Submarine opens the 9th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
A perfect antidote to election fever the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival kicked off last night (Thursday 17th Feb) with the Gala screening of Submarine, Richard Ayoade's hilarious tale of how one boy must fight to save his mother from the advances of a mystic and simultaneously lure his eczema-strafed girlfriend in to the bedroom armed with only a wide vocabulary and near-total self-belief. Special guests at the Savoy cinema were Director Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd, The Might Boosh) and the two young stars Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige. Dublin's comedy scene also came out to support the festival, with Jarlath Regan, Paddy Courtney, John Lynn and David Pearse all at the opening.Commenting at the launch, Festival Director Grainne Humphreys said "One of the most original voices in cinema to emerge in recent years, it's an honour to welcome Richard Ayoade and his talented cast of Submarine to Dublin for the opening night of this years festival. Its a film which will steal your heart and the perfect start to this years event, a festival which is all about discovery of new talent both Irish and international".
Also announced at the opening was the shortlist for the UNTITLED Screenwriting competition, run in association with Bord Scannán na hÉireann/The Irish Film Board. Selected from an overwhelming 348 entries the five shortlisted teams have been be invited to write the opening scenes of their film over the duration of the festival and present their projects to the selection panel at an public interview chaired by Andrew Meehan (Development Executive, IFB) on Sunday 27th February 2011. The selection panel is comprised of: Jameson Dublin International Film Festival Director Gráinne Humphreys; Cheryl Taylor, BBC's Controller, Comedy Commissioning, Irish film director Paddy Breathanach and comedy agent Caroline Chignell. The five shortlisted entries are: Accidental Death & Dismemberment by Rob Cawley; Brave New Movie by Gavin Burke; Found by Ailbhe Keogan and Michael Kelly; The Bogman King by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman (D.A.D.D.Y) and The Good Kind by Mark Cantan.
The Festival continues until 27th February, with highlights throughout including father and son Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez for a screening of Estevez's The Way, the Jameson Cult Film Club screening of The Usual Suspects with Kevin Spacey as special guest and the Irish premiere of Wake Wood with Timothy Spall and Aiden Gillen.
Commenting at the opening, Emma Donnellan, Marketing Director with Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, said: "We are looking forward to a very successful 2011 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival and we are delighted that Kevin Spacey has taken time out of his busy schedule to come to Dublin for the first Jameson Cult Film Club screening of The Usual Suspects during the festival."
Tickets are available via the website at www.jdiff.com, or from the ticket office in Filmbase in Temple Bar 01 687 7974. Download the new iPhone and Android App for full programme information.
Selected picks for the weekend:
- Route Irish, Ken Loach's film about the most dangerous road in Iraq with cast members Mark Womack and Andrea Lowe attending. 6.30pm Friday
- Barbaric Genius, Paul Duane's touching documentary about The Grass Arena author John Healy, with both attending the screening. 2pm Saturday
- John Huston's classic The African Queen with script supervisor Angela Allen giving a Q&A and telling the behind-the-scenes stories we all want to know. 4pm Saturday
- Ballymun Lullaby, the touching tale of Ron Cooney's Ballymun Music Programme, with director Frank Berry attending. 6.30pm Saturday
- Acclaimed director Joanna Hogg's Archipelago. 8.30pm Saturday
- The First Movie, a touching portrait of Iraqi lives, as recorded by themselves after being given cameras to record their imagination, with director Mark Cousins attending. 6.30pm Sunday
- Circus Fantasticus highly original Irish co-production about a circus that takes place on the battleground post war. 6.30pm Sunday
- Carmel Winters' highly anticipated debut Snap. 8.30pm Sunday
- Hello, How Are You? From the festival's Romanian Season, with director Alexandru Mafeti attending. 8.45pm Sunday
Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
Ticketing Office: Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Tel: 01 687 7974
Web: www.jdiff.com
Email: info@jdiff.com
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Twitter: @DublinFilmFest
Download the new Festival iPhone or Android App