ADIFF 2018 Programme Announced Including a Host of World Premieres in a Celebration of Irish and International Cinema
Posted: 24th January 2018
Bill Pullman, Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Schrader, Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Lance Daly, Nora Twomey, Paddy Considine, Sandy Powell, and Lynne Ramsay lead an exquisite line-up of Irish and international film talent coming to the Audi Dublin International Film Festival 2018
The Audi Dublin International Film Festival brings the world’s best films to Dublin in its spectacular 16th edition that includes seven World Premieres and a total of over 100 features, nearly all receiving their Irish Premiere. Featuring an extraordinary red carpet line-up of on-screen talent and guest filmmakers, ADIFF is Ireland’s most prestigious film festival and sets the agenda for the year in film.
Tickets are released for sale at www.diff.ie from 7 pm on 24th Jan and the Box Office is open at 12 East Essex Street (+353 (0) 1 6877974) from 10 am 25th Jan.
Gráinne Humphreys, Festival Director said “This year’s Audi Dublin International Film Festival programme is a line-up of films that are rich, exciting and wonderful. They reflect the truly global culture of filmmaking as well as celebrating the strength and depth of Irish film talent. It’s a selection that aims to inspire and entertain film lovers of every age and taste, including the youngest at Fantastic Flix. Our special guests include some of the finest performers and filmmakers in the world and I’m particularly delighted to be welcoming our Volta Award recipients, Paul Schrader and Vanessa Redgrave to Dublin. Alongside the very best of new Irish and international cinema, there are echoes of film history in our silent film presentations and Cedric Gibbons Season and an amazing glimpse of the future at the Immersive Stories: Conference and Exhibition, which brings the pioneers of virtual and augmented reality creation to Dublin.”
Richard Molloy, Head of Marketing and Product at Audi Ireland said ‘“Audi Ireland are once again delighted to be the official partner of the Dublin International Film Festival 2018. The festival celebrates the art, creativity and innovation of filmmaking that continues to captivate audiences around the world. It is attributes such as these that are very much part of Audi’s brand DNA as we continue to push barriers and inspire our customers every day. This year we are particularly proud to support an exciting new addition to the festival programme - The Immersive Stories: Conference & Exhibition. The two-day seminar provides a unique opportunity for national and international experts in the digital and virtual reality sectors to come together to share insights, explore future trends and inspire the next generation of digital creatives.”
Galas and Special Presentations
The Opening Gala of ADIFF 2018 will be the Irish Premiere of Black 47, the most hotly-anticipated Irish film of the year. Lance Daly directs this gripping, pulsating thriller, set during Ireland’s Great Famine, featuring an all-star cast. Lance Daly and a selection of the cast including James Frecheville, Barry Keoghan, Moe Dunford and Stephen Rea will attend.
One of Hollywood’s finest, Bill Pullman, attends the festival for the Irish Premiere of his new Western The Ballad of Lefty Brown, a superb addition to his distinguished body of cinematic work stretching back three decades.
Amongst cinema’s most distinctive and admired filmmakers, Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin, Morvern Callar) visits the festival for the Special Presentation of her Cannes prize-winning thriller You Were Never Really Here. Irish-Spanish co-production, Muse, is a seductive supernatural thriller that was both set and shot in Dublin and will screen as a Special Presentation.
Irish director Nora Twomey will attend the long-awaited Irish Premiere Special Presentation of her animated drama The Breadwinner, which has been Oscar-nominated in the Best Animated Feature category for 2018. From Kilkenny’s Cartoon Saloon, this is a powerful story of an Afghan girl passing as a boy to work to help her family survive.
Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave will receive one of the two 2018 ADIFF Volta Awards, the festival’s most prestigious award, for her lifetime of achievement in cinema at the Irish Premiere of her passionate new documentary on the refugee crisis, Sea Sorrow. Her co-director and son Carlo Nero will also attend.
Paul Schrader will also receive a Volta Award and is honoured for his extensive work as a director and screenwriter. Schrader’s acclaimed new film First Reformed starring Ethan Hawke will receive its Gala Irish Premiere at the festival. Schrader will also give an in-depth Public Talk and, as this year’s Guest Curator, will introduce three classic films that have inspired his work.
The Opening Film of the Fantastic Flix programme for young people, supported by Cheestrings, is Andrew Haigh’s Lean On Pete (15A), a moving drama featuring Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny and an award-winning performance from Charlie Plummer.
Rounding off the festival with the ultimate in escapist cinema, ADIFF2018’s Closing Gala is C’est La Vie. This funny, irreverent and charming French film is Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano’s follow-up to their box-office sensation The Intouchables and will leave festival audiences smiling until 2019.
Guest Highlights
The World Premiere of The Delinquent Season sees one of Ireland’s finest playwrights and screenwriters, Mark O’Rowe, make his debut as film director with a tale of two seemingly successful Dublin couples facing unexpected challenges. The stellar Irish cast includes Cillian Murphy and Eva Birthistle, both of whom will attend the premiere.
Stacy Cochran will attend the World Premiere of her new film Write When You Get Work, a witty, knowing tale of success and excess on the Upper East Side, shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood).
Three-time Oscar-winning Costume Designer Sandy Powell will visit for two new films that showcase her talents. She will take part in a Q&A after Todd Hayne’s Wonderstruck and introduce John Cameron Mitchell’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties.
One of Ireland’s most provocative and challenging film artists, director Alan Gilsenan attends the World Premiere of his visceral and highly-charged new film, The Meeting.
Actor/Director Paddy Considine visits the festival for the screening of his second feature as director Journeyman, a raw, powerful boxing drama in which Considine delivers an unforgettable performance.
Canadian director Kathleen Hepburn attends the festival for her intimate portrait of grief and independence Never Steady, Never Still. Director Marc Meyers will attend the screening of My Friend Dahmer, a chilling look at the youth of real-life serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Irish Film and Talent
ADIFF 2018 is packed with Irish talent, with more homegrown highlights with directors in attendance including Irish Premieres of Aoife McArdle’s incendiary debut, Kissing Candice, and Good Favour, the third feature from Rebecca Daly which sees a religious community give shelter to an enigmatic outsider.
Director David Freyne will attend the Irish Premiere of his fiendishly clever take on the zombie film, The Cured. Andrew Quirke’s hilarious Dublin double-act hits the big screen with the World Premiere of Damo & Ivor: The Movie.
The Irish documentary line-up features world premieres of Paul Duane’s While You Live, Shine and this year’s Arts Council Reel Art commissions, Rouzbeh Rashidi’s Phantom Islands and Niall McCann’s The Science of Ghosts; and Irish Premieres of Sinéad O’Shea’s A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot; Donal Foreman’s The Image You Missed; Feargal Ward’s The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid; Dónal O’Céilleachair’s The Camino Voyage and the Dublin premiere of Pat Collins’ Twilight.
To explore the full programme, including international titles, special events and guests, please click here.