The Irish Film Board, the country’s national film agency and main film-funding body, has recorded a 58% increase in its supported production output within the last two years, reaching €84 million in 2017. Several strategic initiatives have driven the steady growth of the local industry, such as the female creative talent support scheme, the regional funding schemes, Screen Training Ireland's activities, and the joint funding programmes established with TG4, RTÉ and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

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The Irish film industry is now flourishing and employs about 15,000 people. The regional funding schemes have facilitated the development of the industry outside of Dublin and its surroundings, bringing new domestic and international projects to Cork, Galway, Limerick, Kilkenny and Roscommon. On the whole, in 2017 and into 2018, extra-Dublin production output will reach €46.7 million. The funding strategies of the board, however, may be revised in the coming months, after the publication of a state-commissioned report compiled by Olsberg SPI, a London-based consultancy firm that specialises in providing public and private bodies with long-term roadmaps and solutions to sustainably develop their creative industries.

The new 2018 slate of productions includes 16 Irish features, five co-productions, five animated films for TV, 21 short films, 13 documentary movies and one international TV series.

The most notable supported Irish productions include: Carmel Winters' Float Like a Butterfly [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Carmel Winters
scheda film], set in the 1970s, which tells the story of a young Irish traveller girl named Frances; Dave Tynan's Dublin Oldschool, an adaptation of Emmet Kirwan's play of the same name; Mary McGuckian's A Girl from Mogadishu [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], based on the testimony of Somali social activist Ifrah Ahmed; Hugh O’Conor's debut feature, Metal Heart, which focuses on the life of two sisters who are worlds apart; Tomm Moore's Wolfwalkers [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]; Sean Mullen's The Overcoat (both of the latter animated films); Lenny Abrahamson's supernatural horror-thriller The Little Stranger [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], co-produced with the USA, France and the UK; and Chanya Button's Vita & Virginia, co-produced with the UK and based on the true story of the love affair between socialite and popular author Vita Sackville-West and writer Virginia Woolf.

The launch of the new slate of productions sets a new record for the industry, which aims to foster emerging and established Irish talents. In this regard, chair of the IFB Annie Doona explained: “As is evidenced in the wonderfully varied 2018 slate of productions, the definition of ‘Irish film’ continues to evolve and transform, as well as entertain and delight. We strive for this annual showcase of Irish creative talent to be as equal and diverse as possible because supporting a multiplicity of Irish voices is integral to the work of the board. We have made some progress in the implementation of our Six Point Plan on Gender Equality, and we remain committed to achieving all targets set in our strategy in the years ahead. What our audiences see on screen not only reflects society, but challenges, subverts and ultimately transforms it. The screen is a powerful channel.”