Boyne Valley International Film Festival is proud to announce that the 2026 Filmmaker in Focus is Writer/Director Aisling Connolly Byrne.

The festival honours Aisling's career with a full programme dedicated to her work, a live interview afterwards and a bursary award.

This event will take place on August 9th in the Droichead Arts Centre. It will be included in the BVIFF Season Ticket, or available individually at www.droichead.com or 041 983 3946.

Tickets will be on sale soon. Visit Website for more details.

Aisling Connolly Byrne is an award-winning writer and director working in film, television and theatre. Her short film work - including HEADSPACE, MISREAD, TURNAROUND and MARY IS MISSING - has earned multiple Oscar-qualifying honours, including two Academy-Qualifying Grand Prix awards at Cork International Film Festival, the Tiernan McBride Award at the Galway Film Fleadh and the Light in Motion Award at Foyle Film Festival. Her films have screened at 70+ international festivals, with further recognition including European Film Awards shortlisting, IFTA and Dublin International Film Festival Discovery Award nominations. Her latest short, MARY IS MISSING, qualifies to be considered for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short in 2027 and is currently on the festival circuit. Her previous short film TURNAROUND has been acquired for distribution by Salaud Morisette and is currently available on Disney+.

Aisling currently has two feature films in development, one of which was selected as part of Screen Ireland's Perspectives initiative and she has a TV comedy-drama in development, also supported by Screen Ireland. In 2023 she was selected for Screen Ireland's flagship scheme for screenwriters 'Spotlight'. She is represented for writing and directing by Curtis Brown Ltd.

With a background in theatre and socially engaged arts, Aisling is the Founder and Artistic Director of Run of the Mill, a leading organisation championing artists with intellectual disabilities. Recent and upcoming live performance work with Run of the Mill includes THE PLACE I'M FROM (in development for 2026); REAL LIFE (Project Arts Centre, 2024); LINDA, GEORGE AND GILLIAN (Dublin Theatre Festival, 2024) and MAKING A MARK (Dublin Fringe Winner, 2019, National Tour, 2022). Other recent work for theatre includes THE VERY CURIOUS CEILÍ (Ceol Connected & The National Concert Hall, 2025) & THE LAND OF A HUNDRED LITTLE HILLS (Irish National Tour, 2023-25).