FIRST FRAME

IN ASSOCIATION WITH WARNER BROS. STUDIO’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY

Millennium Theatre, Limerick: Feb 22 Lighthouse Cinema, Dublin: Feb 23

The Dublin International Film Festival is glad to bring back the First Frame Film Student Day, an initiative we first launched in 2020. As part of the competition, DIFF will showcase two programmes of Short films submitted by students as well as presenting an online and in-person film workshop – *last year it was editor Joi McMillion and filmmaker Adam McKay.

Ivan Zulueta’s edgy 1979 Spanish arthouse horror is regarded as a cult classic, with the great Pedro Almodóvar among its biggest fans. Recently remastered, it follows a frustrated film director whose addiction to heroin and complicated relationship with his girlfriend is enough to give anyone the shivers. The story takes a supernatural turn when an old video recording reveals a spectral figure visiting the filmmaker during his sleep resulting in a strange arrebato, or rapture.

Now in its 4th Year, 'First Frame' brings together students from film courses, universities and further education institutions from around Ireland to come together to view a curated selection of student films, to participate in workshops and panels with film talent both emerging and established and an opportunity for course leaders and students alike to network with their peers as part of an international film event.

The aim of First Frame is to encourage film students from around the country to engage with DIFF, but also begin to build their own networks outside of their academic courses. Bringing together the wide range of the institutes of further education and courses from outside Dublin also brings a diverse mix of students to the event, we are also delighted that the project is beginning to develop an international profile.

Masters in Documentary Practice

Film. Photo. Audio dcu.ie/madp

Fields of Darkness

DIRECTOR: Michael John Whelan

WRITER: Michael John Whelan

COUNTRY: Ireland

Centred around the community and landscape of the darkest inhabited place in Ireland, 'Fields of Darkness' explores diverse physical and metaphorical perspectives on darkness, weaving together stories from archaeology, spirituality, astronomy, music, and blindness. An imaginative tapestry of human and non-human experiences unfold across millions of years, from the first life stepping on land to the environmental effects of light pollution.

*FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE

INFO: Fri 3 Mar / Light House 2 / 20:30 / 75 mins

DIRECTOR: Dennis Harvey

WRITER: Dennis Harvey

CAST: Tobias Janson

COUNTRY: Ireland, Sweden, Chile

Writer-director Dennis Harvey left Ireland at the height of the global financial crisis in search of a better way of life. The filmmaker is one of four migrants featured in this documentary seeking to rebuild their lives abroad. From Ireland to Spain, Chile, Sweden, France and Bangladesh, the film explores human roots, land and identity in the age of migration. The filmmaker narrates through a series of moving and personal letters to his grandmother.

*FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE

I Must Away Mincéir

INFO: Fri 3 Mar / Light House 2 / 16:00 / 35 mins

DIRECTOR: Teresa Lavina

FEATURING: Nora Corcoran, Michael Collins, Martin Mahon, Catherine Joyce, Joe Casey, Theresa Mahon, Tina Mongan, Annie McDonagh

COUNTRY: Ireland

The cultures, traditions and evolving way of living for the traveller community is brought to screen in Teresa Lavina’s insightful and absorbing documentary. It portrays how traveller culture has progressed through past and present traditions via its storytellers, craftspeople and singers. Featuring many contributors from the traveller community - including those who have campaigned for a better means of living - it’s a revealing and colourful account of traveller life, told through the eyes, hearts and stories of travellers themselves.

*FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE