Capitalism: A Love Story Special Presentation

Sat 20 Feb / Cineworld 9 / 1.30pm

As always, his greatest weapons are his satiric sensibilities and wickedly pointed sense of humour as he now turns his camera on the root causes of the global economic meltdown and the accompanying corporate and political shenanigans that have caused in his words, “the biggest robbery in the history of the United States.”

World Premiere

Fri 19 Feb / Cineworld 9 / 9.00pm 2010 / Ireland / 95 minutes

Separated from her daughter Gracelle at 7 months, Noemi Barredo left the Philippines for work in Malaysia to support her parents and extended family before arriving in Ireland in 2000. Filmed over a five-year period Promise and Unrest is an intimate portrayal of a migrant woman performing caregiving and long-distance motherhood, while assuming the responsibility of sole provider for her family back in the Philippines. Dublin may be a long way from Noemi’s hometown of Babatngon, yet she retains a sharp eye on the welfare of her family, attentive to a range of small businesses she has financed, paying for the education of her daughter and son, medication for her terminally ill father and her sister’s nursing degree. Alan Grossman and Aine O’Brien’s powerful Promise and Unrest unravels a familiar yet subtle migration story of maternal sacrifice, loss and love, yet to be seen in Irish cinema.

Gráinne Humphreys, JDIFF

La Dolce Vita

Director: Jean van de Velde 2008 / Netherlands / 90 minutes

Principal Cast: Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga, Andrew Kintu, Marco Borsato, Thekla Reuten

Even in a barbarous era, one practice that still seems like a special crime against nature is the kidnapping of children by guerrilla forces with the intent of turning them into murderers. It’s the impulse to fight this inexcusable outrage that lies at the resilient heart of The Silent Army This involving drama follows a father and son who plunge deep into the heart of darkness looking for another boy who has been swept into bondage by a rebel army leader. Played to mesmerizing effect by Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga, the leader quietly tells his terrified young charges that “You can call me Daddy” - while instructing them how to kill. Having grown up on the Congo/Rwanda border, writer-director Jean van de Velde knows his subject and setting intimately, and succeeds in injecting topical concerns into a story of African political strife far more successfully than attempts by outsiders.

Todd McCarthy, Variety

Moore has never focused on academic queries but he is at best when calling a spade a spade and fearlessly pointing fingers. Capitalism: A Love Story is ironic and richly engaging and will certainly further fuel the populist outcry to the world’s dilemma.

Geoff Gilmore

“Capitalism: A Love Story is by turns crude and sentimental, impassioned and invigorating. It posits a simple moral universe inhabited by good little guys and evil big ones, yet the basic thrust of its argument proves hard to resist.”

Xan Brooks, The Guardian

Sat 20 Feb / Light House / 2.00pm

Director: Federico Fellini

1960 / Italy / 174 minutes

Principal Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux

Federico Fellini’s 1960 masterpiece remains something of a midway point between his Il Maestro’s early neo-realist works and the pure art of his later films. While La Dolce Vita features elements of both, it stands alone as a truly unique creation from a great filmmaker at the height of his powers. For the uninitiated – lucky you! – La Dolce

Vita sees Marcello Mastroianni’s jaded gossip columnist flit and flirt his way through Rome in a series of vivid, impressionistic episodes, leaping from one visual showstopper to another – not least that iconic scene featuring Anita Ekberg and the Trevi fountain. What’s it all about?

Life, death, love, art, class and celebrity, for starters – it’s a film ahead of its time, and utterly timeless. Let’s make this very simple: La Dolce Vita demands to be seen by any and everyone who loves cinema. Viva Fellini!

See Special Events for a concert celebrating the film scores of composer Nino Rota – including Rota’s celebrated music for La Dolce Vita. (See page 23).

Sat 20 Feb / Savoy 1 / 11.00am

Director: Michael Moore

2009 / US / 120 minutes

Principal Cast: Michael Moore

ROUGH MAGIC, in association with TheEmergencyRoom, presents

WORLD PREMIERE2 WEEK2 WEEKS ONLY