Crawford Art Gallery present’s Artists’ Film International 2025 (AFI) under the theme of Dream States.  Exploring dreaming as both a transformative state and a radical act, the films in Dream States challenge perceptions of reality and open pathways to alternative futures. 

Curated by sixteen cultural institutions across four continents, this year’s edition showcases a remarkable cohort of artists, each selected or commissioned by an AFI’25 partner. Presented in diverse formats, including exhibitions, festivals, and screenings, AFI’25 unfolds across the partners’ venues throughout 2025, guiding global audiences through mythic worlds, dystopian landscapes, fractured memories, and speculative possibilities.

At the intersection of personal consciousness and external realities, the program explores the emancipatory potential of dreams, altered states, and cinematic illusion. Reflecting upon shared histories, the artists’ eclectic and surreal dreamscapes - utopian and dystopian, intimate and collective - position cinema as the crucible of dream-making and a vehicle for changemaking.

This year Crawford Art Gallery selected Irish artist Elinor O’Donovan to present her short film Wild Geese 2: Wilder Geese. All films will be shown in the Arc Cinema throughout the month of October. See full dates, line-up and ticket links below.

Please note that some of the films in AFI '25 have adult themes and content. 

Elinor O’Donovan
Wild Geese 2: Wilder Geese (2023)
Selected by Crawford Art Gallery, Cork

Mykolas Valantinas
Lullaby’s Fault (2023)
Selected by Sapieha Palace, branch of the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius, Lithuania

Ahmet Rüstem Ekici and Hakan Sorar
The Pond (2023)
Selected by Istanbul Modern, Türkiye

Cocoy Lumbao
Untitled (2020)
Selected by Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila, Philippines

Isabelle Nouzha
Dystopian Patterns (2019)
Selected by argos centre for audiovisual arts, Brussels, Belgium

Dalia Al Kury
Levitations (2024)
Selected by mmag foundation, Amman, Jordan

Abdul Hamid Mandgar
Colorless (2020)
Selected by Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan in eXiLe e.V., (CCAA in EXiLe), Frankfurt, Germany

+ Elinor O’Donovan – Artist’s Q&A
with Dawn Williams, curator, Crawford Art Gallery

Babu Eshwar Prasad
Dear Chalam (2024)
Selected by Project 88, Mumbai, India

Raffaela Naldi Rossano
Serpentina (2024)
Selected by Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo (GAMeC), Bergamo, Italy

Heesoo Kwon
Leymusoom Garden: New Sun (2024)
Selected by Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), Los Angeles, USA

Elinor O’Donovan
Wild Geese 2: Wilder Geese (2023)
Selected by Crawford Art Gallery, Cork 

Sin Wai Kin
The Fortress (2024)
Selected by Forma and Southwark Park Galleries, London, UK

Melisa Zulberti
Sobre si mismo (About itself) (2023)
Selected by Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Anca Benera & Arnold Estefan
Rehearsals for Peace (2023)
Selected by Video-Forum of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k), Berlin, Germany

Anette Gellein
Dyke Dreams (2024)
Selected by Tromsø Kunstforening,Tromsø, Norway

Kialy Tihngang
Neyinka and the Silver Gong (2024)
Selected by Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland

Elinor O’Donovan
Wild Geese 2: Wilder Geese (2023)
Selected by Crawford Art Gallery, Cork 

Sanja Andelković
Look up! I’m No Canopy – I’m a Messenger (2022)
Selected by Cultural Centre of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia