22.02 02.03.2024
Dublin International Film Festival 1 | diff.ie
Dublin International Film Festival Creating unique and unforgettable memories for film enthusiasts, filmmakers, and everyone in between!
Welcome to the Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF), where every frame tells a story, and every story becomes a memory. Each February, DIFF transforms Dublin into a hub of cinematic excellence for ten enchanting days. Our programme features star-studded Irish and international premieres, exclusive screenings and events, playful and powerful documentaries, captivating features, thoughtprovoking shorts, intimate Q&As, industry masterclasses, parties and celebrations. The festival also hosts its prestigious award ceremony, celebrating the art of filmmaking and the power of storytelling. This year, our programme is bigger and more vibrant than ever; look out for... •
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Our dedicated season of films from across the African continent, including Sudan, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Canadian visionary Guy Maddin, who joins us in Dublin to showcase a retrospective of his work, including Archangel and The Green Fog The iconic director Steve McQueen and the celebrated actress Isabelle Huppert, who are attending the festival to accept their prestigious Volta Awards The launch of the Tanqueray Film Club, a new series of in-depth conversations curated by DIFF, showcasing emerging and iconic cinema talent, including both Oscar and DIFF award-winners The extension of our public and events programme at The Complex, a new venue and hub for DIFF, with over 20 additional events including Q&As, screenwriters’ panels, industry masterclasses, and exhibitions
Drawing from its 22 years of experience, the festival is committed to nurturing and developing the film and screen sectors, and contributing to their growth, vibrancy, and diversity.
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Contents
Intros
3
Sponsors and Supporters
5
Audiences & Outreach
7
Patrons
8
Schedule and listings
10
Tickets, Access, and Venues
14
Opening Gala
17
Festival Programme
18
Silent Film
22
Screen Ireland Shorts
25
VM Discovers
31
Family Gala
34
Lord Mayor’s Gala
37
Awards Ceremony
42
DIFF Friends Gala
44
DIFF Shorts 1
46
DIFF Shorts 2
62
Volta Awards
67 & 71
DIFF on Tour
69
DIFF Shorts 3
73
Fresh Film Hothouse, Emerging Limerick Filmmakers Scenario X
80
Surprise Film
89
Retrospective
90
Closing Night Gala
95
Award Nominees and Judges
97
Industry & Public Engagement
99
Board & Staff
111
Volunteering
112
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Chairperson’s Intro
Fáilte! On behalf of our passionate and incredibly hardworking board and our Deputy Chairperson Elaine Gill, we welcome you: our audiences, our filmmakers, industry colleagues and partners, supporters, friends, patrons and guests to Dublin International Film Festival 2024. We could not create this independent festival without your vibrant collaboration. Film is an exceptionally powerful medium that transports us to other worlds; it enables us to experience the lives of others and, crucially, encourages us to explore our own ideas and feelings more deeply. Film festivals offer us unique opportunities to immerse ourselves over a short period, in the company of others, both losing and finding ourselves repeatedly through the portal offered only by, and on, the big screen. Of all art forms, film, whether you are in production, distribution, exhibition or marketing, totally depends on collaboration. None of what we do in film can be achieved without working together to help create wonderful things, and film festivals themselves are both a microcosm and inspiring exemplar of this great quality.
Scorsese said: “Collaboration is essential in filmmaking; it takes a village to make a great film.” I think that collaboration is vital for festivals too, and it takes a city and nation to help make a great film festival. Dublin International Film Festival is a true epitome of this collaboration. Collective effort elevates us to new heights. So I and the board thank the dynamic DIFF team (and our invaluable volunteers), led by the inspired and inspiring Gráinne Humphreys. They demonstrate collaboration in practice daily. They have assembled a truly wonderful feast of films and events, including 20 feature-length Irish films. To you, our audiences, our most heartfelt thanks. We so look forward to meeting you as we all immerse ourselves in this wonderful programme, and we thank you for your collaboration – yes, that word again! – in creating a memorably vibrant, nurturing, and challenging festival. TRISH LONG Chairperson
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Sponsors & Supporters
Director’s Intro
PRINCIPAL FUNDER
INDUSTRY PARTNER
PREMIUM PARTNER
Welcome! It’s a great pleasure to introduce the 2024 Dublin International Film Festival. We received record levels of film submissions this year and the catalogue you hold is a result of the combined effort of the dedicated festival team, including our industrious programming committee. The programme is packed with must-see premieres, previews of new releases and hidden gems and future cult classics. Amongst the international film programme, I would like to pick out a few must-see highlights: our wonderful African film season, Guy Maddin retrospective, and a short season of documentaries on filmmakers. Our Opening Gala, TWIG and Closing Gala, That They Might Face the Rising Sun, are indicative of the strength of Irish filmmakers working today and the festival is delighted to support our local talent. Music maestro Neil Brand returns to DIFF with a celebration of Von Sternberg’s Underworld, and we have expanded our Festival Tour and our Shorts Programme. Across the busy 2024 programme, we will present the premieres of 20 new Irish films, eight programmes of short films, and host a series of workshops and industry events including masterclasses with Guy Maddin and Kevin Macdonald. With a nod to Past Lives, I believe that cinema makes our lives much bigger, and
the festival is honoured to welcome two titans of world cinema – Steve McQueen and Isabelle Huppert – to the festival to receive our Volta Tribute Awards and discuss their work. We are delighted to announce a number of new initiatives, including our IFCO Centenary Public Talks event, our Tanqueray Film Club, our Irish Film Curators initiative, and a focus on film programming and audiences. Thanks also to the board of the festival, led by our superb Chairperson Trish Long and Deputy Chairperson Elaine Gill. I would like to join with Trish in thanking our key funders for their ongoing commitment to our event and welcome our patrons and sponsors who join us this year for the first time.
HOTEL PARTNER
EVENTS PARTNER
MEDIA PARTNERS
PROGRAMME SUPPORTERS
I would like to acknowledge the whole DIFF team but reserve a very special thanks to our incredible Festival Manager Karen English and Head of Commercial and Marketing Samuel Javid. DIFF aspires to bring the best of world cinema to Dublin, to bring the best cinema to the best audiences in the world. I hope you can join us. GRÁINNE HUMPHREYS Executive Director
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HOSPITALITY PARTNER
Sponsors & Supporters
Audiences & Outreach
EMBASSIES & CULTURAL PARTNERS
Picturehouse Making Cinema Accessible To Communities Picturehouse brings art and vitality to spaces and audiences outside of city life. It’s a celebration of creativity and participation, primarily focusing on older and marginalised audiences. It is supported by the Oscar-winning actress, Brenda Fricker. The Picturehouse programme continues to bring the festival magic to the communities by working with five centres across Dublin. If you wish to donate to Picturehouse or be involved, please visit diff.ie.
FESTIVAL VENUES
“Picturehouse is hands down one of the brightest things about this festival. I’ve seen it make the people we bring it to laugh, cry and remember. I am complimented to be a close part of something that is so vital to a marginalised segment of our society.”
Our Older Critics include: Ann Kilemade, Ann McEwan, Anne-Marie O’Dwyer, Aoife Cuffe, Bernie O’Callaghan, Breda Kavanagh, Brenda Greeley, Bridie O’Reilly, Carmel Rooney, Claire Cotter, Clare Brophy, Deirdre O’Sullivan, Donal McPolin, Eileen Murphy, Frances Heffernan, Grainne O’Boyle, Imelda McDonagh, John Fox, Justine Connell, Lena Foley, Lorna Cady, Maria McCormack, Mark Loughlin, Martina Kearney, Maureen Bushe, Mutale Kampuni, Norma Bodie, Patrick Plunkett, Pete Bodie, Peter Clarke, Peter Heffernan, Ray Sherlock, Rose Burke, Susan Byrne, and Tara Norris.
- PICTUREHOUSE PATRON, OSCAR-WINNING ACTRESS BRENDA FRICKER
Young Programmers
Young and Older Critics
Now in its second year, the Young Programmers project allows young people to view a number of films and devise a programme to be screened in their own communities. This year’s participating groups are Sphere 17 groups from Kilbarrack and Darndale and Transition Year students from Scoil Chaitríona, Glasnevin and Tallaght Community School.
We growing and developing our film criticism initiatives, working with both Young and Older critics. These groups will work with DIFF to immerse themselves in the 2024 festival line-up, and craft engaging content connected to the 2024 programme. Their content and reviews will be published on Film Ireland’s website – www.filmireland.net Young Critics is a collaboration with Young Irish Filmmakers, and includes: 6 | diff.ie
Jack Griffin, Adelaide Kane, Chloe O’Malley, Pia Roycroft, Ray McHallem, Eoghan Grennan, Fionn O’Mahony, and Amy Bogue.
Scoil Chaitríona and Tallaght Community School screened their selections to their communities in January of this year and Sphere 17’s selections will play during the festival
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Patrons Scheme
Patrons & Friends CHAMPION
Patrons have long been a vital thread in the fabric of the artistic and cultural process (often helping ensure its completion and especially helping to bring work to audiences). I believe these creative unions and partnerships are even more vitally important now than they ever were. When the festival needed support, we turned to our trusted patrons and friends for help. Their generosity and support not only enabled a world-class festival to take place in Dublin in February 2023, but it allowed us to sustain our important work with early career filmmakers and our vital outreach and community engagement programmes across Ireland. Now, in our second year as an independent festival, the impact DIFF makes on the lives of diverse audiences and filmmakers has never been more important. In addition to our annual festival, Dublin International Film Festival delivers transformative programmes. Through these, talented artists and storytellers find and build new skills, and some of our most under-represented communities find their place in our industry – as makers, producers, writers, directors, or passionate followers and supporters. With the support of our patrons and friends over the next three years, we will: Empower Emerging Filmmakers; Champion Different Voices; Nurture National Creativity; Advance Education and Access; and Connect with Communities. Our patrons’ support allows us to engage, listen to, and collaborate with socially and culturally under-represented
communities. With them, we build better and more and accessible routes into cinema and the film industry. This support will also help us achieve even greater success in our mission to empower, educate, and enrich our society through screen and cinema. Our patrons and friends don’t just make a financial contribution to the festival, vital and much appreciated as that is; they also invest in the future of filmmaking, cultural and creative diversity, and powerful and playful storytelling. In this our 22nd year, as we roll out and expand our inaugural patrons and friends scheme, we invite you to be part of our journey, to make a lasting impact on the lives of filmmakers, audiences, and communities alike. Your support is not only appreciated, but essential in sustaining the vibrant and independent spirit of Dublin International Film Festival. This year, we are keen to expand the patrons and friends scheme further and have refreshed and developed the packages on offer. Patrons enjoy privileges such as priority booking, gala invites, exclusive access to private screenings and much more. We invite you to join us and help safeguard Ireland’s premier film festival. Find out more at www.diff.ie. To borrow a line from one of my favourite Pixar characters, with your help, together we can go “to infinity and beyond”. Trish Long Chairperson, Dublin International Film Festival
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Adam McKay ADVOCATE
Ion Equity
SUPPORTER
Kenneth Branagh, in memory of John Sessions Brophy Gillespie Trish Long Jo Homewood 9 | diff.ie
Schedule
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 All day
First Frame Limerick Millennium Theatre
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 All day
First Frame Dublin LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22 18:30 1h 47m
TWIG LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
18:30 1h 47m
TWIG LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
21:00 1h 47m
TWIG LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23 14:00 1h 32m
Stolen LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
13:30 2h 9m
Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
16:00 1h 38m
The Teachers’ Lounge LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
16:00 1h 43m
Posso Entrare? An Ode to Naples + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
18:30 1h 27m
Eat/Sleep/Cheer/Repeat + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
18:30 1h 27m
Banel & Adama + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
20:45 1h 37m
Baltimore + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
20:45 1h 36m
Toni + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27
10:30 1h 46m
EVIL DOES NOT EXIST LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
19:30 1h 56m
High & Low — John Galliano + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
12:00 45m
Dublin On Screen 1 LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
12:45 2h 6m
Monster LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
20:15 1h 35m
Sleep LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
13:30 1h 25m
Cannes Uncut + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
14:00 1h 14m
Screen Ireland Shorts 1 LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26
14:00 1h 10m
Samuel and the Light LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
15:15 1h 23m
The Informer LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
13:30 1h 20m
15:30 1h 55m
Time Out LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
16:00 1h 18m
Screen Ireland Shorts 2 LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
The Lynda Myles Project: A Manifesto LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
The Beast LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
VM Discovers + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
The Green Fog LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
16:00 2h 26m
17:00 1h 8m
14:00 1h 3m
La Chimera LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
Mami Wata + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
DIFF Shorts 1 LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
18:00 2h 10m
18:30 1h 47m
15:30 2h 4m
King Frankie + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
Shayda LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
18:30 1h 7m
19:00 1h 30m
16:00 1h 57m
Conor Walsh: Selected Piano Works + Q&A IFI Screen 1
21:00 1h 30m
Reawakening + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
18:30 1h 40m
The Line + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
18:30 1h 4m
Documentary Shorts THE DOCUMENTARY ROOM
21:00 1h 58m
Red Rooms LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
18:30 1h 35m
Ama Gloria + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
20:30 1h 58m
The Universal Theory LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
18:30 1h 17m
Don’t Forget to Remember + Q&A IFI Screen 1
21:00 1h 24m
Drive-Away Dolls LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
20:45 1h 50m
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28
21:00 1h 30m
Swing Bout + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
12:00 2h 43m
Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
12:00 1h 1m
Dublin On Screen 2 LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
13:30 1h 59m
DIFF Shorts 2 LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
15:30 1h 39m
Gone With the Boat + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
16:00 1h 38m
Orlando, My Political Biography LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
18:00 1h 40m
Memory LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
18:30 1h 34m
Hounds LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
18:30 1h 42m
The Swimming Diaries + Q&A IFI Screen 1
20:00 1h 35m
Sidonie in Japan + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
20:30 1h 30m
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 11:00 1h 44m
City of Wind LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
11:00 1h 47m
Housekeeping for Beginners LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
13:30 1h 21m
Perennial Light + Q&A IFI Screen 1
13:30 1h 39m
The Featherweight LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
14:00 1h 30m
The Irish Question + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
14:00 1h 12m
Oink PAVILION
15:30 1h 17m
Archangel LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
17:00 1h 48m
Freud’s Last Session LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
17:30 2h
Goodbye Julia + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
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Schedule
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29
FRIDAY, MARCH 1 11:00 1h 22m
Bye Bye Tiberias LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
12:00 2h 49m
Close Your Eyes LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
13:30 1h 20m
Fresh Film Festival LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
15:30 30m
Emerging Limerick Filmmakers LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
16:00 1h 53m
Suddenly LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
17:00 2h 27m
Green Border + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
18:30 1h 47m
Four Daughters LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
18:30 1h 1m
Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s IFI Screen 1
14:00 3h 17m
About Dry Grasses LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
14:00 1h 18m
Bill Douglas My Best Friend LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
16:00 2h 3m
DIFF Shorts 3 LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
20:15 1h 30m
Woken + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
18:30 1h 11m
Dreamcatchr + Breakin’ Brothers LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
20:30 1h 11m
The Swallow + Q&A IFI Screen 1
18:30 1h 30m
Omen LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
21:00 1h 46m
The Summer with Carmen LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
20:00 2h 12m
Dear Jassi + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
20:30 50m
Birdsong + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
SATURDAY, MARCH 2 11:00 3h 9m
The Delinquents LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
14:00 1h 35m
Brand Upon the Brain LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
14:30 1h 20m
My Winnipeg + Q&A LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
16:00 2h 2m
Four Little Adults LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
17:00
Surprise Film LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
19:30 1h 47m
That They May Face the Rising Sun LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 1
19:30 1h 47m
That They May Face the Rising Sun LIGHTHOUSE CINEMA Screen 2
Please check our website www.diff.ie for the most current schedule. 12 | diff.ie
Book Now!
Tickets
Access
Limited Seats, Unlimited Stories Book Your DIFF Experience Today!
If you are planning to visit Dublin to attend the 2024 Dublin International Film Festival, use our map for information on our venues and assistance for travel.
By Phone 016877974 Online www.diff.ie
As part of our 22nd edition, our main focus at DIFF, as in the past years, is to celebrate and promote equality, diversity and inclusion through our programmes, events and talent. To do this, DIFF welcomes our audiences from different parts of Ireland and around the world to participate in screenings and events inperson at our venues.
Single Ticket Evening (after 5pm) and weekends €14 Weekdays before 5pm €10 Special Presentation and Patron’s Gala €15 Opening/Closing Gala €25 Surprise Film €15 Lord Mayor’s Gala €10.50 Senior and Student Prices Evenings (after 5pm) and Weekends Ticket Bundles and Passes 6 film bundle 12 film bundle Season pass
€12 €55 €115 €250
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All our venues have accessible seating Non-English (foreign) language films are subtitled Our volunteers have undergone training to identify hidden disabilities and will be wearing lanyards with sunflowers, marking them out as approachable. On-screen text, SDH subtitles and captions for D/ deaf or hard of hearing. These films are tagged as ‘CC’ on diff.ie.
More information about venue and online accessibility is available at diff.ie/access. If you have any specific access needs or queries, we would be happy to help: +35316624260.
We operate as a members’ festival, and membership is included in the ticket price. Unless otherwise stated, all ticket holders must be 18 years or older to attend festival events and screenings.
Terms & Conditions
For full details of our ticketing terms and conditions see www.diff.ie/terms-and-conditions Booking fees: €1 per ticket, capped at €5 per transaction. If you have any additional queries about your booking, visit www.diff.ie for answers to Frequently Asked Questions or contact us at boxoffice@diff.ie / 01-6877974 14 | diff.ie
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Thursday, February 22
Festival Map
Opening Gala
Dublin City Centre
TWIG 2 1 3
5
Dún Laoghaire
6
4
Venue List
Drama
1.
The Complex Smithfield
4.
Pavilion Theatre Dún Laoghaire
2.
Light House Cinema Smithfield
5.
3.
Irish Film Institute (IFI) Temple Bar
The Documentary Room The Circular, Rialto Village
6.
Goethe Merrion Square
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In this re-telling of Antigone set against Dublin’s gangland, young Twig dreams of escaping with her lover Eamon, but her brothers’ deadly feud over the future of their late father’s kingdom draws her back. After the death of her eldest brother, Eddie, she goes in search of her other brother, Paulie, defying authority in favour of God’s law. This reception of the Sophoclean tragedy is an angry but sensitive response to the recent rise of violence in the streets of the Irish capital. Epic in its scope and fearless in its honesty, Quinn’s anti-war film comes at a very appropriate time.
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Info Light House 1 & 2 / 18:30, Light House 1 / 21:00 1hr 47mins Director Marian Quinn Writer Marian Quinn Cast Sade Malone, Brian F. O’Byrne Country Ireland
Friday, February 23
Friday, February 23
Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger
Info Light House 2 / 13:30 / 2hr 9mins Director David Hinton Country United Kingdom
The Teachers’ Lounge
Documentary
Drama
Producing, writing, and directing, Powell and Pressburger created great classics of the British golden age of cinema, inc. The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, and A Matter of Life and Death. Martin Scorsese takes audiences on a very personal journey as we hear how from a young age he was captivated by their films, and how a later friendship with Michael Powell left an indelible mark on his own life.
When one of her students is accused of theft, secondary school teacher Carla (Benesch) decides to get to the bottom of it. Premiering at Berlin, this thriller with a seemingly not-so-thrilling subject matter is an insidious classroom drama preoccupied with issues of ethics, racism, loyalty, and the dangers of stubborn principles. Marvin Miller’s screeching violins come together with Benesch’s discreet intensity to create an impressively perturbing atmosphere.
Stolen
Info Light House 1 / 16:00 / 1hr 34mins Director Ilker Çatak Writer Ilker Çatak, Johannes Duncker Cast Eva Löbau, Leonie Benesch, Michael Klammer, Rafael Stachowiak Country Germany With the support of
Posso Entrare? An Ode to Naples
Thriller, Action The only Indian film selected to screen at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, Tejpal’s debut feature is about two big-city brothers who witness the kidnapping of a baby at a railway station and become embroiled in a perilous investigation. The film is literally a ride, with dizzyingly fast-paced action compressed in between long takes. Tejpal’s sharp direction meets its match in Banerjee’s brilliant performance and results in a compelling commentary on pressing social issues. 18 | diff.ie
Info Light House 1 / 14:00 / 1hr 34mins Director Karan Tejpal Writer Agadbumb, Gaurav Dhingra, Karan Tejpal Cast Abhishek Banerjee, Harish Khanna, Mia Maelzer, Sahidur Rahaman, Shubham Country India
Info Light House 2 / 16:00 / 1hr 43mins Director Trudie Styler Writer Trudie Styler Country Italy
Documentary Naples is a city with a reputation. A city of culture, of creativity, but also a city of chaos and criminal neglect. Director Trudie Styler confronts the challenge, the intrigue, and the complexities of this unique city. Allowing the people of Naples to tell their own story reveals a city of generosity and cruelty, a city of light and stark shadows.
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Friday, February 23
Friday, February 23
Eat / Sleep / Cheer / Repeat
Baltimore Info Light House 1 / 18:30 / 1hr 27mins Director Tanya Doyle Country Ireland
Drama Between pastoral fields and council housing, in an industrial estate on the edge of Europe’s most westerly city, the best cheerleaders from across Ireland come together to form the national cheerleading team. This ensemble film centres on a gang of young misfits and oddballs who, through cheerleading, are finding their place in the world.
Rose Dugdale (Imogen Poots) was an English heiressturned-IRA sympathiser and this is the story of the event which came to define her life: the 1974-armed art theft of Russborough House. A studied sketch of the revolutionary, Molloy and Lawlor’s film is diffused with an emotionally absorbing soundtrack, creating constant drama, tension and unease.
Banel & Adama
Toni
Drama
African Season
In a remote village in northern Senegal, Banel (Mane) revels in domestic bliss with her beloved Adama (Diallo). However, individual freedoms soon clash with communal superstitions, and blessings become curses. Sy sets the ferocity and resilience of Banel, a descendant of Medea and Lady Macbeth, against powerful images of sandy apocalypses. Premiering at Cannes, this film was the only debut feature screened in the main competition. 20 | diff.ie
Info Light House 2 / 18:30 / 1hr 27mins Director Ramata-Toulaye Sy Writer Ramata-Toulaye Sy Cast Khady Mane, Mamadou Diallo, Binta Racine Sy Country Senegal, France, Mali With the support of
Info Light House 1 / 20:45 / 1hr 37mins Director Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor Writer Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor Cast Carrie Crowley, Dermot Crowley, Imogen Poots, Jack Meade, Lewis Brophy, Simon Coury, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor Country Ireland, United Kingdom
Info Light House 2 / 20:45 / 1hr 36mins Director Nathan Ambrosioni Writer Nathan Ambrosioni Cast Camille Cottin, Léa Lopez, Thomas Gioria Country France Drama, Comedy
With the support of
Toni (Cottin) is raising her five teenage children alone. When her two eldest prepare to go to college, she considers applying to university herself. Ambrosioni’s film does not define motherhood as womanhood but as one aspect of womanhood. In its tender narrative of an unusual coming of age, this film shows that it’s never too late to start again. 21 | diff.ie
Saturday, February 24
Saturday, February 24
Silent Film
Evil Does Not Exist Info Light House 1 / 10:30 / 1hr 46mins Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi Writer Ryusuke Hamaguchi Cast Ayaka Shibutani, Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka Country Japan
The Informer
Drama Hamaguchi’s follow-up to the internationally acclaimed Drive My Car, is an eco-fable set in the remote village of Mizubiki. The serenity and ecological balance of the area and its modest inhabitants is threatened by the imminent arrival of a glamping site. A polished and patient piece of storytelling, this film contemplates nature, work and community. Hamaguchi’s unpretentious masterpiece received the Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Award in Venice, and the Best Film award in London.
Monster Info Light House 1 / 12:45 / 2hr 6mins Director Hirokazu Kore-eda Writer Yûji Sakamoto Cast Eita Nagayama, Hinata Hiiragi, Sakura Ando, Soya Kurokawa Country Japan
Drama The earliest adaptation of Liam O’Flaherty’s novel, this Irish revolutionary drama anticipates film noir in its aesthetics and fast-moving narrative. Set among Dublin revolutionaries in the early days of the Irish Free State (formed in 1922), the action starts when a clandestine meeting of revolutionaries is raided by the police and the police chief is shot and killed. Director Arthur Robison’s taut masterpiece was famously remade in 1935 by John Ford.
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Info Light House 1 / 15:15 / 1h 23mins Director Arthur Robison Cast Carl Harbord, Lars Hanson, Lya de Putti, Warwick Ward Country UK
Thriller, Drama A mother demands answers from the school faculty when her young son starts behaving strangely. What unfolds is a story that must be told several times before it can be fully understood. A timely tale of family, friendship, love and hope, Kore-eda’s typically sensitive work is set to Ryuichi Sakamoto’s sublime score. This deeply moving and breath-taking piece of cinema from the master director was awarded the Queer Palm and Best Screenplay at Cannes. 23 | diff.ie
Saturday, February 24
Supporting Irish Story Makers at the Dublin International Film Festival
SCREEN IRELAND SHORTS 1
Pediment
A selection of short films from Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland’s recent Focus and Frameworks short film schemes. The Frameworks films in the line-up are co-funded by RTÉ.
That they May Face the Rising Sun
Baltimore
Freud’s Last Session
Twig
Eat Sleep Cheer Repeat
Woken
Screen Ireland Animated Shorts
Screen Ireland Live Action Shorts
Virgin Media Discovers/ Screen Ireland Shorts
Time 14:00 Venue Light House 2 Duration 1hr 14mins
Director Derek Ugochukwu When Timmy skips school to invite his estranged grandmother to his tenth birthday party, long-repressed issues of race and heritage resurface, threatening the cords of the family.
The Last Set
Wrecker
Director Aisling Conroy
Director Martina McGlynn
A chance encounter with the grim reaper at a Lughnasa party and a dance between life and death, this 2D animation is a musical anaglyph on existence.
In famine-stricken Ireland, a girl learns that burning hunger is capable of incinerating kind hearts and so much more.
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Saturday, February 24
Cod & Chips
Yellow Belt
Director Matthew Pidgeon
Director Allyn Quigley
A particularly nosey seagull strikes up a conversation with a suicidal man on Dublin’s Loopline Bridge in this tragicomic tale of nimble delight.
As his parents separate, a young boy encounters love for the first time in his Taekwondo class. Bruises bloom on his face, romance blooms in his heart, and he learns that love and hurt often go together.
Room Taken
We only show a handful of adverts, so make sure you grab your popcorn early and arrive on time for the film!
Director Tj O’Grady-Peyton New to Ireland and experiencing homelessness, Isaac discreetly takes up residence in an elderly blind woman’s house, and the two form a unique bond, gentle and unseen.
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Saturday, February 24 SCREEN IRELAND SHORTS 2
Saturday, February 24
Worry World
Callus
BOG
Director Jessica Patterson
Director Ciarán Hickey
Director Éabha Bortolozzo, Jack Kirwan
In a black-and-white Kafkaesque society, where everyone can see each other’s thoughts, a factory worker thinks in colours. While dreaming of love and escape, she meets someone equally colourful.
In this haunting narrative of violence and superstition, a widowed father strives to protect his daughter after she is believed to be a curse from the Old Gods.
Led by a mythical Great Irish Elk, Oisín ‘Little Deer’ comes to terms with his father’s death in a fantastical katabasis through the bog of memories.
Uroborus
Waiting Day
Nana Dee
Two for the Road
Director Diarmuid Donohoe
Director Grace Dyas
Director Marta Sniezek, Momo Willet
Director Lochlainn McKenna
Trauma is a devouring time traveller in this story of a young woman trapped in an infinite loop of incarceration and escape in a 1950s psychiatric institution.
Waiting day – the day before payday – is the only day of the week that seems to have more than 24 hours in it. This is the story of a mother and her two daughters waiting for their pay and their possibilities.
Nana Dee confronts the loneliness of time by avoiding time altogether and immersing herself in television. She is waiting for someone. And they are late.
A poignant memory of complicated love, this is the record of a boy’s adventures on the road with his alcoholic and nomadic father, one weekend at a time.
A selection of short films from Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland’s recent Focus and Frameworks short film schemes. The Frameworks films in the line-up are co-funded by RTÉ.
Time 16:00 Venue Light House 2 Duration 1hr 18mins
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Saturday, February 24 VM DISCOVERS
Introducing Streaming TV Infinite entertainment from one tiny box Powered by Full Fibre Broadband
See in store or virginmedia.ie Subject to availability. Separate subscription required for Streaming Apps – Netflix & Prime Video & Paramount+. T&C’s apply, see virginmedia.ie.
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Time: 17:00 Venue: Light House 1 Duration: 1hr 9mins
Pregnant with a Drag Queen
Kiki
Director Colin Brady
Director Naomi Sheridan
Drag doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are. This docu-drama is about how a queer kid in 1990s Dublin discovers their true identity and inner strength when they give birth to Veda, a vibrant drag queen icon. Brady uses laughter to deal with a sensitive subject and tell an inspirational story of self-realisation.
Adamma and her father Jide, seeking refuge in an asylum centre, are greeted by angry protestors. Things escalate when Adamma ventures into the neighbourhood, alone, in search of her missing cuddly toy, Kiki.
The Head on Him
Never Kill a Femboy on the First Date
Director Sean Gallen
Director Oonagh Kearney
It is the 1990s and a young boy has just moved from Nigeria to Dublin. Desperate to fit in, he shaves off his afro. But the afro magically keeps growing back, bigger and bigger and BIGGER.
A crossdresser’s one-night stand with an exhibitionist turns life-threatening when a group of voyeurs discover they are not a woman, forcing them to use their wit and charm to negotiate and survive.
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Saturday, February 24
Saturday, February 24
Mami Wata
Thriller, Fantasy
Reawakening
African Season
Set in the matriarchal ocean village of Iyi, where West African water deity Mami Wata reigns via the village leader, this genre-bending tale brings to life a futuristic fable that fuses spiritual beliefs with inter-generational tensions. Vividly shot in black-and-white by the talented and award-winning Lílis Soares, Obasi’s third feature is an ambitious visual experience.
Info Light House 2 / 18:30 / 1hr 47mins Director C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi Writer C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi Cast Emeka Amakeze, Evelyne Ily, Kelechi Udegbe, Rita Edochie, Uzoamaka Aniunoh Country Nigeria With the support of
King Frankie
Info Light House 1 / 21:00 / 1hr 30mins Director Virginia Gilbert Writer Virginia Gilbert Cast Erin Doherty, Jared Harris, Juliet Stevenson Country United Kingdom Drama Ten years after their daughter’s disappearance, John (Harris) and Mary (Stevenson) are visited by a young woman claiming to be their lost child. But is this woman really who she says she is? And if she is an imposter, what does she want? Gilbert’s sophomore film is a drama of deceptive motivations and thrilling suspense, culminating in a gripping search for truth.
Red Rooms
Drama Frankie (Coonan) is a humble Dublin taxi driver, who runs his own tiny taxi firm. On the day of his father’s removal, he comes face to face with something that happened ten years ago, and the first thing that he must do is forgive himself. Malone’s debut film is about those who not only make promises but also keep them.
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Info Light House 1 / 19:00 / 1hr 35mins Director Dermot Malone Writer Dermot Malone Cast Aine Cooney, Alan Mahon, Ally Ní Chiaráin, Claudia Beatty, Conor MacNeill, Emman Idama, Fergal Titley, lynn rafferty, Olivia Caffrey, Owen Roe, Peter Coonan, Rejjie Snow, Rob Malone, Ross Gaynor, Ruairi O’Connor Country Ireland
Thriller Courtroom drama meets the serial killer movie in this story of a model and her growing obsession with a sadistic murderer who allegedly broadcasted torturing and killing his victims for a paying audience on the dark web. Scored by Pascal Plante’s brother Dominique Plante, this disturbing psychological thriller is preoccupied with all things shocking and shrouded, and cleverly subtle in its revelations. 33 | diff.ie
Info Light House 2 / 21:00 / 1hr 58mins Director Pascal Plante Writer Pascal Plante Cast Elisabeth Locas, Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Maxwell McCabe Lokos, Natalie Tannous, Pierre Chagnon Country Canada With the support of
Sunday, February 25
Sunday, February 25
Family Gala
City of Wind
Oink
Drama What happens when full-time student and parttime shaman, 17-year-old Ze (Bold-Erdene) meets the attractive, modern and charismatic Maralaa (Ariunbyamba)? Purev-Ochir’s directorial debut is a graceful and unpretentious coming of age, told with love and humble perfection. Set in a rarely seen part of the Mongolian capital, the film premiered at Venice, and, after Toronto, and Busan, now comes to Dublin.
Info Light House 1 / 11:00 / 1hr 43mins Director Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir Writer Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir Cast Nomin-Erdene Ariunbyamba, Tergel Bold-Erdene Country Mongolia
Housekeeping For Beginners Family, Animation When 9-year-old Babs receives a pig named Oink as a present from her grandfather, she convinces her parents to keep it under the condition that Oink follows puppy training. But her parents are not the biggest threat to Oink; her grandfather is secretly taking part in the sausage competition organised by The Society for Meat Products from Fresh Pigs. Will Babs be able to save Oink? Based on the book by Tosca Menten, Halberstad’s stop-motion film is brimming with love, compassion and determination. Through a young girl and her very poopy pig, it investigates animal welfare, the meat industry, and familial bonds. Presented with live voiceover With the support of
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Info Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire / 14:00 / 1hr 13mins Director Mascha Halberstad Writer Fiona van Heemstra Cast Henry van Loon, Hiba Ghafry, Jelka van Houten, Kees Prins, Loes Luca, Matsen Montsma Country The Netherlands
LGBTQ+, Drama Dita’s (Marinca) house is home to a wild group of queer people. When her partner is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Dita is forced to promise that she will raise her two girls. To save this patchwork family, Dita has to act quickly and maybe even marry the only man available around. Stolevski’s riotous drama is about choosing your own family and sticking up for them no matter what. The film won the Queer Lion at Venice. 35 | diff.ie
Info Light House 2 / 11:00 / 1hr 47mins Director Goran Stolevski Writer Goran Stolevski Cast Alina Serban, Anamaria Marinca, Dzada Selim, Mia Mustafa, Samson Selim, Vladimir Tintor Country North Macedonia
Sunday, February 25
Sunday, February 25
Lord Mayor’s Gala
Perennial Light
Documentary In coastal Ireland, the memory of his best friend’s sudden death haunts a young boy even as he ventures into adulthood. Troubled by his own vortex of dark thoughts and an unnatural obsession with death, he embarks on a quest for healing and redemption. Hickey’s film is a dialogue-free hybrid monochromatic piece of cinema, featuring hand-drawn ballpoint drawings from Paolo Chianta.
Info Irish Film Institute 1 / 13:30 / 1hr 21mins Director Colin Hickey Writer Colin Hickey Cast Ciara Kirby, Clara Rose Hickey, Colin Hickey, Finn O’ Donovan, Jack O’Mahony, Muriel O’ Brady, Sahar Jarrahie Koorn Country Ireland
The Irish Question
Documentary A provocative, poetic and cinematic meditation on the prospect of a united Ireland from acclaimed filmmaker Alan Gilsenan. With the likelihood of a border poll becoming an increasing possibility, do we really understand what that could mean for all those living on the island of Ireland? Or are we stumbling into some possible future as Britain once sleep-walked into Brexit? With unique contributions from the likes of Leo Varadker, Bill Clinton, Mary-Lou McDonald, Mike Nesbitt, Monica McWilliams, John Major, Susan McKay, Bertie Ahern, Fintan O’Toole, Gerry Adams, Linda Irvine and Peter Mandelson amongst many others, The Irish Question takes a fresh and sometimes surprising look at the dark trauma of the past and the unique possibilities of the future.
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Info Light House 1 / 14:00 / 1hr 30mins Director Alan Gilsenan Writer John Walsh Country Ireland
Sunday, February 25
Sunday, February 25
The Featherweight
Freud’s Last Session
Drama Set in the mid-1960s, The Featherweight presents a gripping chapter in the story of Italian-American boxer Willie Pep who, down and out in his mid-40s, decides to make a return to the ring, at which point a documentary camera crew enters his life. Painstakingly researched and constructed, the film is a visceral portrait of the discontents of twentieth-century American masculinity, fame and self-perception.
Info Light House 2 / 13:30 / 1hr 39mins Director Robert Kolodny Writer Steve Loff Cast James Madio, Jr., Keir Gilchrist, Lawrence Gillard, Ron Livingston, Ruby Maxine Wolf, Stephen Lang Country United States
Archangel
Drama, Comedy
Drama Sigmund Freud (Hopkins) meets C. S. Lewis (Goode) and a scintillating conversation unfolds on the question of god. This adaptation of a play paints interesting psychological portraits of its two protagonists as well as some secondary characters like Freud’s daughter Anna. Complementing the superb performances by Goode and Hopkins is Luciana Arrighi’s thoughtful production design and Ben Smithard’s stellar cinematography.
Info Light House 1 / 17:00 / 1hr 48mins Director Matt Brown Writer Mark St Germain, Matt Brown Cast Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Northam, Jodi Balfour, Liv Lisa Fries, Matthew Goode, Orla Brady Country United Kingdom, United States
Goodbye Julia
Retrospective
With striking black-and-white cinematography and a stylised set design, Maddin tells a tale of obsessive love in the icy arctic Russian town of Archangel, where Bolsheviks, White Russians and German Huns converge during World War I. Literally a film like no other, this weird, wild and extraordinary photoplay resurrects forgotten cinematic conventions and is both melodrama and deadpan parody. 38 | diff.ie
Info Light House 2 / 15:30 / 1hr 17mins Director Guy Maddin Writer George Toles, John B. Harvie Cast Ari Cohen, David Falkenberg, Margaret Anne McLeod, Michael Gottli, Michael O’Sullivan Country Canada With the support of
Drama
African Season
Info Light House 2 / 17:30 / 2hr 0mins Director Mohamed Kordofani Writer Mohamed Kordofani Cast Eiman Yousif, Ger Duany, Nazar Goma, Siran Riak Country Sudan, Egypt, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Sweden
Wracked by guilt after covering up a murder, Mona (Yousif), With the support of a northern Sudanese retired singer, tries to make amends by taking in the deceased’s southern Sudanese widow, Julia (Riak), and her son, into her home. In this fine debut by Kordofani, a personal moral drama is staged on the sets of a fractured and politically tense Sudan. The first ever Sudanese film to play in an official selection at Cannes, it won the Un Certain Regard section’s Freedom Prize. 39 | diff.ie
Sunday, February 25
High & Low: John Galliano Info Light House 1 / 19:30 / 1hr 56mins Director Kevin Macdonald Country United Kingdom, United States, France
Documentary The creative director of Givenchy and Dior in the 90s, John Galliano loomed large over the fashion industry until his fall from grace in 2011, when a video of him using anti-Semitic slurs emerged. This documentary records the career of the controversial designer, his rise, fall and redemption. Macdonald’s film is riveting and empathetic in its attempts to understand social rehabilitation and forgiveness.
Sleep Info Light House 2 / 20:15 / 1hr 35mins Director Jason Yu Writer Jason Yu Cast Sun-kyun Lee, Yu-mi Jung Country South Korea Horror, Comedy Jason Yu’s tightly plotted and smartly scripted debut is an escalating wild ride into a nightmarish situation: a pregnant Soo-jin (Jung) tries to figure out how to stop her husband’s violent and grotesque sleepwalking behaviours. This horror comedy mystery is as relatable as it is weird, and as scary as it is entertaining. Jung’s presence on screen is magnetically captivating, and keeps all eyes wide awake and glued to the spiralling madness. 40 | diff.ie
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Sunday, February 25
Awards Ceremony
Time 12:30 – 14:00 Venue The Complex
Every year, the Festival Awards champion excellence in filmmaking across the programme, including shorts and features, documentaries, and new work from emerging artists and creatives. Previous winners include Colm Bairéad (An Cailín Ciúin), Luke McManus (North Circular), Sinead O’Loughlin (Lamb, Homecoming), Cara Holmes (Welcome to a Bright White Limbo) and Laura O’Shea (Wednesday’s Child). The DIFF Awards offer recognition for every type of film and every kind of filmmaker, at any stage of their career. They include: • • • •
This year’s awards are provided by
Discovery Awards Short Film Award ICCL Human Rights Film Award Documentary Competition Award
This year we are delighted to be opening our Awards Ceremony to the public, so you too can be part of this prestigious annual event. We will be introducing all the Discovery Award nominees, and the producer, writer, and Gaeilgeoir Wuraola Majekodunmi will be presenting awards to the winners across all the categories. Limited tickets available. 42 | diff.ie
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Monday, February 26
Monday, February 26 The Lynda Myles Project: A Manifesto
DIFF Friends Gala
Info Light House 2 / 13:30 / 1hr 20mins Director Susan Kemp Writer Susan Kemp Cast Lynda Myles Country United Kingdom
Ama Gloria
With the support of
Documentary Structuring this intimate and insightful portrait of Lynda Myles, academic Susan Kemp invokes a form known to define, criticise, and shift paradigms in culture – the manifesto. Mixing archival material with interviews, including Jim Hickey and B. Ruby Rich, Kemp employs a series of provocations to tease out the philosophy behind a lifetime of ground-breaking film work.
The Green Fog Drama
African Season
Six-year-old Cléo (Mauroy-Panzani) loves her nanny Gloria (Zego) more than anything. When Gloria has to return to Cape Verde to her own children, Cléo’s brave little heart learns that sometimes to love someone means to set them free. This Cannes Critics’ Week solo debut is made radiant by an amazingly accomplished performance from its young protagonist. The film deals with the child-nanny bond, colonial conscience, and complex economic and emotional relationships, but it is Mauroy-Panzani who wins hearts. This is a coming of age seldom seen on screen, told with affection, heartfelt sincerity and cinematic perfection.
With the support of
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Info Light House 2 / 18:30 / 1h 24mins Director Marie Amachoukeli Writer Marie Amachoukeli Cast Abnara Gomes Varela, Arnaud Rebotini, Domingos Borges Almeida, Fredy Gomes Tavares, Ilca Moreno Zego, Louise Mauroy-Panzani Country France
Experimental
Retrospective
A reimagination of Hitchcock’s 1958 Vertigo using footage from old movies and television shows, this is Maddin’s piece of film scholarship preoccupied with cinematic heritage, the city of San Francisco and its own self-critical aspects. The collage-film is cloaked in much of the same mystery and intrigue which veils its plot, and is considered a worthy tribute to the Master of Suspense. 45 | diff.ie
Info Light House 1 / 14:00 / 1hr 3mins Director Evan Johnson, Guy Maddin, Galen Johnson Writer Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, Guy Maddin Country United States With the support of
Monday, February 26
Monday, February 26
How To Skin A Cheetah
Scrumpy
Grill
Director Meghan O’Shaughnessy
Director Dan Holmwood
Director Jade Aksnes
Bobby’s tales of hunting game on the plains of Tanzania inspire a sinister side in her mollycoddled co-worker Lucas.
Scrumpy grapples with the impending arrival of his birthday, navigating a whimsical journey of reconciling his disdain for this day of celebration.
Tara is denied financial support from Social Services for her electricity bill and advised to get a free grill instead.
Things Unheard Of
In The Waiting Room
The Old Young Crow
A Roadside Banquet
Director Ramazan Kilic
Director Moatasem Ali Taha
Director Liam LoPinto
Director Peiqi Peng
A little girl tries to put the smile back on her grandmother’s face after her television – her only window on the world – disappears.
In an Israeli hospital’s waiting room, Hussein accompanies his newly widowed mother Rashida for her medical treatment.
An Iranian boy befriends an old Japanese woman in a graveyard in Tokyo.
Eleven-year-old Mai turns into a feather duster at her baby brother’s first birthday party after learning that her parents only ever wanted a boy.
DIFF SHORTS 1 Time 15:30 Venue Light House 2 Duration 2hrs 4mins
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Monday, February 26
Monday, February 26
Shayda Lost & Found
Treasure by the River
Director Ellius Grace
Director Hanjie Bao, Manting Huang
The smallest of things transport Hazel back to the past. Something happened, something so loud that it silenced everything else.
In Fengshun, Fengqi is on a mission to find her grandmother’s lost bible and she is led to her prize by a most unusual being.
Seanchoíche at DIFF 2024 Date Monday 26 Feb Time 19:00 Venue The Complex
Drama Nowruz, the Persian New Year, announces the advent of spring and beginnings. For Shayda (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), an Iranian living in Australia, the holiday marks the start of a new life away from her abusive husband. Inspired by Noora Niasari’s own experiences, this impressive debut is an unusual coming of age, celebrating the indomitable spirit and resilience of Iranian women.
We will have arranged storytellers on the night, if you would like to take part contact hello@seanchoiche.com
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With the support of
The Line Info Light House 1 / 18:30 / 1hr 33mins Director Danny McCafferty Writer Lee Crowley Cast Joe mullins, Veronika Lukyanenko Country Ireland
Seanchoíche (pronounced Shanna-Key-Huh) is a storytelling platform founded in Dublin, with nights hosted across the globe in Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and America. Seanchoíche is collaborating with DIFF to give writers, directors, filmmakers, and other cinema creatives opportunities to share their stories. The theme of the night is ‘CHILDHOOD’. All stories told will revolve around this theme. Stories may be personal anecdotes, other people’s experiences, monologues, poetry or anything considered a story.
Info Light House 1 / 16:00 / 1hr 57mins Director Noora Niasari Writer Noora Niasari Cast Jillian Nguyen, Leah Purcell, Mojean Aria, Osamah Sami, Selina Zahednia, Zar Amir Ebrahimi Country Australia
Joe Walsh lives a quiet, and somewhat predictable, rural life in the sleepy Irish town of Finbarrack which is upended with the death of his older brother Patrick. At the same time, Nina, a Ukrainian refugee, arrives in the village. They form an unlikely friendship during the course of which Joe begins to overcome his prejudices towards outsiders. 49 | diff.ie
Monday, February 26
Monday, February 26
Don’t Forget to Remember
Swing Bout Info Irish Film Institute 1 / 18:30 / 1hr 17mins Director Ross Killeen Country Ireland
Documentary
Crime-Thriller, Drama
There is an inherent understanding of the grieving process when a loved one is lost. But what if that person isn’t gone? What does grief mean then? In collaboration with the artist Asbestos, Killeen’s unconventional documentary explores the lived experience of Alzheimer’s whilst also honouring the ties of family. Considering the simultaneous fragility and fortitude of memory, it concludes that we can never truly lose our loved ones as long as we remember them.
This crime thriller, set backstage at a major boxing event, traces Toni Gale’s (Berkeley) tumultuous journey from the dressing room to the ring over the course of a night of deceit, betrayal, and life-altering decisions. Premiering at DIFF, O’Carroll’s film is a white-knuckle ride which tells its fisted story without ever revealing the boxing ring itself.
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry Info Light House 2 / 20:45 / 1hr 50mins Director Elene Naveriani Writer Elene Naveriani, Nikoloz Mdivani Cast Eka Chavleishvilli, Temiko Chichinadze Country Georgia, Switzerland
Drama To love or not to love: this is the question which the single 48-year-old Etero (Chavleishvili) must answer. Etero lives in a small village in Georgia, cherishing her freedom as much as her cakes, until one day, unexpectedly, she finds herself passionately falling for a man. Naveriani’s second feature is an adaptation of Georgian author Tamta Melashvili’s novel. This Directors’ Fortnight film is surprising, mischievous and a total triumph. 50 | diff.ie
Info Light House 1 / 21:00 / 1hr 30mins Director Maurice O’Carroll Writer Maurice O’Carroll Cast Ben Condron, Chrissie Cronin, Ciara Berkeley, Frank Prendergast, John Connors, Sinead O’Riordan Country Ireland
DFCC Awards Dublin Film Critics Circle is comprised of Dublin’s professional film critics.
From the 2024 programme, awards will include
• • • • •
Best Film Best Director Best Irish Film Best Documentary Best Performances
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Tuesday, February 27
Proudly supporting our friends in the Dublin Film Critics Circle at DIFF 2024 Limelight Communications is at the forefront of film and entertainment PR and promotion in Ireland. With unrivalled expertise in devising innovative, award-winning campaigns, we work across the full spectrum of the film industry. Our team wish all involved with the Dublin International Film Festival 2024 every success.
DOUBLE BILL DUBLIN ON SCREEN 1
Time: 12:00 Venue: Light House 2 Duration: 45mins
Somewhere Here
Baby Steps
Director Juanita Wilson
Director Hannah Mamalis
Somewhere Here is inspired by the reallife experiences of actors from the Lir Academy of Drama and follows their lives over 24 hours in Dublin.
Baby Steps follows Em, a young woman who is 7 months pregnant and has little to no connection to the baby growing inside her.
Cannes Uncut Info Light House 2 / 13:30 / 1hr 25mins Director Roger Penny, Richard Blanshard Country United Kingdom
We’re looking forward to an exciting year of cinema-going. #DFCCAwards24
Contact
Documentary
Glenn Hogarty E: glenn.hogarty@limelight.ie www.limelight.ie
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The story of the glorious excesses, triumphs and failures of Cannes is one that demands to be told. Penny and Blanshard’s documentary revels in the glamour, red carpets, parties and personalities which see the business of cinema implant itself on the French Riviera for two weeks every year. It offers an exciting high-adrenaline, roller-coaster experience of what the film festival has come to represent over the years and what it might offer in the future. 53 | diff.ie
Tuesday, February 27
Tuesday, February 27
Time Out
Samuel and the Light
Info Light House 2 / 15:30 / 1hr 58mins Director Eve Duchemin Writer Eve Duchemin Cast Issaka Sawadogo, Jarod Cousyns, Karim Leklou Country France
Info Light House 1 / 14:00 / 1hr 10mins Director Vinícius Girnys Country Brazil, France With the support of
Documentary
Drama
For his first feature, Girnys filmed Samuel and his family for six years and chronicled the complex reality which emerged in the small fishing village of Ponta Negra on the arrival of electricity and tourism. In his documentary, he consciously drew a portrait of contemporary Brazil with suggestion rather than explanation. The film won the Jury Award for Best Documentary at the São Paulo International Film Festival and the FEISAL Award for Best Film at the Guadalajara International Film Festival.
For the first time, three convicts, Hamosin (Sawadogo), Anthony (Leklou) and Colin (Cousyns), are granted a weekend leave. 48 hours away from the dehumanising penal institution. 48 hours to reconnect with their loved ones. 48 hours to try and make up for lost time. In this endeavour of redemption, Duchemin examines the indelible mark that prison leaves on the lives of inmates and their close ones.
DIFF Partner Screenings Please visit www.diff.ie for tickets
The Beast Info Light House 1 / 16:00 / 2hr 26mins Director Bertrand Bonello Writer Bertrand Bonello Cast Dasha Nekrasova, George Mackay, Guslagie Malanda, Léa Seydoux Country France, Canada
UCD Cinema Additional screening: See website Info: Monday 26 February UCD Student Centre Cinema / 14:00 Please visit UCD Cinema’s website for tickets.
Sci-Fi, Romance, Drama
The Circular, Rialto Screening of documentary shorts programme: • The Building and Burning of a Refugee Camp / Dennis Harvey • Midnight Rising / Aileen Ye • Down the Market / Dave Tynan • NIDO / José Miguel Jiménez
2044: the world is controlled by artificial intelligence and human emotions are a threat. Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) decides to purify her DNA to expunge all her feelings and gets transported to the past. There she meets Louis (George MacKay). Bertrand Bonello’s loose adaptation of Henry James’s 1903 novella, The Beast in the Jungle, is a satisfying sci-fi exploration of dystopia, fatalism and love. Set in three different time periods – 2044, 2014 and 1910 – the film premiered in Venice and competed for the Golden Lion.
Info: Tuesday 27 February / The Documentary Room: The Circular, Rialto / 18:30 / 1h 4m 54 | diff.ie
With the support of
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With the support of
Tuesday, February 27
Tuesday, February 27
La Chimera
The Universal Theory
Romance, Drama Step into the world of 1980s tombaroli – illegal graverobbers – with Arthur (Josh O’Connor), a young lovelorn British archaeologist, in this Tuscan carnival of a film. A masterclass in cinematic manipulation, it juggles a variety of ratios, film stocks, narrative tones and scores embodying the very slipperiness of history and memory which it seeks to explore. O’Connor, rakish and innocent at the same time, is simply marvellous.
Info Light House 2 / 18:00 / 2hr 10mins Director Alice Rohrwacher Writer Alice Rohrwacher Cast Alba Rohrwacher, Carol Duarte, Isabella Rossellini, Josh O’Connor, Vincenzo Nemolato Country Italy, France, Switzerland With the support of
Conor Walsh: Selected Piano Works
Thriller, Mystery 1962. A physics congress in the Alps. An Iranian guest. A mysterious jazz pianist. Death, doppelgängers and a devious cloud formation in the sky. This is a sumptuous noir full of thrilling, supernatural and uncanny scientific mysteries, shot in black and white using CinemaScope. Calling Kröger’s sophomore film a visual treat is an understatement.
Info Light House 2 / 20:30 / 1hr 58mins Director Timm Kröger Writer Roderick Warich, Timm Kröger Cast David Bennent, Gottfried Breitfuss, Hanns Zischler, Jan Bülow, Olivia Ross, Philippe Graber Country Germany With the support of
Drive-Away Dolls Info Irish Film Institute 1 / 18:30 / 1hr 7mins Director Keith Walsh Country Ireland
Documentary
Drama
Conor Walsh wrote his heart out in minimalist piano compositions. This is a musical vignette of the soundtrack of his life. It celebrates the work he left behind when he tragically died of a heart attack at 36, just when his music was beginning flow out into the world.
Written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, this comedy caper follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
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Info Light House 1 / 21:00 / 1hr 24mins Director Ethan Coen Writer Ethan Coen, Tricia Cooke Cast Beanie Feldstein, Bill Camp, Colman Domingo, Geraldine Viswanathan, Margaret Qualley, Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal Country United States
Wednesday, February 28 Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
Satire A tale of cinema and economics in two parts: overworked and underpaid Angela (Manolache) drives around Bucharest to film the casting for a safety-at-work video. In a dizzying landscape, cinema, capitalism and technology meet the political sociology of the post-totalitarian digital world. This absurd black comedy premiered at Locarno and earned its director his second Special Jury Prize.
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Info Light House 1 / 12:00 / 2hr 43mins Director Radu Jude Writer Radu Jude Cast Dorina Lazăr, Ilinca Manolache, Katia Pascariu, László Miske, Nina Hoss, Ovidiu Pîrșan Country Romania
Wednesday, February 28
DUBLIN ON SCREEN 2 Time 12:00 Venue Light House Cinema 2 Duration 1hr 1mins
As part of the festival’s commitment to celebrating the work of community filmmakers across the city and beyond we are delighted to present this years film programme. Presenting a series of shorts by young filmmakers with thanks to Shireen Shortt:
• • • •
Best Friends / Tori Awotunde Dead-Eye: Vengeance / Kyle Hogan Bennett Helen News / Kyle Hogan Bennett REEL YOUTH Celebrating 20 Years
Also presenting a series of shorts from the National Film School at IADT with thanks to Vanessa Gildea:
• • • •
What is Freedom? / Aziza Rezaie, Parwana Eghbali, Zahra Adeli Falling / Shakeeba Hamdam, Neda Naeel Cultural Medium / Britney Madondo Sticks & Stones / Tammy McDonagh, Amy Murphy, Shóna O’Sullivan, Martin Mahon
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Wednesday, February 28
DIFF SHORTS 2 Time 13:30 Venue Light House 2 Duration 1hr 59mins
Wednesday, February 28
Amoeba
BEFORE MADRID
Golden Ties
Director Ian Fallon
Director Ilén Juambeltz, Nicolás Botana
Director Michelle Bardon
In this story of destructive unrequited love, Levi (Warren) wakes up from an intoxicated night, convinced that his crush Roan (Mett) kissed him.
Micaela and Santiago are teenagers living in Uruguay and they are very determined to have their first time.
Inspired by the nostalgic joy and simplicity of childhood friendships, this short explores the kind of bond that feels like fate.
Bubbling
The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry
7 Fois
Expectations and Other Products
Director Che-ming Chang
Director Faris Alrjoob
Director Christine Wiederkehr
Director Dali Rust
Guang has difficulty focusing during choir practice. He’s distracted by something more enticing than singing.
A haunted Ida travels to the site of her partner’s disappearance in an attempt to feel his presence one last time, and to say goodbye.
When Elio is left waiting for his tutor, an unexpected visitor’s presence highlights some unforeseen truths.
A kiosk vendor stands in an empty supermarket daydreaming and contemplating the ontology of people and commodities.
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Wednesday, February 28
Wednesday, February 28
Gone With the Boat
Memory Info Light House 1 / 15:30 / 1hr 40mins Director Xiaoyu Chen Writer Xiaoyu Chen Cast Dan Liu, Zhaomei Ge, Zhoukai Wu Country China
Drama Jin (Ge), a widowed mother living alone in a village, is diagnosed with a brain tumour. Her daughter fights tooth and nail to get her the best treatment while her son encourages the family to embrace the reality of death. Circumstances send the three characters on an existential journey on the rivers of the past. Chen’s sensitive debut feature is a film about homecoming and farewells, and was awarded Best Screenplay at the Shanghai International Film Festival.
In partnership with the Shanghai International Film Festival
Drama Sylvia (Chastain) is a social worker who leads a simple and structured life. This is blown open, when Saul (Sarsgaard), suffering from early onset dementia, follows her home from their high school reunion. Franco approaches unstable pasts and presents with extreme gentleness and delivers something delicately absorbing. The film won its leading man, Sarsgaard, the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at Venice.
Hounds
Orlando, My Political Biography Info Light House 2 / 16:00 / 1hr 38mins Director Paul B. Preciado Writer Paul B. Preciado Country France With the support of LGBTQ+
Drama
‘Virginia Woolf wrote my biography in 1928’ claims transgender academic-turned-filmmaker Preciado in this documentary of metamorphosis. He invites 26 trans and non-binary people to play Orlando, the titular character of Woolf’s novel, and the re-enactments are all unique, personal, visual and interpretative. More literary criticism than film, Preciado’s cinematic essay won the Teddy Award for Best Documentary at Berlin.
In the mean streets of Casablanca, a father and son get by on petty crimes for a local mob. After a kidnapping gone wrong, they set off on an urban odyssey through junkyards and gas stations, trying to dispose of a body. Lazraq’s promising debut probes into the incongruency of criminals with a spiritual conscience and won the Jury Prize at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section.
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Info Light House 1 / 18:00 / 1hr 42mins Director Michel Franco Writer Michel Franco Cast Brooke Timber, Elsie Fisher, Jessica Chastain, Jessica Harper, Josh Charles, Merritt Wever, Peter Sarsgaard Country Mexico, United States
African Season
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Info Light House 2 / 18:30 / 1hr 34mins Director Kamal Lazraq Writer Kamal Lazraq Cast Abdellah Lebkiri, Abdellatif Masstouri, Ayoub Elaid, Lahcen Zaimouzen, Mohamed Hmimsa, Mohammed Kharbouchi, Salah Bensalah Country France, Morocco, Belgium, Qatar, Saudi Arabia With the support of
Wednesday, February 28
Volta Award
The Swimming Diaries Info Irish Film Institute 1 / 18:30 / 1hr 42mins Director Susan Thomson Writer Susan Thomson Cast Hamish Thomson, Louise O’Shea, Richard Thomson Country Ireland
Documentary Floating between conceptual documentary and experimental fiction, this film chronicles the 25,000 metres that Thomson swam during the period of her mother’s death. An adaptation of her book, it uses dance, music and memorial archives to translate text into movement.
Info Light House 1 / 20:00 / 1hr 35mins Director Élise Girard Writer Maud Ameline, Élise Girard Cast Auguste Diehl, Isabelle Huppert, Tsuyoshi Ihara Country France
Romance, Drama Sidonie (Huppert) is on a book tour in Japan. Sidonie is falling for her publisher Kenzo Mizoguchi (Ihara). Sidonie can see the ghost of her dead husband. This film is a minimalist and soulful (literally) exploration of the transforming processes of grieving and healing. As Sidonie is lost and found in translation, there is something very complicated and human that persists and comforts in Girard’s storytelling. 66 | diff.ie
Isabelle Huppert is renowned as being one of France’s hardest working and most accomplished actors whose early career saw her work with major directors Bertrand Tavernier, Claude Sautet and Bertrand Blier. She became Claude Chabrol’s muse with Violette Nozière, and worked with him on numerous occasions. Her (first) acting prize at Cannes garnered her offers from around the world, and she went on to make a series of films, some of which were quite controversial, with directors as diverse as Marco Bellochio, Marco Bolognigni, Michael Cimino, Marco Ferreri, Liliane de Kermadec, Jean-Luc Godard, Michael Haneke, Hal Hartley, Werner Schroeter, Paul Verhoeven and many others.
© Philippe Quaisse / Unifrance
Sidonie in Japan
With the support of
Isabelle Huppert
Her willingness to take risks and her taste for adventure have led her to work with filmmakers from all horizons (most recently the Hong Sang-Soo from Korea and Joachim Trier from Norway). In her films with Chabrol, as well as in other great titles, Isabelle Huppert plays characters in search of an impossible ideal, even if this means sinking into a form of madness. The quintessence of Huppert’s acting, her uniqueness, is the distance she builds between her characters and the events they are confronted with, a form of impassiveness that creates an opaque psychological turmoil. A renowned and much-admired actress, Isabelle Huppert has won numerous awards around the world, including five Lumières Awards, a BAFTA Award, three European Film Awards, two Berlin International Film Festival, three Cannes Film Festival and three Venice Film Festival Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award nomination. The festival is honoured that Isabelle Huppert will visit Dublin with director Élise Girard to present the Irish premiere of Sidonie in Japan and to accept the Festival’s highest honour the Volta Award.
Tickets for Isabelle Huppert’s Volta Award presentation can booked online at diff.ie
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Wednesday, February 28
DIFF On Tour
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Horror, Comedy Sasha (Sara Montpetit) is a teenage vampire with an empathy problem. Forced to fend for herself when her parents cut off her blood supply, she meets Paul (FélixAntoine Bénard), a very suicidal and very depressed boy, who volunteers to be her next meal. Ariane Louis-Seize’s stylish debut is a deadpan horror made charming by the soft and sparkly chemistry between its leads. This is an angsty vampire film too sweet to be an angsty vampire film.
Info Light House 2 / 20:30 / 1hr 32mins Director Ariane Louis-Seize Writer Ariane Louis-Seize, Christine Doyon Cast Felix Antoine Bénard, Sara Montpetit Country Canada With the support of
Film details Mami Wata
Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF) Tour 2024 in association with access>CINEMA and with the support of the Arts Council. Presented as part of Dublin International Film Festival 2024, access>CINEMA and DIFF are delighted to bring a number of highlights from the festival to various regional locations outside of Dublin as part of this annual Film Festival Tour. The Festival Tour continues for another year expanding in 2024 to now include three festival highlights: French comedy drama Toni, starring Camille Cottin; West African folklore tale Mami Wata; along with a specifically curated Shorts Programme. This expanded Festival Tour will give audiences beyond Dublin an opportunity to engage with the festival experience and view a variety of exceptional world cinema titles. The event, which is supported by the Arts Council, will take place at the end of February and the beginning of March to coincide with the Dublin International Film Festival.
Toni (Toni, en famille)
Short Film Programme • Grill / Jade Hærem Aksnes • The Old Young Crow / Liam LoPinto • I Promise You Paradise / Morad Mostafa • 7 fois / Christine Wiederkehr • Expectations and Other Products / Dali Rust • Treasure by the River / Hanjie Bao, Manting Huang 98 minutes, Norway, Japan / USA, Egypt, Switzerland, Lithuania, China, 2023
This year’s participating sites include: Club Scannán Sailearna, Inverin, Co Galway Galway Film Society @ Pálás, Galway City Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford, Co Waterford Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Co Wicklow Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co Kildare Sligo Film Society @ The Model, Sligo Town Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co Meath Please visit the individual websites to purchase tickets. 69 | diff.ie
Volta Award Dublin International Film Festival is collaborating with Tanqueray to elevate your festival experience, creating a space for more magnificent conversations.
As part of 2024 programme, DIFF is launching the Tanqueray Film Club – a curated series of in-depth interviews and Q&As with some of the industry’s most celebrated cinema talent.
Following the 2024 festival, in partnership with DIFF, the Tanqueray Film Club will continue to host special screenings, Q&As, interviews, and public events. Sign up to the Tanqueray Film Club now to get early access, exclusive invites, and priority tickets.
STEVE MCQUEEN INTERVIEW Date: Wed 28 Feb Time: 18:00 Venue: The Complex The Tanqueray Film Club will host an exclusive interview with the award winning director, filmmaker, and Turner Prize winning artist Steve McQueen. Known for titles including his acclaimed first feature Hunger (2008), the multi award winning 12 Years a Slave (2013), and the BAFTA award winning Small Axe series (2021), Steve McQueen will be joined by Irish actor and screenwriter Mark O’Halloran (Conversations with Friends, 2022, Adam & Paul, 2004) who will interview him ahead of the prestigious Volta Award presentation. Tickets for this event will include the Volta Award presentation.
Across four highly anticipated events, the Tanqueray Film Club will showcase emerging and iconic cinema talent, including an Oscar Winning Director, stars of stage and screen, and DIFF’s own 2024 Discovery Award Winners. TRUDIE STYLER INTERVIEW Date: Fri 23 Feb Time: 18:30 Venue: The Complex For the inaugural Tanqueray Film Club event, the award winning Trudie Styler, joins audiences at DIFF to talk about her work as a prolific film producer and director. Trudie was integral in discovering Guy Ritchie and executive produced his first two films - Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000). She also founded the production company Maven Screen Media which has produced the hit films Filth (2013) and American Honey (2016).
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James Stopforth Thomas Dane Gallery
Steve McQueen Academy Award winner and British Film Institute Fellow Steve McQueen is a British artist and filmmaker. His critically acclaimed first feature, Hunger (2008), starring Michael Fassbender as an IRA hunger-striker, won the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He re-teamed with Fassbender for his follow-up feature, Shame (2011), for which Fassbender won the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival for Best Actor. McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (2013) dominated awards season, winning the Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and AAFCA Awards for Best Picture while McQueen received DGA, Academy, BAFTA and Golden Globe directing nods. His fourth feature, Widows (2018), was one of the best reviewed films of the year and starred Viola Davis. In 2020, McQueen’s anthology series, Small Axe, comprising five original films about resilience and triumph in London’s West Indian community from the late 1960s through the early ’80s, was awarded Best Picture by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, while McQueen received the Storyteller Award for the series at the 16th Annual Final Draft Awards. Small Axe was also the recipient of 15 BAFTA television nominations. Three of the five films in the series played at the 58th New York Film Festival, with Lovers Rock opening the fest, with two of the five selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. McQueen’s next feature, Blitz, stars Saoirse Ronan and will be released in 2024. His most recent work is the 2023 documentary feature Occupied City, in which the past collides with the present in McQueen’s excavation of the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam; a journey from World War II to recent years of pandemic and protest. Past documentary works include the BAFTA-winning three-part series Uprising (2021) for the BBC about the tragedy and aftermath of the New Cross fire and subsequent deaths of 13 young Black British people in 1981 that went on to define race relations in the UK for a generation. McQueen codirected and produced Uprising. He also served as a co-producer on Three Minutes – A Lengthening (2021), directed and co-written by Bianca Stigter. The recipient of many accolades for his work as a visual artist, McQueen was awarded the Turner Prize in 1999, and represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2009. He has exhibited and held his artwork in major museums around the world. 71 | diff.ie
Thursday, February 29
Thursday, February 29 DIFF SHORTS 3
Time: 16:00 Venue: Light House 2 Duration: 2hr 3mins
Screamer
I Promise You Paradise
Director Ciaran Maginn
Director Morad Mostafa
The impulsive and rebellious Jamie goes on a hunt for fireworks to relive a lost memory and repair a broken relationship.
Following a violent incident, a seventeenyear-old African migrant embarks on a quest against time to save his family.
Cantata
Miranda’s mind
Director Dave Fox
Director Maddalena Crespi
Darren needs help. His fears and anxieties are manifesting themselves in a very unusual way.
After having her book rejected by yet another publisher, Miranda tries to answer some looming existential questions.
About Dry Grasses
Drama
Info Light House 1 / 14:00 / 3hr 10mins Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan Writer Akin Aksu, Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan Cast Deniz Celiloglu, Ece Bagci, Merve Dizdar, Musab Ekici Country Turkey
The prolific Turkish auteur returns with his ninth feature, an uncomfortable Chekhovian drama about a young teacher in a remote village accused of sexual abuse by a student. Ceylan employs inertia and silence to quarry the social frustrations and romantic triangles restless in the bipolar climate of the rugged Anatolian landscape. His elegiac masterpiece is embellished with some phenomenal performances, with Dizdar winning the Best Actress award at Cannes.
Bill Douglas My Best Friend Info Light House 2 / 14:00 / 1hr 18mins Director Jack Archer Country United Kingdom With the support of
The story of the extraordinary friendship between Scottish film-maker Bill Douglas and his lifelong companion and collaborator Peter Jewell. Bill Douglas was Scotland’s finest director, celebrated by the likes of Lynne Ramsay, Lenny Abrahamson, Satajit Ray and Yuliya Solntseva. In this film, Peter reminisces about the life he shared with Bill. Peter’s memories and musings about the legacy Bill left behind are illustrated with these neverbefore-seen short films. 72 | diff.ie
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Thursday, February 29
Thursday, February 29 DOUBLE BILL
Time: 18:30 Venue: Light House 1 Duration: 1hr 13mins
Postpartum
SLOW BURN
Breakin’ Brothers
Director Tommy Gillard
Director Tania Notaro
A firefighter must extinguish the trauma of a distressing accident to reignite his career.
Expectations of motherhood become haunting spectres for Mary in this surreal and warping short.
Shadow Box
7 to 10
Director David Bolger Writer David Bolger Cast Cristian Dirocie, Kevin Dirocie, Rónán Ó Snodaigh Country Ireland
Meet Cristian and Cosmo, two brothers who arrived in the Irish seaside town of Tramore, from the Dominican Republic in 2013, and found their break dancing skills vital to acceptance in a new homeland.
DreamCatchr Director Hélène Montague, John Comiskey Writer Lily Akerman Cast Hannah O’Brien, Megan O’Neill
Director Pierce Csurgo
Director Ana Pio
A lonely boxer stands up to his coach’s inhuman training methods. He will have to decide if he will fight again.
It’s Halloween and Olivia’s mask is starting to slip, compelling her to face her past.
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Opera, Dance In a liminal space between reality and fantasy, Jane and Polly attempt to understand one another and the virtual world of technology. Alternately comical, bizarre and disturbing this film explores the borders between dreams and waking life, sisterhood and selfhood. Comprising an all-female cast from RIAM Dublin, it was shot by the IADT National Film School during the Covid-19 pandemic. 75 | diff.ie
Thursday, February 29
Thursday, February 29
OMEN
Drama
Birdsong
African Season
Rapper-turned-filmmaker Baloji’s directorial debut is a magic-realist tale of family, relationships, suspicion and belonging. Following Koffi’s (Zinga) return to his birthplace, it explores the weight of beliefs on one’s destiny through four intertwined characters accused of sorcery. In a visually extravagant and entertainingly humorous depiction of troubling Congolese themes, Baloji guides his film into the phantasmagoria of Africa.
Info Light House 2 / 18:30 / 1hr 27mins Director Baloji Writer Baloji Cast Eliane Umuhire, Lucie Debay, Marc Zinga, Marcel Otete Kabeya, Yves-Marina Gnahoua Country Congo With the support of
Dear Jassi Info Light House 1 / 20:00 / 2hr 12mins Director Tarsem Singh Dhandwar Writer Amit Rai Cast Pavia Sidhu, Yugam Sood Country India
Info Light House 2 / 20:30 / 50mins Director Kathleen Harris Country Ireland
Documentary Ornithologist Seán Ronayne is on a mission to record the call of every bird species in Ireland – that’s nearly 200 birds. At once inspiring and cautionary, his journey reveals the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
French Films Features Presented in
association with the
Drama After an 8-year hiatus the Indian auteur is here with a Romeo-and-Juliet tale inspired by true events. In 1996 Punjab, Canadian-born Indian girl Jassi falls in love with Mithu, a rickshaw driver who is beneath her social status. Is their love strong enough to fight the dictates imposed by Punjabi society? Owing to its shocking and impactful ending, Singh’s film was awarded the Platform Prize at TIFF. 76 | diff.ie
The Beast (2023) Sidonie in Japan (2023) Suddenly (2023) Toni (2023) Orlando My Polítical Biography (2023)
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Friday, March 1
Bye Bye Tiberias Info Light House 1 / 11:00 / 1hr 22mins Director Lina Soualem Writer Lina Soualem, Nadine Naous Country France, Palestinian Territory, Belgium, Qatar Documentary Hiam Abbass (Succession, Ramy) followed her dream of becoming an actor and left behind her native Palestinian village, her mother, grandmother and seven sisters. Thirty years later, she returns to her past with her filmmaker daughter Lina, piecing together a personal archive of her history. This record of exile and womanhood premiered at Venice and won Best Documentary at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival.
Close Your Eyes Info Light House 2 / 12:00 / 2hr 49mins Director Víctor Erice Writer Víctor Erice, Michel Gaztambide Cast Ana Torrent, José Coronado, Manolo Solo Country Spain, Argentina
Drama The legendary Spanish director (The Spirit of the Beehive, El Sur) returns after a thirty-year hiatus with his fourth feature, a poignant dissertation on ageing, memory and cinema itself. In this film about a film, director Miguel Garay (Solo) comes back to Madrid to participate in a TV programme investigating the disappearance of actor Julio Arenas (Coronado). The narrative of returning home envelops both the film and the filmmaker. 78 | diff.ie
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With the support of
Friday, March 1 FRESH FILM HOTHOUSE
Of Mice and Dogs
Friday, March 1 Time: 13:30 Venue: Light House 1 Duration: 1hr 20mins
Bittersweet
Dad
Director Greta Thornton
Director Ashley Casey
A freshly turned eighteen-year-old, dislikes her birthday. In fact, she distracts herself by packing for college. A mix of conflict and tension erupts between herself and her father which results in self-reflection and acceptance that growth and change are inevitable.
Following the death of a neglectful father, a pair of estranged brothers reunite by finding the same hiding space at his wake. They are forced to reconcile with the man their father was and their relationship to one another.
Yellow Glade
Director Eve Duffy
Director Jodie Corry
A beloved local dog is banned from the pub and the community seeks justice.
Yellow Glade is a heartwarming comingof-age short film which draws attention to the blurred lines between love and friendship. The chance meeting of two boys initiates a summer to remember, filled with adventure, exploration and selfdiscovery.
Gnó an Rí
In Other Words Goodbye
Alive Again
Feels Like Home
Director Malachaí Ó Ciardhubháin
Director Rhianna Woods
Director Seán Treacy
Director Neasa O’Brien
Three men fishing on a naomhóg, one of them crowns himself king, the other two execute a clever revenge once they get back on land.
During her final holiday before college, Niamh aims to mend the conflicted relationship with her critical, yet caring mother, while saying her own goodbye to childhood.
A budding young artist finds herself stuck in a battle with the working world when a stirring new experience unfolds.
‘Feels Like Home’, a short film by Neasa O’Brien, is a chapter from Saoirse’s story. Abandoned by her parents at the age of 12, we meet her the night before her 18th birthday, on the verge of adulthood as she navigates life, love, and a newfound superpower!”
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EMERGING LIMERICK FILMMAKERS SCENARIO X
Friday, March 1
Time: 15:30 Venue: Light House 1 Duration: 30mins
Rat King
Mob the Trench
Director Róisín Leavy-Sahn
Director Niamh Collins
A young boy falls in love with a dead rat. It begins to rot him, setting off a frenzy in his village with disastrous consequences.
Far into a strange future, an equation disproves the existence of god, leaving a mechanically preserved priest questioning his life choices. To make things worse, his once friendly church-going followers have become an angry mob, desperate for answers.
Suddenly
Info Light House 2 / 16:00 / 1hr 53mins Director Thomas Bidegain Writer Isabelle Autissier, Thomas Bidegain, Delphine Gleize Cast Gilles Lellouche, Mélanie Thierry Country France
Drama Vincent and Laura are a passionate but volatile couple who embark on a round-the-world sailing adventure to give their relationship a new start. During their trip, they decide to explore a vast deserted island which they discover off the coast of Chile. Caught in a violent storm, they shelter in an abandoned whaling station for the night but wake up the next morning to find their boat has disappeared. 82 | diff.ie
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With the support of
Friday, March 1
Friday, March 1 Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s
Green Border
Drama This sombre black-and-white drama follows a family of Syrian refugees, an English teacher from Afghanistan and a border guard, who cross each other’s path on the Polish-Belarusian border, the eponymous green border. Veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland’s brutal and angry film shows that when people are dragged back and forth across geopolitical lines, their humanity begins to erode. This winner of Venice’s Special Jury Prize plays witness to a grim humanitarian crisis.
Info Light House 1 / 17:00 / 2hr 32mins Director Agnieszka Holland Writer Agnieszka Holland, Gabriela ŁazarkiewiczSieczko, Maciej Pisuk Cast Behi Djanati Atai, Dalia Naous, Jalal Altawil, Maja Ostaszewska, Mohamad Al Rashi, Tomasz Wlosok Country Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium
Four Daughters
Documentary
Info Irish Film Institute 1 / 18:30 / 1hr 0mins Director Ciarán Ó Maonaigh Country Ireland
Documentary To some it was an unassuming pub on a side street in Dublin’s city centre. To musicians, dancers, singers and listeners, Hughes’s was a mecca of traditional Irish music for more than 35 years. After it closes its doors for the final time, actor Brendan Gleeson returns to it to commemorate its invaluable legacy. In the midst of the current musical renaissance, this documentary celebrates the passionate and earnest story of an Irish cultural nucleus.
Woken
African Season
The life of Olfa, a Tunisian woman and mother of four daughters, oscillates between light and shadow. After the disappearance of her two eldest daughters, Ben Hania calls upon professional actors to fill their absence, setting up an extraordinary film mechanism and unveiling an intimate story of womanhood. This hybrid documentary premiered at Cannes and was awarded the L’Œil d’or for best documentary. 84 | diff.ie
Info Light House 2 / 18:30 / 1hr 48mins Director Kaouther Ben Hania Writer Kaouther Ben Hania Cast Eya Chikhaoui, Tayssir Chikhaoui, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Olfa Hamrouni, Nour Karoui, Ichrak Matar Country France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia With the support of
Sci-Fi A pregnant Anna (Kellyman) wakes up on a remote island of which she has no memory and to faces she doesn’t recognise. Forced to re-learn everything about the world, she will need to do all that she can to protect herself and her unborn child. Friel’s debut feature is a sci-fi dystopian thriller beginning with the human race on the verge of extinction. 85 | diff.ie
Info Light House 1 / 20:15 / 1hr 30mins Director Alan Friel Writer Alan Friel Cast Corrado Ivernizzi, Erin Kellyman, Ivanno Jeremiah, Maxine Peake, Oscar Coleman, Peter McDonald Country Ireland
Friday, March 1
The Swallow Info Irish Film Institute 1 / 20:30 / 1hr 11mins Director Tadhg O’Sullivan Writer Tadhg O’Sullivan Cast Brenda Fricker Country Ireland Documentary With his customary attention to landscape and sound, Tadhg O’Sullivan has created a fashioned a wonderful portrait of an older woman staring hard at her life and her past loves. This fierce protagonist is played with great delicacy and simplicity by the wonderful Brenda Fricker and the film is testament to resilience and love of a good dog.
The Summer with Carmen
LGBTQ+ While enjoying a day at Athens’ queer beach, 30-something Demosthenes offers to help his bestie and aspiring filmmaker Nikitas in drafting an idea for his feature debut, inspired by the events surrounding a certain dog named Carmen.
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Info Light House 2 / 21:00 / 1hr 46mins Director Zacharias Mavroeidis Writer Xenofon Chalatsis, Zacharias Mavroeidis Cast Andreas Lampropoulos, Nikolas Mihas, Roubini Vasilakopoulou, Vasilis Tsigristaris, Yorgos Tsiantoulas Country Greece
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Saturday, March 2
Surprise Film
The Delinquents Info Light House 1 / 11:00 / 3hr 9mins Director Rodrigo Moreno Writer Rodrigo Moreno Cast Daniel Elías, Esteban Bigliardi Country Argentina, Luxembourg, Brazil, Chile
Drama, Comedy From Argentinian filmmaker Rodrigo Moreno comes a beguiling and unpredictable philosophical experimentcum-heist film. Bank employee Morán (Elías) dreams up a scheme: he’ll steal enough money to support a modest retirement, then confess and serve prison time while his co-worker Román (Bigliardi) holds on to the cash. With sedative performances and stunning cinematography, this film is surreal, surprising, restorative and above all, a delight.
Info Light House 1 / 17:00
Take your friends! Make use of our discounted ticket bundles. Buy online at diff.ie
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Follow Us!
In 1985, the late Michael Dwyer launched the first Dublin Film Festival. The inaugural festival had a diverse programme that contained such future classics as Heimat, Insignificance and The Official Version. Only after the programme had gone to press, did he and fellow founder Myles Dungan discover that they were one film short. With characteristic flair, Michael Dwyer turned this potential mishap into one of the most beloved slots in the festival: the Surprise Film.
X @dublinfilmfest Instagram dublinfilmfestival Tiktok DublinFilmFestival
In the 32 years since the first Surprise Film, the structure of the festival has changed only slightly. Each year, the Surprise Film is shown amid great speculation and no one – not even the projectionist – knows the film’s title until the first few frames on the screen slowly reveal its true identity.
And tag your suggestions #DublinIFF24Surprise
So, as usual, there are no clues for this year’s title but join the discussion on social media.
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Saturday, March 2
Retrospective Brand Upon the Brain
Fantasy, Drama
Retrospective
Shot in nine days, this story of a man’s return to his childhood home has been described as a collaboration between Poe and Dalí, a Freudian vampire film and an avant-garde excursion. When it premiered at TIFF in 2006, it was accompanied by a live orchestra, a singer, an interlocutor and Foley artists. Maddin’s silent horror about confronting the past challenges the potential of filmic storytelling and the cinematic experience.
Info Light House 2 / 14:00 / 1hr 39mins Director Guy Maddin Writer George Toles, Guy Maddin Cast Cathleen O’Malley, Clayton Corzatte, Erik Steffen Maahs, Gretchen Krich, Jake Morgan-Scharhon, Maya Lawson, Sullivan Brown, Susan Corzatte, Todd Moore Country United States With the support of
My Winnipeg Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin is a Canadian filmmaker known for his distinct storytelling style and experimental approach to cinema. With acclaimed works like MY WINNIPEG, ARCHANGEL, BRAND UPON THE BRAIN, and THE GREEN FOG (all featured in our retrospective programme this year), Guy Maddin has had an invaluable influence on world cinema.
DIFF is delighted to welcome Guy Maddin to discuss his work with Irish filmmaker Tadhg O’Sullivan
Maddin has directed thirteen feature films; his screenplay and film-story collaborators include Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro and legendary poet John Ashbery. He has been bestowed many awards, including the Telluride Silver Medal, the San Francisco International Film Festival’s Persistence of Vision Award, and an Emmy for his ballet film DRACULA – PAGES FROM A VIRGIN’S DIARY (2002). Beyond the silver screen, he has captivated audiences globally with over seventy live film performances, integrating orchestras, soundscapes, vocals, and narration. His cinematic journey continues with the highly anticipated RUMOURS (2024).
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Info Light House 1 / 14:30 / 1hr 20mins Director Guy Maddin Writer Guy Maddin, George Toles Cast Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage, Louis Negin Country Canada Drama, Documentary
Retrospective
In what Maddin himself described as a ‘docu-fantasia’, a filmmaker attempts to film his way out of his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Cinema and psychotherapy mingle and merge in this extremely heartfelt and sardonic portrait of a city where ‘everyone sleepwalks through life’. When the film came out in 2008, many critics and reviewers wrote that the five-star rating system was not enough for this sad, personal, hilarious and borderline-mad audio-visual confession. 91 | diff.ie
With the support of
Saturday, March 2
Four Little Adults Info Light House 2 / 21:00 / 2hr 2mins Director Selma Vilhunen Writer Selma Vilhunen Cast Alma Poysti, Eero Milonoff, Pietu Wikstrom Country Finland Drama When Juulia (Pöysti) discovers that her husband Matias (Milonoff) is having an affair, she proposes a polyamorous marriage without secrets. Equal parts funny and pathetic, Vilhunen’s film challenges domestic stereotypes while avoiding moral judgements. This Finnish comedy of manners is about romantic love, but it is also a study of what it means to be human together with other humans.
No need to print your tickets out, we scan your e-ticket from your phone at the venue
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Saturday, February 24
Closing Night Gala That They May Face The Rising Sun
Drama Based on internationally acclaimed Irish author John McGahern’s eponymous novel, this is the story of Joe (Ward) and Kate Ruttledge (Bederke), who have moved from London to a remote Irish town. Covering a year of their new lives, it humbly celebrates the beauty of nature, the simplicity of daily routines and the rural communities of 1980’s Ireland. Collins, in his characteristic observational style, contemplates the subtleties of humanity as the Ruttledges adjust to a world away from the hubbub of the English metropolis. Shot on the shore of Loch Nafooey, County Galway, this is a film especially for those who enjoy the journey more than the destination.
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Info Light House 1, Light House 2 / 19:30 / 1hr 47mins Director Pat Collins Writer Eamon Little, Pat Collins Cast Anna Bederke, Barry Ward, Lalor Roddy, Phillip Dolan, Ruth McCabe, Sean McGinley Country Ireland
Discovery Awards Nominees
www.orwellandbrowne.com
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Rhys Mannion Role: Actor Film In Diff: Freud’s Last Session
Joe Robbins Role: Composer Film In Diff: Two for the Road
Sinead O’Riordan Role: Producer Film In Diff: Swing Bout
Hannah Mamalis Role: Cast Film In Diff: Cantata Baby Steps
Aoife Fealy Role: Production Designer Film In Diff: Pediment
Derek Ugochukwu Role: Derek Ugochukwu Film In Diff: Pediment
Kathleen Harris Role: Director Film In Diff: Birdsong
Fionn Foley Role: Writer Film In Diff: Cantata
Lochlainn McKenna Role: Writer/ Director Film In Diff: Two for the Road
Sade Malone Role: Actor Film In Diff: TWIG
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Irish Film Programmers Network Event & Lunch FIRST FRAME
Tiernan Williams
Martin Mahon
Date: Mon 26 Feb Time: 11:00 Venue: The Complex
Megan O’Rourke
Jade Murphy
We would like to invite film societies and other cinema programmers to attend this event and you can rsvp to events@diff.ie.
SHORTS
Michael Doherty
Juanita Wilson
Carrie Crowley
Jean Rice
Mark Adams
As all of these events were held online – we would like to welcome our programming colleagues to our first in person event on Monday 26th February at 11am where we will be joined by Isra from T A P E Collective… and followed by a long over-due lunch.
Nell Hensey
DOCUMENTARY
Cross-arts curation session
Claire Dix
DISCOVERY
Over the summer of 2020, a small group of Irish film programmers came together to share insights and knowledge about filmmakers, audiences, festival and cinema exhibition and the move to online screening platforms. These groups expanded rapidly to include many cinemas and film festivals throughout Ireland and the UK. The group met on a monthly basis to share resources and updates on their events and were often joined by international colleagues who shared their experiences with the group. Since our return to in person screenings, the monthly meetings have reduced somewhat but the group still meets to welcome new programmers and events and to debate issues relating to film exhibition.
Workshop
In the Cross-arts curation session Isra Al Kassi from film collective T A P E explores the way to curate outside the box, keeping audience engagement in mind. This is a space where film programmers and curators can imagine an event outside of traditional cinema. 11:00 – 12:00 / Mon 26 Feb / The Complex The accompanying Workshop aims to put the learnings from the session into practice, with ideas around cross-art curation, presentation and expanding audience reach. 14:00 – 15:30 / Mon 26 Feb / The Complex T A P E is a women of colour-led film collective with an especial focus on identity, heritage and culture, platforming shorts and under-represented feature films with crossarts events.
Mark O’Brien
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Industry
DIFF Juries
Documentary Competition The DIFF Documentary Competition recognises excellence in the field of documentary making.
The following films will compete in this year’s Documentary competition:
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Orlando, My Political Biography Perennial Light Eat/Sleep/Cheer/Repeat Bye Bye Tiberias High & Low: John Galliano Samuel and the Light Birdsong The Swallow Farewell to Hughes’s Cannes Uncut Bill Douglas My Best Friend Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger Don’t Forget to Remember The Swimming Diaries Selected Piano Works: The Music of Conor Walsh
ICCL Human Rights Film Award
Industry
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) established the Human Rights Film Award in 2008 to recognise the role of film in raising awareness of human rights issues around the world. In 2019, the ICCL Human Rights Film Award was relaunched as an integral part of the DIFF programme. The award celebrates films that enable audiences to explore human rights stories of all kinds and honours filmmakers whose work argues passionately for a better world. This recognition extends to works that courageously tackle a spectrum of human rights issues, showcasing the power of cinema as a medium to foster understanding, empathy, and dialogue.
Unit 4, Rosemount Business Park, Ballycoolin, Dublin 11
Tel: + 353 1 861 2790 Mobile: 086 797 3423 Email: sales@wellscargo.ie
Wells Cargo provides Road Freight, Sea Freight and Air/Courier services, catering for transport requirements from parcels needing express transit, to pallets, part loads and full loads. We aim to achieve the highest levels of service, tailoring the operation to meet specific and specialist requirements whilst maintaining cost effectiveness. We are available 24/7 to our customers and monitor all consignments as they progress through the various stages of transport to ensure on time delivery. European Road Freight Service Deep Sea and Short Sea Service Worldwide Air Freight/Courier Service/Custom Clearance We provide options on all routes, imports and exports, from express to economy - allowing the customer to select the best fit for their needs. Whether the shipment is long and narrow, roof loading, side loading, hazardous or requiring temperature control - we have the experience, versatility and know-how to meet our customers needs. Follow us on:
The films nominated for the 2024 ICCL Human Rights Film Award are: • • • •
Bye Bye Tiberias Dear Jassi Shayda Green Border
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NCAD Poster Exhibition: Alternate Take
African Season: Crafting Authentic Narratives Date: Sat 24 Feb Time: 15:00 Venue: The Complex This panel brings together accomplished filmmakers from across Africa, including emerging makers whose films have been earned critical acclaim at Cannes Film Festival. The panel will explore the challenges of sharing diverse cultures with a global audience. They will explore different approaches to navigating language, context, and storytelling whilst maintaining a strong cultural authenticity. The discussion aims to explore how cinema helps shape, celebrate, and appreciate African storytelling.
Festival films interpreted by second-year Illustration students at the National College of Art & Design This exhibition celebrates this year’s programme with a showcase of inventive and dynamic film posters. Festival films come to life through the creative lens of secondyear illustration students at NCAD. From national to international titles, this unique collaboration brings an exciting mix of styles and approaches to the art of the film poster. It serves as a fresh and compelling snapshot of the festival line-up.
Date: Tue 27 Feb Time: 14:00 Venue: The Complex ReFraming Irish Film will celebrate the Irish films and filmmakers of colour in DIFF2024. They will discuss exciting new films, explore previously invisible cultures, forgotten histories and how filmmakers are challenging stereotypes while also designing the future of a new Ireland. Join the filmmakers!
Two For The Road poster: Designed by Emma Hayes
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Public Engagement
Public Engagement
Date: Feb 22 – Mar 2 Venue: Lighthouse Cinema (foyer)
ReFraming Irish film
IFCO Centenary Lecture Series To mark the Centenary of the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO), the Dublin International Film Festival is partnering with IFCO to present three vibrant and exciting presentations based on documents in the IFCO Collection in the National Archives. As part of the Decade of Centenaries, the anniversary also marks the deposit of all the remaining IFCO records from the censorship period to the National Archives. These records represent a fascinating insight into cinema exhibition in Ireland and the central role which censorship played in shaping Irish film culture.
Screenwriters Panel
Discover the art of modern Irish screenwriting – explore inspiration, idea development, and the journey from multiple drafts to the final script. The panel is perfect for aspiring screenwriters, film enthusiasts, or those passionate about storytelling. The panel will be recorded and distributed through the international Irish Embassies network. Panellists include: Danny McCafferty (The Line), Dermot Malone (King Frankie), Alan Friel (Woken), Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy (Baltimore), Marian Quinn (TWIG), and Maurice O’Carroll (Swing Bout). Available to watch free on www.diff.ie
Three emerging film and media students and early career researchers have been selected to review these records and present their findings to the public, on the topics of their choice:
Fionnula Parfrey Fionnuala Parfrey has a background in film and archives. She currently works as a programme manager in the Royal Irish Academy. Fionnuala’s lecture will explore evolving attitudes to sexual and reproductive health in the records of the Irish Film Censor, tracing how films that address the topic of sexual or reproductive health have been censored and classified since the foundation of the Irish Film Censor’s Office in 1923. Ciara Whelan Ciara Whelan is currently studying for her master’s at University College Dublin with plans to pursue her PhD research in crisis masculinity and Irish screen culture in the new academic year. Ciara will be discussing the censorship of imported Hollywood horror cinema in newly independent Ireland in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Analysis of the censorship documents held in the National Archives reveals that these films conflicted with the cultivation of a national and homogeneous Catholic sensibility in that early period. 104 | diff.ie
Irish Cinematography Date: Tue 27 Feb Time: 16:00 – 17:30 Venue: The Complex A public talk between the Dear Jassi cinematographer Brendan Galvin, ISC, and cinematographer Tim Fleming, ISC, discussing both Brendan’s work on this film, and his long collaboration with director Tarsem Singh as well as his thoughts on cinematography and visual storytelling in general.
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Public Engagement
Public Engagement
Rachel Heavey Rachel Heavey is an artist and PhD student at Trinity College Dublin. In this lecture, Rachel will present a creative exploration of materials held in the IFCO collection, examining the relationship between legislation and culture in co-creating society
Ref: WBP DUNE 2 – Press – D IFF Ca ta l o g u e RO I Size: 127 ×18 9m m D a te : 1 9.1 2 . 2 02 3
First Frame
TUS Millennium Theatre, Limerick: Tuesday, Feb 20 (all day) Lighthouse Cinema, Dublin: Wednesday, Feb 21 (all day)
The First Frame Film Student Day at DIFF was launched in 2020. For the fifth anniversary and, as part of the competition, the festival will showcase two programmes of short films submitted by students with two fully student-dedicated days, one in Limerick as a collaboration with LSAD TUS and one in Dublin. The First Frame initiative brings together students from over 50 film courses, universities and further education institutions from around Ireland to come together and view a curated selection of student films. Additionally, students are invited to participate in workshops and panels with film talent. It’s an excellent opportunity for course leaders and students to network with their peers as part of an international film event. First Frame encourages film students from around the country to engage with DIFF, and to expand their own networks outside of their academic courses.
Industry
First Frame in Limerick is hosted by LSAD TUS Department of Digital Arts and Media.
wtf creative 26 moreton street london SW1V 2PE
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Masterclass with Guy Maddin Date: Sun 3 March Time and Venue: See website Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin is the subject of our retrospective this year and will present a masterclass alongside his films The Green Fog, My Winnipeg, Brand Upon the Brain, and Archangel. He will discuss the creation and distribution of experimental cinema with Tadhg O’Sullivan, a filmmaker, editor, sound designer and sound recordist based in Carlow, Ireland. Tadhg’s work has been screened at FIDMarseille, MoMA Doc Fortnight, CPH:DOX, RIDM Montreal, Dokufest Kosovo, New Horizons Wroclaw, and many other festivals worldwide.
Masterclass with Kevin McDonald
International Film Programmers Panel This panel offers a comprehensive discussion on festival policies, submission criteria, and crucial deadlines, providing essential insights for those preparing international festival strategies and aiming at success. Chaired by Ciaran Walsh (Culture Ireland).
Date: Sat 24 Feb Time: 10:30 – 12:00 Venue: The Complex Supercharge your festival strategy with DIFF by engaging with top-tier festival programmers from around the globe: Julia Weigl – Munich International Film Festival (Germany) Ione Hernández – Selection Committee, San Sebastian Film Festival (Spain) Sven Pötting – 36 Filmfest Dresden (Germany)
Javier Porta Fouz – BAFICI, Buenos Aires International Film Festival (Brazil) Karel Och – Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Czech Republic) Kristy Matheson – Director, BFI Festivals (UK) Estrella Araiza – Guadalajara IFF – FICG (Mexico) Carlos Nuñez – Santiago International Film Festival (Chile)
Date: Sun 25 Feb Time: 15:00 – 16:00 Venue: The Complex
Industry
The easiest way to book your tickets is online at diff.ie
Industry
The Dublin International Film Festival has invited Scottish film director Kevin Macdonald to give a masterclass on directing in conversation with Ross Whitaker. The Oscar-winning director is known for his feature and documentary films, including One Day in September (1999), Touching the Void (2003), the drama The Last King of Scotland (2006), and the Whitney Houston documentary Whitney (2018). His most recent film, High & Low: John Galliano, is featured in this year’s DIFF programme.
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International Sales Agents event
Trish Long Chair
Board
Elaine Gill Deputy Chair Board of Directors Lenny Abrahamson Neal Davies Ronan Murphy Paula Woods Neasa Hardiman Laurence Mackin Wuraola Majekodunmi Sian Redmond Ruth Hunter
Date: Fri Mar 1 Time: 14:00 Venue: Goethe Institute Following our hugely successful Sales Agents events in the past years, we have invited Nicolai Korsgaard from TrustNordisk, one of the largest sales agents in Europe, to meet with Irish filmmakers at DIFF 2024, with an introduction by Orla Clancy from Creative Europe. Join us to learn more about current trends in sales and acquisition.
Ireland-France Co-Production Day Date: Tue 27 Feb Time: 10:00 – 18:00 Venue: The Complex The Ireland-France Co-Production Day will present an opportunity to showcase the collaborative efforts between the two nations during the panel, as well as establish new connections during one-on-one sessions between French and Irish film producers.
Industry
Co-Production Day is supported by CNC, the French Embassy in Dublin, and Screen Ireland.
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Staff Gráinne Humphreys Executive Director Karen English Festival Manager Samuel Javid Head of Commercial & Marketing Carole Lakes Festival Accounts Officer Peggy Mac Hale Junior Programmer and Admin Assistant Esraa Ellaithy, Marketing Manager Aoife Maguire Digital Marketing Executive Conor Hogan Box Office Manager Jack Quinn Box Office Team Vanessa Byrne Box Office Team Anna Gryaznova Events Co-ordinator Sarah Murphy Hospitality Manager Aoife McGlynn Hospitality Assistant Kieran Fitzgerald Technical Manager Declan McSteen Technical Manager
Khushi Jain Brochure Editor Stuart Anderson Production Manager Róisín Whelan Volunteer and Venue Manager Kate Bowe Festival Publicist Shorts Programmers Aisha Bolaji Mohammad Tarek Associate Programmers Rehan Ali Greg Smyth Bernes Brian Brennan Cara Bradley Doug Clinch Ali Ganley Amy McFarland Matt Micucci Hugh O’Neill Jack Wall O’Reilly Megan O’Rourke Pia Roycroft Jack Wall O’Reilly Megan O’Rourke Pia Roycroft
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Volunteers
Volunteering at Dublin International Film Festival offers the chance to be a part of the behind-the-scenes action at Ireland’s top cinema festival. It’s a great chance to meet like-minded people and make contacts in the world of arts, festivals and filmmaking. You’ll also get the opportunity to attend screenings and events, giving you a unique insider’s view of the event. Every year we are delighted to see such a diverse range of volunteers, spanning age groups and nationalities. They generously give up their time to assist with the smooth running and final delivery of our events. The festival simply cannot go ahead without the enthusiasm, warmth and dedication that the volunteer team brings to the table. From everyone here on the festival team, thank you to all the wonderful people who volunteer their time, and help make the festival what it is. Your welcoming smiles and personalities are what the audiences remember and take with them, long after the festival has ended. Join our team at www.diff.ie
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An Elevated Cinema Experience
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