“For any language to survive, it has to be culturally present.”

That’s how Colm Bairéad, whose devastating first feature “The Quiet Girl” (An Cailín Ciúin) is the first Irish-language production to be nominated for the Oscar for international feature, explains the significance of Ireland’s native tongue being represented in cinema. It’s an occasion that has stirred the already deep sense of national pride among Irish people, whether they speak the language or not. …

It took several decades after “Poitín” for another Irish-language production to emerge: 2007’s “Kings,” about a group of men from Connemara who migrate to London. More recently, there was “Song of Granite” (2017), a black-and-white period biopic about a traditional singer, and the period thriller “Black 47” (2018), also set in the Great Famine; both made outside of Cine4 initiative.

In total, there are still fewer than a dozen fiction features in the Irish language in existence, more than half thanks to the Cine4 funding program.

[And I’ve seen most of them, I believe, although I still have yet to watch An Cailín Ciúin and Arracht. Poitín is perhaps the most bleak cinematic experience I’ve ever had, but it’s still brilliant, especially given the low budget and cultural resistance to the project. Black 47 is maybe the most accessible of them, a fantastic heroic-revenge film with top quality production values and a bankable star in Sam Neill. Tomm Moore’s animated films are bilingual and absolutely amazing. But Kings may be the best film to explore the Irish diaspora and their link to Gaeilge. — Ed]