Screen Ireland titles open and close the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival
Posted: 26th February 2020
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is proud to support the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, running from the 26th February to 8th March 2020, with two World Premieres for Screen Ireland-supported projects Windmill Lane and Broken Law, and seven feature films receiving their Irish Premiere as part of the festival.
Lorcan Finnegan's Vivarium will open the festival tonight as its Opening Gala, and Phyllida Lloyd's Herself, penned by Irish actor Clare Dunne and screenwriter Malcolm Campbell, will screen as the festival's Closing Gala, fresh from its strong critical reception at Sundance this January.
See below for a complete line-up of Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland titles screening at this year's festival.
Vivarium (Opening Gala) - Wednesday, 26th February, 6pm
House hunters Gemma and Tom find themselves trapped in the empty cryptic maze of a vast housing development. No matter what corners they turn, they find themselves back where they started. All attempts to escape are futile, so they are forced to take up residence in a sick simulacrum of suburban living. Are Gemma and Tom the subjects of some bizarre experiment? The mockery of family living is stretched to breaking point and the chain of events that follows reveals the horrific truth beneath the Vivarium.
Arracht (Irish Premiere) - Friday, 28th February, 6.15pm
Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Coleman Sharkey has to abandon his family and flee to a remote island. When the famine engulfs his community and takes his wife and child, he is left with nothing but a solitary life. Coleman evades the law and fights starvation until he meets a girl named Kitty who helps him find a reason to live.
Cuirtear coir i leith Coleman Sharkey, coir nach ndearna sé, agus caithfidh sé a theaghlach a thréigean agus cur faoi ar oileáinín iargúlta. Déanann an gorta slad ar an bpobal, sciobann uaidh a bhean agus a pháiste agus níl aige sa saol ach an t-uaigneas agus é ar a theitheadh ó fhórsaí an dlí, ag iarraidh gan bás a fháil den ocras. Buaileann sé le cailín darb ainm Cití a thugann cúis dó a bheith beo.
Broken Law (World Premiere) - Friday, 28th February, 8.45pm
Dave Connolly is a respected member of the Garda Síochána, but following a botched robbery, his loyalty to the law is tested by his ex-convict brother Joe. Dave suddenly finds himself embroiled in a cover-up that somehow leads to a secret relationship with Amia, an unhappily married woman who also happens to be the victim of his brother’s crime.
Rose Plays Julie (Irish Premiere) - Saturday, 29th February, 8.30pm
Rose Plays Julie is the story of a young woman searching for her biological mother. Set against a backdrop of misogyny, revenge and longing, Rose undertakes a journey that leads her to revelations that are both devastating and dangerous.
Calm With Horses (Irish Premiere) - Thursday, 5th March, 8.30pm
In darkest rural Ireland, ex-boxer Douglas ’Arm’ Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father to his autistic five-year-old son, Jack. Torn between these two families, Arm’s loyalties are truly tested when he is asked to kill for the first time.
Rialto (Irish Premiere) - Friday, 6th March, 8.15pm
Colm is in his mid-forties, married, with two teenage children. Still grieving the death of his father, a destructive figure in his life, Colm struggles with his relationship to his own son. At work, a recent takeover threatens his job and unable to share his vulnerability with his wife, Colm’s world is falling apart around him. In the midst of this crisis, Colm solicits sex from a young man called Jay. This encounter and his growing infatuation has a deep effect on Colm. He finds a comfort in Jay that no one else can provide.
Windmill Lane (World Premiere) - Saturday, 7th March, 6.00pm
Ireland at the turn of the millennium. A grimy warehouse in a corner of Dublin’s docklands becomes a mecca for music and the arts. This is the story of a group of extraordinary people who were brave, bold and groundbreaking enough to leave their mark on an incredible time of change in Ireland and the world.
Sea Fever (Irish Premiere) - Saturday, 7th March, 8.45pm
Solitary marine biology student Siobhán endures a week on a ragged fishing trawler, where she's miserably at odds with the close-knit crew. But out in the deep Atlantic, an unfathomable life form ensnares the boat. When members of the crew start succumbing to a strange infection, Siobhán must overcome her alienation and win the crew's trust, before everyone is lost.
Herself (Closing Gala) - Sunday, 8th March, 6.15pm
On the surface, Sandra is a young mother struggling to provide her two young daughters with a warm, safe and happy home to grow up in. Beneath the surface, she has a steely determination to change their lives for the better, and when it becomes clear that there are no other options left, she decides to build it herself from scratch.
With very little income to speak of and no savings, Sandra must use all her ingenuity to make her ambitious friends support her and lend a helping hand. At the same time, she must escape the grip of her possessive ex-partner and keep him away from her and her girls. The lionhearted Sandra draws together a community of young daughters that help rebuild her own strength and sense of self.