Animation Takes Centre Stage at Dublin International Film Festival 2026

Animation will be firmly in the spotlight at the 2026 Dublin International Film Festival, with a rich programme that celebrates animation as both an art form and a powerful storytelling tool – spanning legacy works, bold contemporary shorts, and vital conversations about animation’s future. 

This year’s programme brings together landmark screenings, international premieres, and emerging voices, underscoring DIFF’s commitment to animation across generations, styles, and cultures. 

A major highlight of the festival is Don Bluth: Somewhere Out There, a feature-length documentary exploring the life and work of visionary filmmaker Don Bluth, the creative force behind An American Tail, The Land Before Time and The Secret of NIMH. Drawing on hundreds of hours of previously unseen archive footage and intimate interviews, the film offers a revealing portrait of an artist navigating the tension between creative ambition and commercial pressure. 

DIFF will also host a special 40th anniversary screening of When the Wind Blows (1986), Jimmy T. Murakami’s devastatingly tender anti-war classic, presented in 35mm. Based on Raymond Briggs’ graphic novel and featuring voice performances by John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft, alongside music by Roger Waters and David Bowie, the film remains one of the most powerful animated works of the twentieth century. 

Murakami’s influence on Irish animation will be celebrated in a post-screening panel discussion at Haymarket House, presented in partnership with DIFF’s inaugural Education Partner, the National Film School at IADT. The event forms part of a wider series of Murakami-focused initiatives taking place throughout 2026, acknowledging his foundational role in the evolution of animation in Ireland. 

DIFF’s animation shorts programme showcases a striking range of contemporary work, from hand-drawn nostalgia and stop-motion mythology to genre-pushing horror and dark comedy. 

Highlights include: 

The Gnawer of Rocks (Louise Flaherty), a haunting Inuit legend told through animation, rooted in Inuktitut language and oral storytelling traditions 
Meteoric (Paul Ó Muiris), a sharp satire on art, fame and consumption from an Irish animator with deep ties to Cartoon Saloon and international studios
Violent Volition (Graham Holbrook), an animated exploration of free will and determinism through fighting-game aesthetics
Tuna Tartare (Lena Greene), a playful, absurdist karaoke-fuelled fable set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles
The Cloud Herder (Aidan McAteer), a lyrical, emotionally resonant fantasy rooted in myth and survival

  • Praying Mantis (Joe Hsieh), a ferocious animated horror from the Sundance-winning filmmaker 
  • Rendezvous (Lydia Stone), a chaotic love-letter to early internet animation culture 

Across screenings, panels and shorts, DIFF 2026 presents animation not as a niche, but as a vital cinematic language – capable of addressing war, climate anxiety, identity, mythology, humour and horror with equal force. 

From celebrating the legacy of Jimmy Murakami and Don Bluth to championing emerging filmmakers from Ireland, Alaska, Taiwan and beyond, the festival offers a rare opportunity to experience animation in all its emotional, technical and cultural range – on the big screen, and in conversation with the artists who make it.