Irish cinema dates announced for acclaimed Troubles documentary The Flats

Award-winning documentary The Flats is set for an Irish theatrical release on May 23.

Directed by Alessandra Celesia, The Flats sees Joe, a resident of one of New Lodge's tower-block apartments in North Belfast, re-enact memories from his childhood during the Troubles.

Joined by his neighbours, the community revisit their collective memories of the events that shaped their lives and their homes.

"New Lodge is a visual experience because of the towers, the flats," Celesia said. "I arrived in the North for the first time before the Good Friday Agreement and I said I would never make a film about the Troubles."

"And I kept my promise until I found New Lodge, where it's just so clear there is this whole generation traumatized by this thing that they never got over," she adds.

The Flats was selected for multiple film festivals across Europe, winning awards at Docs Ireland in Belfast, the London Irish Film Festival, Festival dei Popoli in Florence, Watch Docs in Warsaw, Festival de Fill men Ville in Brussels, FIPADOC in Biarritz and CPH:DOX in Copenhagen.

The film also received the George Morrison Award for feature documentary at IFTA 2025.

Watch the trailer below;