While the festival is still based in Ballymahon – birthplace of the great writer Oliver Goldsmith – as the festival has grown, it has expanded to larger venues across Longford, Westmeath, and Roscommon.

This year’s festival sees a jam-packed programme of events and has a superb line-up of truly impressive short films available both in-person and online over the festival weekend.

To celebrate their fifth anniversary, Still Voices are delighted to welcome acclaimed film director Terence Davies to the midlands for a special screening of his 1988 masterpiece ‘Distant Voices, Still Lives’ after which the festival has taken its name. This in-person event will take place on Nov 5th at 8 pm in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone, and the following day Davies will participate in a directing masterclass with renowned Irish filmmaker Pat Collins at the Backstage Theatre, Longford. Davies and Collins will discuss the filmmaker’s long and varied filmography, his film-making style and unique sensibility.

The very popular family-friendly screenings and a children’s animation workshop are also set to return as well as the industry panels which are a very important part of the festival for established and budding filmmakers alike.

On Nov 7th Ballymahon Community Library will host a very interesting discussion on the challenges of pursuing a career in the arts with three acclaimed  Longford artists, Michael Keegan-Dolan, Karen McGann, and John Connell. Longford poet Dani Gill will moderate this event.