Following a violent attack on a night out, Cian O’Reilly (Éanna Hardwicke), a promising young Gaelic footballer, sustains a life-changing injury. Cian, a young farmer, working contentedly alongside his father (Lorcan Cranitch) on the farm, partying with friends, and performing well on the pitch sees his world is shattered when a serious head injury forces him off the field. He struggles to reimagine his life without football and his identity in the small midlands town. Comfort arrives when an old girlfriend (Danielle Galligan) returns home to nurse her ailing father. The debut feature of writer/directors Robert Higgins and Patrick McGivney, Lakelands evocatively captures and celebrates lives that are multifaceted, complex and as dramatic as they are satisfying.

The feature film will be preceded by a short film LIFE OF NIAN.

Presented by the Embassy of Ireland as part of the European Film Festival 2024.