In the emerald shadows of Ireland’s postcolonial landscape, a revolution is brewing—not in the streets, but in the songs. CELTIC UTOPIA (ÚTÓIPE CHEILTEACH), the striking new documentary from Stockholm-based filmmakers Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén, captures something extraordinary happening in Irish folk music today: a generation of artists wielding traditional melodies like weapons against complacency, creating music designed, in their own words, “to scare priests and politicians.”
World premiering in Locarno’s Critics’ Week, this isn’t your grandmother’s Celtic music. The film follows an audacious collection of musicians—The Mary Wallopers, Young Spencer, Negro Impacto, Chi-chi Enyoazu, The Deadlians, Jinx Lennon, Poor Creature, Naoise Mac Cathmhaoil, Rising Damp, Susan Hughes, and Post Punk Podge—who are reimagining what it means to be Irish in the 21st century. These artists carry both the weight of historical oppression and the electric possibility of transformation, their songs serving as both archaeological dig and battle cry.
What makes CELTIC UTOPIA particularly compelling is its refusal to romanticize Irish identity. Instead, Harvey and Lovén present a society still wrestling with its colonial wounds, where folk traditions become vessels for radical healing. The musicians featured don’t just perform; they excavate, using ancient forms to process contemporary realities and challenge existing policies with calls for more liberal attitudes.
The film’s most powerful moment might come through Young Spencer, a loyalist rapper whose complex identity embodies Ireland’s evolving sense of self. Harvey describes watching Spencer—wearing a Union Jack and Protestant regalia—touch his heart while looking at a mural of Bobby Sands, the famous hunger striker who died protesting Margaret Thatcher’s policies. “He’s a fucking legend,” Spencer says, and in that moment, the documentary captures something profound about how identity boundaries are dissolving and reforming across the island.
This isn’t nostalgia masquerading as progress. Harvey’s generation, he notes, has endured “humiliation” under the weight of postcolonial heritage, and these musicians are responding with unflinching honesty. They’re telling stories and singing songs not to preserve the past unchanged, but to understand it fully enough to transcend it. Their ballads carry the DNA of centuries-old traditions while pulsing with urgent contemporary energy.
CELTIC UTOPIA reveals how folk music has become a space for processing trauma and imagining futures. In a society where the old certainties—religious authority, political deference, cultural homogeneity—are crumbling, these artists are creating new mythologies. Their rebellion isn’t just aesthetic; it’s existential, challenging audiences to reconsider what Irish identity can become when freed from both external oppression and internal limitations.
The documentary serves as both cultural document and manifesto, proving that the most vital folk music has always been revolutionary. These artists aren’t preserving tradition; they’re liberating it, creating a soundtrack for a new Ireland that refuses to be defined by either its colonial past or its postcolonial present. In their hands, ancient melodies become vehicles for radical imagination, and the very concept of “Celtic” expands to encompass all who call this island home.
A priest. A pool. A Spanish island. And one very dead body. 🏊♂️☠️
THESE SACRED VOWS hits RTÉ One on February 1st, and this wedding weekend mystery is about to become your next obsession.
Newly released trailer now at irishfilmtv.com.
Killarney`s own Jessie Buckley just took home the Critics Choice Award for Best Actress for HAMNET, and her acceptance speech was pure gold 🏆✨
In HAMNET, Buckley delivers a devastating performance as Agnes, William Shakespeare`s wife, navigating the grief of losing their 11-year-old son. Critics are calling it unforgettable, and now she has the trophy to prove it 🎬💚
More Jessie at irishfilmtv.com.
HAMNET star Jessie Buckley shines in BEAST, now on #Netflix.
A troubled woman living in an isolated community finds herself pulled between the control of her oppressive family and the allure of a secretive outsider suspected of a series of brutal murders.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
🕺✨ DANCING WITH THE STARS IRELAND is back for S9 tonight!
Get ready for spray tans, sequins, and Sunday night sparkle because Ireland`s favourite winter escape is almost here. Who`s ready to vote their faves to victory? 💃
More at irishfilmtv.com.
** Now on Netflix **
RUN AWAY brings Harlan Coben back to form with James Nesbitt doing what he does best—playing a tormented father searching for his missing daughter against all advice.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
By order of the Peaky Blinders, Merry Christmas!
A teaser for the new film PEAKY BLINDERS: THE IMMORTAL MAN just dropped, and it features Cillian Murphy’s gangster Tommy Shelby returning to his old ways despite leaving them all behind at the end of the TV series.
Watch now at irishfilmtv.com.
Domhnall Gleeson heads to a remote Scottish isle for THE INCOMER!
He plays an awkward council worker tasked with relocating two siblings who survive by hunting seabirds, talking to mythical beings, and fiercely defending their homeland from outsiders.
More Domhnall at irishfilmtv.com.
Andrew Scott is bringing one of theater`s most powerful true stories to life.
The ALL OF US STRANGERS star will portray Scottish actor Ian Charleson in ELSINORE, chronicling Charleson`s breathtaking final performance as Hamlet at London`s National Theatre before his death in 1990 at age 40.
More via irishfilmtv.com.
Belfast-born Ciaran Hinds shines in Bradley Copper`s IS THIS THING ON?
With Hinds, you`re not just getting an actor. You`re getting decades of gravitas, warmth, and that rare ability to make every scene feel like it matters. From prestige drama to fantasy epics, he`s built a career on understated brilliance. And now? He`s ready to find the humor in heartbreak.
More Ciaran at irishfilmtv.com.
Gothic drama LIES WE TELL is now on Netflix.
With powerful performances by Agnes O`Casey and David Wilmot, the Irish drama takes Sheridan Le Fanu`s classic novel UNCLE SILAS and transforms it into something urgent and vital for our moment.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
When Colin Farrell and Jessie Buckley finally sat down together, they were strangers—but within moments, the conversation became profound.
Both Irish actors are carrying the weight of devastating roles this year: Farrell as a gambling addict spiraling in Macau in BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER, Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare grieving her son in HAMNET.
Watch now at irishfilmtv.com.
From FAIR CITY to KNIVES OUT! Daryl McCormack shines in the new #netflix film WAKE UP DEAD MAN.
McCormack just wrapped Netflix`s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE opposite Jack Lowden, Emma Corrin, and Olivia Colman. Talk about range: trading viral grift for Jane Austen elegance. Same actor, different century, wildly different moral compass.
More Daryl at irishfilmtv.com.
Eve Hewson brings ghosts to life in Noah Baumbach`s JAY KELLY.
From her breakout in THIS MUST BE THE PLACE to BAD SISTERS and beyond, she`s now haunting George Clooney as Daphne—a face from the past that forces a movie star to confront who he became while chasing fame.
More Eve at irishfilmtv.com.
When the past catches up with you in Amsterdam 🌊
Ciarán Hinds and Lesley Manville star in MIDWINTER BREAK—a retired couple`s winter getaway becomes a reckoning with memories they`ve tried to outrun for decades, in theatres Feb 20.
New trailer at irishfilmtv.com.
James Nesbitt is back in Harlan Coben`s twisted universe. 🔍
RUN AWAY drops January 1st on #Netflix — and this one`s personal.
When Simon (Nesbitt) finally finds his missing daughter strung out in a city park, it`s supposed to be a second chance. Instead, it`s the beginning of a nightmare.
New trailer at irishfilmtv.com.
