian cinema onto the world stage. Adapted from Jo Nesbø’s bestseller, it follows a ruthless headhunter and part-time art thief who’s suddenly plunged into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Slick, darkly funny and breathlessly tense, it’s European genre filmmaking at its most gripping.
Directed by Morten Tyldum and starring Aksel Hennie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Headhunters can be seen on Friday January 16 at 8.30pm.
Our Girls
Netherlands | 2025 | 1h 43m | Drama
Opening film of the 2025 Netherlands Film Festival and winner of Best Film and Best Screenplay at the Dutch Film Awards (Golden Calves ), Our Girls tracks two long-time couples whose idyllic Alpine holiday shatters when a tragic accident strikes their teenage daughters. As impossible choices emerge, love and morality are pushed to breaking point. With Academy Award-winning director Mike van Diem at the helm, this is a tense, elegantly crafted moral thriller.
The Irish premiere of Our Girls will be screened on Saturday 17 January 17 at 11.05am.
Weightless
Denmark | 2025 | 1h 36m | Drama
Fresh from the New Directors section at the 2025 San Sebastián Film Festival, Weightless follows 15-year-old Lea during a summer at a weight-loss camp near sea and forest. Desperate to “fit in,” she fixates on the charismatic instructor Rune and begins to unravel in ways she never anticipated.
With subtle emotion and piercing clarity, director Emilie Thalund’s debut boldly explores adolescent pain, desire and transformation with a cast including Marie Helweg Augustsen and Ella Paaske.
The Irish premiere of Weightless can be seen on Saturday January 17 at 1.15pm.
My Eternal Summer
Denmark | 2024 | 1h 45m | Drama
This luminous debut follows 15-year-old Fanny (Kaya Toft Loholt ) and her mother Karin (Maria Rossing ) through one final summer at their lakeside home — an intimate portrait told with striking emotional clarity.
Beautifully shot and quietly devastating, My Eternal Summer explores love, loss and the fragile threads we leave behind. Winner of the prestigious NDR Prize at Lübeck, this Irish premiere announces a major new Danish talent.
My Eternal Summer will receive its Irish premiere on Saturday January 17 at 3.30pm.
Live A Little
Sweden | 2025 | 1h 38m | Drama
Premiering in competition at the Göteborg Film Festival, this acclaimed debut from director Fanny Ovesen follows best friends Laura (Embla Ingelman-Sundberg ) and Alex (Aviva Wrede ) on a couch-surfing trip across Europe. When Laura wakes in a stranger’s bed with no memory, fragments from the night trigger a raw, searching journey through consent, shame and self-definition. Intimate, unflinching and empathetic, it explores the fragile boundaries between desire, doubt and control.
The Irish premiere of Live A Little will take place on Sunday January 18 at 11.05am.
Amélie
France | 2001 | 2h 2m | Comedy | Romance
A modern classic of European cinema, Amélie became a worldwide sensation, earning five Academy Award nominations and sweeping the César Awards. Audrey Tautou stars as a shy Parisian waitress who quietly sets out to improve the lives of those around her. Whimsical, romantic and visually enchanting,
Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s beloved film is a joyful celebration of imagination, kindness and the small wonders that make life extraordinary.
Amélie will be screened on Sunday 18 January 18 at 1.10pm.
The Intouchables
France | 2011 | 1h 52m | Comedy | Drama
Few films lift the heart quite like The Intouchables, one of Europe’s biggest box-office hits of all time and winner of seven César Awards, including Best Actor for Omar Sy, and nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA.
Inspired by a true story, it follows the unlikely friendship between a wealthy quadriplegic (François Cluzet ) and his exuberant carer (Omar Sy ) from the Paris banlieues. Warm, witty and deeply humane, it’s a joyous reminder of how connection can transcend every divide.
Directed by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, The Intouchables can be seen on Sunday January 18 at 3.40pm.
Tangerines
Estonia | Georgia | 2013 | 1h 27m | Drama
Nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best International Film, Tangerines is a quietly powerful anti-war drama set during the 1990s Abkhazian conflict. An Estonian farmer shelters (Lembit Ulfsak ) two wounded soldiers from opposing sides, forcing all three to confront the futility of violence.
Director Zaza Urushadze’s humane, beautifully restrained film finds compassion amid chaos — a timeless meditation on empathy, honour and reconciliation.
Tangerines will be screened on Sunday January 18 at 6pm.
Parasite
South Korea | 2019 | 2h 12m | Drama | Thriller
Winner of the Palme d’Or, four Academy Awards, and countless global honours, Director Bong Joon-ho’s genre-bending masterpiece follows two families on opposite ends of Seoul’s social divide. Darkly funny, thrilling, and devastating, Parasite is a cinematic high-wire act – a perfect reminder that class, greed, and survival know no borders.
Closing the Subtitle Film Festival, Parasite can be seen on Sunday January 18 at 8pm.
Tickets cost €10 for each film, and €75 for all 10 films, and are available from the Town Hall Box Office and online 24 hours at tht.ie
