Gerard Michael Mac Carthy

The Slavic theme should be no stranger to Gerard Michael MacCarthy who first went East in 1989 to what was still the USSR. Consequently he wrote and directed the first ever Irish-Russian cinema co-production 'Micha', before going on to co-found Irish Week, and the Irish Film Festival in Moscow which, up to 2022 ,was the largest showcase for Irish cinema anywhere in the world.



Gerrys' private sector experience saw him head Enterprise Ireland's Russia/CIS office, and the Commercial Department of the Embassy of Ireland in Moscow from 2011 to 2019, responsible for 12 of the FSU countries.



Since 2019 he has been a regular visitor to the Balkans, and is currently the Chairperson of the Irish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce in the build-up to Ireland opening an Embassy in Belgrade later this year.




His most recent film project is the documentary 'Everything Else Matters' which he co-produced. The film explores current psychedelic research and is due for release on various platforms later this year.