The full programme for ADIFF 2018 has officially launched. With over 100 feature films being screened, international stars visiting, seven world premieres and plenty of Irish ones, Dublin’s biggest film festival is looking better than ever. Setting the stage for the year to come in the fair city of film, the Audi Dublin International Film Festival is one of the most exciting times of the year for Irish film fans and this year’s programme promises the chance to see some of this year’s most eagerly anticipated movies.
The biggest film festival taking place in Dublin, for years DIFF has showcased great cinema across the city, and the IFI, Light House Cinema and Cineworld will be among the cinemas screening films for this year’s festival, which takes place from February 21st to March 4th.
Stars from Ireland and abroad will be in attendance during the festival as Bill Pullman, Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Schrader, Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Lance Daly, Nora Twomey, Paddy Considine, Sandy Powell, and Lynne Ramsay to name but a few are all set to appear.
The Opening Gala of ADIFF 2018 will be the Irish Premiere of Black 47, one of the most anticipated Irish films of 2018. Lance Daly directs this gripping, pulsating thriller, set during Ireland’s Great Famine, featuring Irish stars including Barry Keoghan, Moe Dunford, Stephan Rea and more.
Rounding off the festival in the ADIFF 2018 Closing Gala is C’est La Vie. An irreverant French comedy, the film is Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano’s follow-up to hit film The Intouchables.
ADIFF 2018 will be packed full to the brim with Irish talent, with plenty of homegrown highlights. Plenty of Irish directors will be in attendance, including Irish premieres for Aoife McArdle’s hard-hitting IFTA nominated debut, Kissing Candice, as well as Good Favour, the third feature directed by Rebecca Daly, the story of a religious community who shelter to an enigmatic outsider. Irish films at the festival will run through every genre to suit all tastes, from interesting documentaries to horror, as well as the big screen debut of Andrew Quirke’s comedy team in Damo & Ivor: The Movie. There will also be a strong international presence throughout the two weeks of the festival, with films from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Ecuador, Israel, Germany, France, Iran, Norway, Romania, France, Argentina and many more.
Early screenings from a number of highly anticipated American films will take place at the festival, including Jennifer Lawrence spy flick Red Sparrow and Liam Neeson in Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House. Bill Pullman will be in attendance for the premiere of his new western The Ballad of Lefty Brown, while Wes Anderson’s latest film, the animated Isle of Dogs is also set for a sneak preview.
Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave will receive a 2018 ADIFF Volta Awards for her lifetime of achievement in cinema at the Irish Premiere of her passionate new documentary on the refugee crisis, Sea Sorrow. Redgrave’s co-director and son Carlo Nero will also attend.
Paul Schrader is also set to receive a Volta Award, honouring him for his extensive work as a director and screenwriter. Schrader’s acclaimed new film First Reformed starring Ethan Hawke will receive a 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.
New technology in storytelling will be showcased during the festival, as the Immersive Stories Conference promises to bring internationally renowned experts in virtual and augmented reality fields to Dublin for an inaugural two-day conference in the Round Room at the Mansion House. Curated by Eoghan Cunneen, this section of ADIFF 2018 will feature a number of guest speakers and aims to explore innovative and immersive new steps in filmmaking.
Fantastic Flix, ADIFF’s special strand of programming for young people aged 4-16, returns for a third year with the support of Cheestrings. Fantastic Flix is a programme of fun, interesting and inspiring films from Ireland and abroad for both families and school groups, and a number of workshops will aim to spark young minds during the festival as well. Nora Twomey’s Oscar-nominated animation The Breadwinner is among the highlights for the Flix, but there are plenty of exciting options for viewers of all ages.
The full list of films showing at ADIFF 2018 is available here. Tickets are available now at www.diff.ie on 24th Jan and the festival’s Box Office is open at 12 East Essex Street from 25th Jan.