The 2018 Audi Dublin International Film Festival comes to town from 22nd February to 4th March. Included among over 100 features there’s a wonderful selection of Irish films to enjoy – below we take a look at what’s on offer…
Black 47 (Lance Daly)
Wednesday, 21st February • 21.00 • Cineworld 17
Set in Ireland during the Great Famine, the drama follows an Irish Ranger who has been fighting for the British Army abroad, as he abandons his post to reunite with his family. Despite experiencing the horrors of war, he is shocked by the famine’s destruction of his homeland and the brutalization of his people and his family.
Filmmaker & cast in attendance
“a rollicking western with fantastic action and excellent performances”
The Breadwinner (Nora Twomey)
Thursday, 22nd February • 20.00 • Cineworld 17
Based on the best-selling children’s novel by Deborah Ellis, The Breadwinner tells the story of 11 year old Parvana who gives up her identity to provide for her family and try to save her father’s life. Parvana’s father Nurullah had told stories about history and imagination to Parvana as she helped him in the marketplace of Taliban controlled Kabul in the year 2001. When he is arrested Parvana finds the courage to look for him when everyone else had given up hope. She becomes a storyteller, remembering a brother she has once known. Every day is a challenge as Parvana tries to bring home enough food and water to support her mother, sister and little brother. She meets a fellow girl in disguise called Shauzia and together, they form a bond that will give them the strength to endure the war that comes to their doorstep in the Fall of 2001
Featuring Q&A with Nora Twomey
The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid (Feargal Ward)
Saturday, 24th February • 18.30 • Light House 1
The story of Thomas Reid, a Co. Kildare farmer who, for years, has been locked in a gruelling battle with his neighbour — U.S. microchip manufacturer, Intel who want to expand into Reid’s land. When his farm in Leixlip was the subject of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), Thomas decided to risk everything by challenging the state body in a battle through the courts.
Feargal Ward in attendance
The Cured (David Freyne)
Sunday, 25th February • 20.15 • Light House 1
Senan has been through hell. When the plague swept across Ireland he was among the thousands afflicted and rendered into rabid ghouls. Senan did horrible things he cannot forget — and neither can the public, nor the authorities charged with policing those released from captivity. Senan’s sister-in-law Abbie, however, is willing to give him a second chance. She lets him live with her and her young son, believing that Senan’s actions while infected were beyond his control. But as an angry anti-cured movement burgeons in tandem with an increasingly radicalized pro-cured movement, Abbie is forced to question just how far her trust should be pushed.
David Freyne in attendance
“a unique and engaging reworking of an enduring genre”
The Science of Ghosts (Niall McCann)
Monday 26th February • 18.30 • IFI
Irish musician, Adrian Crowley ponders what would a film about his life be like? Could it ever really reflect who he is? His imagination takes him – and the audience – on a journey as he becomes a ghost visiting his own life, past and future. What emerges is a humorous and original take on the power of storytelling.
Filmmaker in attendance: Niall McCann
“a delightful excursion into the unknown”
Phantom Islands (Rouzbeh Rashidi)
Tuesday, 27th February • 18.30 • IFI
Phantom Islands is an experimental film that exists at the boundaries of documentary and fiction. Directed by Rouzbeh Rashidi, the film follows a couple adrift and disoriented in the stunning landscape of Ireland’s islands.
In attendance: Rouzbeh Rashidi
Good Favour (Rebecca Daly)
Tuesday, 27th February • 20.30 • Light House 1
On a glaring, hot day Tom, 17, walks out of an immense forest into the lives of a strictly devout Christian community carving out a remote existence in central Europe. He seems to have come from nowhere. The only physical sign of his life before is the wound on his torso that refuses to heal.
Filmmaker in attendance
“Daly’s latest further cements her as a master of mood”
Twilight (Pat Collins)
Wednesday, 28th February • 17.50 • Light House 2
Filmed over 2 years close to Baltimore in West Cork, with field recordings by world renowned sound artist Chris Watson, the film has twilight as its central subject and is an attempt to capture the colour and quality of light that is in flux, the fleeting and transient sensations, the sense of the world turning.
In attendance: Pat Collins
“Collins has managed to capture the sense of stillness and calm that comes with the dwindling sunlight”
https://filmireland.net/2018/03/13/review-of-irish-film-adiff-2018-twilight/
While You Live, Shine ( Paul Duane)
Wednesday, 28th February • 18.45 • Light House 2
American musicologist Chris King is legendary in his field. His collection of and passion for old 78 records is inspiring, as is his ability to use modern technology to unlock their sonic secrets. But his discovery of the music of Epirus in northern Greece was to transform King’s life, and the raw folk music he believes connects us with our most ancient ancestors prompted him to travel to the region. What emerges is some of the most hypnotic and stirring music you’ve never heard.
In attendance: Paul Duane
Muse (Jaume Balagueró)
Wednesday, 28th February 20.45 • Light House 1
Samuel Salomon, a literature professor, has been off work for almost a year after the tragic death of his girlfriend. Samuel has been suffering from a recurring nightmare in which a woman is brutally murdered by a strange ritual. Suddenly, the same woman who appears every night in his dreams is found dead in exactly the same circumstances. Samuel sneaks into the crime scene and there he meets Rachel who has also dreamed about the murder. Together, they will do whatever they can to discover the identity of the mystery woman, entering a terrifying world controlled by the figures who have inspired artists throughout time: The Muses.
The Image You Missed (Donal Foreman)
Thursday, 1st March 18.15 Light House 2
An Irish filmmaker grapples with the legacy of his estranged father, the late documentarian Arthur MacCaig, through MacCaig’s decades-spanning archive of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
In attendance: Donal Foreman
“poetic and poignant”
The Camino Voyage (Dónal Ó Céilleachair)
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Friday 2nd March • 18.15 • IFI
A crew including a Writer, two Musicians, an Artist and a Stonemason embark on the Camino not on land, but by sea, in a traditional boat that they built themselves on an inspiring, and often time’s dangerous, modern day Celtic odyssey.
In attendance: Dónal Ó Céilleachair
Damo & Ivor: The Movie (Rob Burke, Ronan Burke)
Friday, 2nd March • 18.10 • Cineworld 17
Damo and Ivor embark on the mother of all adventures to find the last piece of their family puzzle and track down their long lost brother, John Joe. The adventure takes the brothers across Ireland where they discover that sometimes you can’t judge a book by its cover.
In attendance: Rob Burke, Ronan Burke & Cast
Kissing Candice (Aoife McArdle)
Friday, 2nd March • 20.45 • Light House 1
Candice longs to escape the boredom of her seaside town, but when a boy she dreams about turns up in real life, she becomes involved with a dangerous local gang.
In attendance: Aoife McArdle
“manages to convey the stark brutal reality of living in some parts of Ireland but in a way which looks as incredible as a Michael Mann joint”
The Meeting (Alan Gilsenan)
Saturday 3rd March • 15.45 • Light House 1
During an emotional and highly charged encounter, a young rape victim seeks answers to questions which have haunted her since her attack. The woman is determined the experience will not deny her the right to personal freedoms as she endeavours to find some form of closure. It’s based upon a real-life encounter between a rape victim and her attacker upon his prison release.
A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot (Sinéad O’Shea)
Saturday, 3rd March • 18.15 • Light House 1
A documentary exploring a broken community in Northern Ireland, scratches the surface of a staunchly republican populace and exposes how they take the law into their own hands.
In attendance: Sinéad O’Shea
The Delinquent Season (Mark O’Rowe)
“a surprisingly old-fashioned drama told with skill by debut director and accomplished playwright Mark O’Rowe”
You can see the full schedule for the festival here
Tickets are on sale at www.diff.ie and the Box Office is open at 12 East Essex Street (+353 (0) 1 6877974)
