Shadow

Storyland is an award-winning initiative by RTÉ.ie and Screen Ireland, a program that develops and showcases new, original Irish short dramas by emerging talent in writing, directing, and acting. It operates as a competitive call-out for scripts, with the top finalists receiving funding and support to produce their 25-minute short dramas, which are then broadcast on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player.

Five woman spend a night together at a secluded house, to celebrate the future nuptials of the bride to be. During the course of the night, alliances are formed, confrontations erupt and festivities become tense and the women quickly learn that every sacrifice has a cost. The darkness of their terrible act fractures those responsible, trapping them in a perpetual loop oscillating endlessly between hope and despair.

Set in a rapidly changing Dublin, Work|Werk follows Saoirse, a poet who moonlights as a stripper, navigating the city’s social and economic divides. When she unexpectedly runs into Manchán, a former acquaintance turned property developer, their awkward street reunion escalates into a tense encounter inside the club - a space she now claims as her own. The film explores class, ambition and survival in contemporary Ireland, revealing the resilience and complexity of a woman living on her own terms.