FRI MAR 6 – 7:00pm | OPENING NIGHT GALA – STANDBY (Toronto Premiere)

Sponsored by Tourism Ireland – Lead Actor Brian Gleeson will attend.

Director:  Rob Burke, Ronan Burke | Cast:  Brian Gleeson, Jessica Pare | 90 mins

Watch the trailer HERE

Directors and brothers Rob Burke and Ronan Burke have taken a page from Linklater’s “Before” trilogy for STANDBY, and made it their own, a delightfully charming and distinctively Irish romantic comedy starring Brian Gleeson (Life’s a Breeze) and Jessica Pare (Mad Men). Unlucky-in-love Alan (Gleeson) is a tourist advisor at Dublin airport, answering inane questions and fending off irate travellers but things perk up on Valentine’s Day when the beautiful Alice (Paré, Mad Men) comes to the desk looking for accommodation. They enjoyed a summer romance in New York eight years ago and, spurred on by the day that’s in it, invites her to stay with him so they can chat, catch up, etc. Dropping off her bags at his flat, which he shares with his divorced father, they embrace the famous Dublin nightlife before her morning flight.

FRI MAR 6 – 9:30pm | OPENING NIGHT PARTY:  An Sibín Pub, 709 Queen Street East. MUSIC by The O’Deadly’s.

Present your TIRFF ticket stub from “Standby” and join us in celebrating TIRFF 2015.

SAT MAR 7 – 3:00pm | GOOD VIBRATIONS (Toronto Encore)

Director:  Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn | Cast:  Jodi Whittaker, Liam Cunningham, Richard Dormer | 103 mins

Watch the trailer HERE.

GOOD VIBRATIONS is based on the life of Terri Hooley, a radical, a rebel and a music-lover in 1970s Belfast. When the bloody conflict known as the Troubles shuts down his city, and as all his friends take sides and take up arms, Terri opens a record shop on the most bombed half-mile in Europe and calls it Good Vibrations. Through it he discovers a compelling voice of resistance in the city’s nascent underground punk scene. Galvanising the young musicians into action, he becomes the unlikely leader of a motley band of kids and punks who join him in his mission to create a new community, an alternative Ulster, to bring his city back to life.

SAT MAR 7 – 5:30pm | ’71 (Special Presentation)

Director: Yann Demange | Cast:  Jack O’Connell | 99 mins

TIRFF 2015 is proud to present with Toronto’s Elevation Pictures, a sneak preview of the nail biting action thriller ’71, opening in theatres in Toronto on Friday, March 13. In embattled West Belfast, a year before Bloody Sunday, a young British soldier played by Jack O’Connell (Starred Up, Unbroken) is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast. Unable to tell friend from foe, and increasingly wary of his own comrades, the raw recruit must survive the night alone and find his way to safety through a disorientating, alien and deadly landscape. This harrowing drama is the cracking feature film debut from UK director Yann Demange with a screenplay by Gregory Burke (Black Watch).

SAT  MAR 7 – 8:00pm | GOLD (Toronto Premiere)

Sponsored by the Embassy of Ireland, Ottawa – Ambassador Ray Bassett will be in attendance.

Director: Niall Heery | Cast: Maisie Williams, James Nesbitt, David Wilmot, Kerry Condon | 88 mins

IFTA winning Niall Heery’s latest film GOLD – which stars Screen International’s ‘Star of Tomorrow’ Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones), David Wilmot (Calvary), Kerry Condon (The Runway) and James Nesbitt (The Hobbit) – is an uplifting tale of personal reconciliation. Out of their lives for 12 years, Ray (Wilmot) is on a mission to re-connect with his ex-girlfriend (Condon) and teenage daughter (Williams) who live with his former controlling and regimented P.E. teacher (Nesbitt).  Unfortunately his efforts to bridge the gap with his daughter seem to lead to chaos turning any good intentions he may have into comic catastrophe.

SAT MAR 7 – 9:30pm  | TIRFF’S 5^th ANNIVERSARY PARTY:  Dora Keogh’s, 141 Danforth Ave.

SUN MAR 8 – 4:00pm | TIRFF 2015 IRISH SHORTS PROGRAM

I Am Jesus – 7 mins, director Kevin Cassidy (North American Premiere)

Analogue People in a Digital Age – 13 mins, director Keith Walsh (North American Premiere)

Anya – 5 mins, director Damien O’Connor (North American Premiere)

Anywhere But Here – 13 mins, director Andy Bradford (Canadian Premiere)

Careful What You Wish For – 4 min, director Myles O’Reilly

I’ve Been A Sweeper – 12 mins, director Mark Holland (Canadian Premiere)

Waterlilies – 17 mins, director Tanya Doyle (North American Premiere)

SUN MAR 8 – 7:00pm | REBUILDING the WORLD TRADE CENTER (Canadian Premiere)

Sponsored by:  N.I Bureau & Tourism Ireland

Director: Marcus Robinson | Starring:  Marcus Robinson | 86 mins

REBUILDING THE WORLD TRADE CENTER is the epic story of hope that is emerging from the rubble and chaos of 9/11.  Since 2006, Belfast artist and filmmaker Marcus Robinson has spent over 2,000 days filming the vast new towers rising out of the bedrock of New York City.  Using a combination of observational documentary and breath taking time lapse photography this dramatic and stylish film is an artist’s tribute to the tenacity of New York’s construction workers and the spirit of renewal and endeavor that permeates this unique project construction site.

The fifth annual Toronto Irish Film Festival takes place from March 6th to 8th 2015.