Thu. 16 – Sun. 20 Sep. 2026
Screening in Leitrim and Sligo
For the first time in its thirteen years, Adaptation takes a sharp international turn while maintaining its commitment to Irish screen adaptations and the growing body of cinema from our part of the North West. We are delighted to celebrate some of the key adaptation work of German Oscar-winning filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff from his sixty-year long career. Leitrim’s focus on Cyprus as part of the Irish EU Presidency allows us to screen the Sundance 2026 winning work of director Myrsini Aristidou. Pat Murphy, a trailblazing director for women in Irish cinema in the 1980s, reprises her take on James Joyce and film adaptation. Pat will also deliver a workshop focusing on collaboration in filmmaking. The local and the international go hand in hand in our opening night event: a series of short film adaptations by a number of North Leitrim’s filmmakers.
The festival culminates with writer Colm Tóibín in conversation with friend and collaborator Volker Schlöndorff.
Venues
The Glens Centre, Manorhamilton
The Model Cinema, Sligo
Manorhamilton Library
Sligo Youth Theatre
www.cinemanorthwest.ie
Presented by Bandit Films in association with Sligo Film Society and The Glens Arts Centre.
Programme
The following programme lists only screenings in The Model. For a full list of screenings visit www cinemanorthwest.ie
All that Glitters
Dir. Peter Lavery, 2025, 100mins
Thu. 17 Sep. 2026, 10.30am
Venue: The Model, Sligo
Students of Sligo Mercy College attend a screening of this Romeo and Juliet inspired coming of age story directed by Peter Lavery.
Followed by Q+A with writer/director Peter Lavery.
Schools Group Booking only
Interested in School Group bookings contact adaptation@banditfilms.ie
Visitation
Dir. Volker Schlöndorff, 2026, 118mins
Thu. 17 Sep. 2026, 8pm
Venue: The Model, Sligo
Volker Schlöndorff retrospective
Volker Schlöndorff premiered his latest film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where he previously won the Palme D’Or. We screen this new film on the eve of its cinema release in Germany and internationally.
In the story, a Berlin lakeside house witnesses a century of history: Nazism, war, Soviet occupation, German reunification. Through changing regimes, families pass through Jewish residents, an architect couple, a writer, her granddaughter seeking peace.
The Tin Drum
Dir. Volker Schlöndorff, 1979, 160min
Sun. 20 Sep. 2026, 10.30am
Venue: The Model, Sligo
Volker Schlöndorff retrospective
A darkly comic war drama with magical realist elements, the film follows Oskar, a precocious child living in the Baltic enclave of Danzig (modern day Gdańsk), who wields seemingly preternatural abilities. He lives in contempt of the adults around him and witnesses firsthand their potential for cruelty, first via the rise of the Nazi Party and then the subsequent war.
Adapted from the novel by Günter Grass, the film won the Palme D’Or at Cannes and the Foreign Language Oscar in 1979.
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Sligo On the Edge DOUBLE BILL
Sun. 20 Sep. 2026, 1.30pm
Venue: The Model, Sligo
Samanta Nobody
Dir. Ciarán Creagh, 2025, 90mins
This film comes from the writer-director of Ann and that film’s producer Niall Flynn. Samanta is played by Dublin Film Festival Discovery nominee Ruby Jean Lennon, a 16-year-old homeless girl on the streets of Sligo town. For Samanta – no’h’ - reaching out for help has only ever ended in closed doors, but she has a hidden gift for songwriting and performance. When a music shop owner spots her talent, she has a chance to finally accept that music could be the open door she’s been waiting for.
Where do we all belong?
Dirs. Peter Martin & Ronan Dillon
Prod. Noel Feeney, 2026, 20mins
Film will precede the main feature.
When a Sligo community art project invites strangers to speak honestly about loneliness, hidden stories surface. This is a gentle and engaging piece of art documentary.
Return to Montauk
Dir. Volker Schöndorff, 2017, 106mins
Sun. 20 Sep. 2026, 3.30pm
Venue: The Model, Sligo
Volker Schlöndorff retrospective
Colm Tóibín wrote the screenplay for this Volker Schlöndorff film, the plot of which is broadly inspired by Max Frisch's 1975 novel Montauk.
During a book tour in the United States, Max meets and falls in love with a young woman. Many years later, Max (Stellan Skarsgård) returns to the United States with his partner Clara (Susanne Wolff), hoping to reunite with his former lover (Nina Hoss) during a weekend in Montauk, Long Island.
Keep an eye out for Derry star Bronagh Gallagher.
Director in Attendance.
Public Interview:
Colm Tóíbín in conversation with Volker Schlöndorff
Sun. 20 Sep. 2026, 6–7pm
Venue: The Model, Sligo
Volker Schlöndorff retrospective
In a remote public interview facilitated across time-zones at the Model Cinema, Volker Schlöndorff (Berlin) will be interviewed about his sixty-year career by friend and collaborator Colm Tóibín (Los Angeles).
The event will be facilitated by Sligo conferencing service Studiorove.
Brooklyn
Dir. John Crowley, 2015, 117mins
Sun. 20 Sep. 2026, 7.30pm
Venue: The Model, Sligo
Colm Tóibín introduces a special screening of Brooklyn which he adapted (with Nick Hornby) from his celebrated novel.
One of the most successful Irish films of the past decade is well worth seeing again on the big screen. Éilís (Saoirse Ronan), a young Irish immigrant, lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within. Featuring fine performances from then rising star Domhnall Gleeson and the perennial Bríd Brennan.
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Presented by Bandit Films in association with the Glens Arts Centre and Sligo Film Society
