Reptiles & Stories: The Dance of the Wild [ALT EFF 2025]

In partnership with Youth Inc., join a special workshop around native Irish reptiles, storytelling, and community led by artist and animator Iobhar Stokes Rodriguez. The session begins with a screening of The Dance of the Cranes, a powerful film from Co. Kildare by Youth Inc., followed by a hands-on creative and storytelling workshop.

Iobhar and Mary will guide you through building physical models, crafting stories, and imagining the lives of these often misunderstood creatures. It’s part nature lesson, part storytelling circle — and open to all ages.

This workshop is part of ALT EFF: The All Living Things Environmental Film Festival 2025. ALT EFF is not only a curation of films and environmental stories from around the world — it is a space for engagement, interaction, and conversation. Each film selection is paired with non-film programming that brings ideas into lived experience: hands-on making, local ecological insights, storytelling, and community connection.

Every venue and collaborator taking part — Iobhar Stokes Rodriguez, Mary O'Connor and the Youth Inc. team, the National Reptile Zoo — all contribute to this ethos of thinking locally and participating meaningfully. This is an invitation to explore the themes of the festival through touch, dialogue, creativity, and place.