AEMI celebrates founding co-director Daniel Fitzpatrick after a decade of leadership

Published date: 30 Jul 2026

After ten years helping to establish AEMI as Ireland’s leading organisation for artist and experimental film, founding Co-Director Daniel Fitzpatrick will step down at the end of August, marking the end of the organisation’s first chapter. 

Since co-founding AEMI with Alice Butler in 2016, Daniel has played a central role in establishing the organisation as Ireland’s national resource for film artists. Under their joint leadership, AEMI has become an essential part of Ireland’s contemporary film arts ecology, supporting artists through commissioning, exhibition, professional development, touring, publishing and international collaborations, while cultivating new audiences for artist and experimental film across Ireland and beyond.

Over the past decade, AEMI has helped strengthen the infrastructure for artist film in Ireland, creating opportunities for artists at every stage of their careers and forging lasting collaborations with festivals, cinemas, universities and cultural organisations nationally and internationally.

What began as an ambitious vision to support a growing artistic practice has become an internationally respected organisation at the heart of one of Ireland’s most dynamic and vibrant artistic communities.This transition for aemi has been planned out collaboratively over an extended period and we have mapped out this new stage for aemi together as a team and together with our Board of Directors.

Oisin McClenaghan, Chair of AEMI, said:

“Daniel’s contribution to AEMI, and to artist film culture in Ireland, has been extraordinary. As a founding Co-Director, he has helped build an organisation that has transformed opportunities for artists and significantly strengthened the ecology of artists’ moving image in Ireland. There is a direct correlation between the cultural vibrancy of Ireland and the passion, conviction and vision of individuals like Daniel who dedicate their energies to it. Together with Alice, he has created an organisation defined by artistic ambition, generosity and collaboration, leaving AEMI exceptionally well placed for the future. On behalf of the Board, I want to express our sincere gratitude for his vision, dedication and remarkable leadership over the past decade.” 

Reflecting on his time with AEMI, Daniel Fitzpatrick said:

“When I first started thinking about AEMI, the hope was to create something that would contribute not only to the infrastructure around artist film practices in Ireland, but also to a diverse and generous community of practice. This was always the aim and always the priority: building communities, as without this it is impossible for art to flourish. It has been incredibly rewarding for me to watch that community grow and recent experiences have reminded me how vibrant this field has become. A recent sold-out screening of ‘Trance Films’ at the IFI for example brought together a diverse audience ready to engage with some strange and challenging works that push at existing boundaries. Elsewhere in Belfast, on a recent visit to Docs Ireland, I encountered remarkable new work on the big screen, some by artists AEMI have been fortunate to work with in recent years. I saw for example Susan Hughes’ wonderful new film Ultraviolet, Michael Barwise’s That Sanity Be Kept, and Jack Hogan’s Stream. All excellent, each pointing in different directions for the ongoing development of artist film practice in Ireland. Together this small grouping demonstrated just some of the extraordinary breadth, confidence, and creative ambition that defines artist film practice in Ireland today. It has been a privilege to help build AEMI this past ten years and to work alongside so many exceptional artists, collaborators, and of course my aemi colleagues. I leave immensely proud of what we have achieved together. I am also very excited to see what this next phase brings for the organisation and for this remarkable community.”

To support the next chapter, Alice Butler will adopt the role of Creative Director, Anne Hendrick will take on an expanded role as Head of Development and Engagement and AEMI is in the process of appointing a further team member. AEMI remains committed to its core mandate of supporting and exhibiting artist and experimental film. 

Alice Butler, Co-Director of AEMI, said:

“Whatever AEMI goes on to achieve in the future Daniel is written deeply into the history and purpose of the organisation. Daniel is an original, decisive and visionary thinker and it would never have been possible to establish AEMI without him; it has all come about through the shared time, space and energy we have put into it as a team. I know we are both proud of what the organisation has accomplished and that this is the result of our love and respect for the film artists whose work we are lucky enough to exhibit and support. We both believe  passionately in artist and experimental film, that it has real and serious purpose and that it plays an essential role in the development of critical and creative thought. It is a big change for AEMI to see Daniel go, we will miss him greatly and we wish him only the very best for everything that lies ahead.”

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