Following the success of DIFF’s IFCO Centenary lecture series, the festival is once again partnering with the Irish Film Classification Office to give a public platform to three emerging film and media students and early career researchers.

In 2025, the remaining IFCO records from the censorship period were deposited in the National Archives. These records represent a fascinating insight into cinema exhibition in Ireland and the central role which censorship played in shaping Irish film culture.

For 2026, our participants will give vibrant and exciting presentations. The IFCO Collection in the National Archives is a rich information source in this regard. Contributors will present their findings on the research of their choice.

Letizia Delmastro
Letizia is a development producer, writer, director
and script editor through
her company, Panoplia Productions. Letizia believes in the power of art (especially comedy) to influence positive changes in society – and believes it is an artist’s duty to do so! In her lecture, Letizia will explore the role of vampire films as a safe haven of queer representation in times of political and social radicalisation.

Laura Cullen
Laura was born and raised
in Laois. She holds a BA in Film and Screen Media from UCC and is a current master’s student in Journalism and International Affairs in UCD. Having lived in Canada from 2023–2025, she had the opportunity to work as a production assistant for a television show during her time there. Laura’s project for the IFCO Lecture Series 2026 will be a presentation focusing on the fascinating and transformative work of Sheamus Smith, Irish Film Censor for 17 years, making him Ireland’s longest-serving film censor.

Ezra Maloney
Ezra (he/they) is a writer whose debut play Pre-Ops was long-listed for the Theatre 503 Playwriting Prize in 2025 and was performed at festivals in Dublin and Galway. Ezra will present a lecture entitled ‘“I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be the truth!”: Tennessee Williams, Sexuality, and the Irish State’ and will delve into heavy censorship or outright bans of American writer Tennessee Williams’ films for viewers in the Republic of Ireland in the 1950s and 60s. This presentation explores the cuts made to some of Williams’ best-known films, and what these cuts can tell us about the attitude of the Irish State towards sex and sexuality at the time.