Last February, the Circular Bar & Grill on the South Circular Road launched the Rialto Cinema Club. These nights aimed to bring cult cinema, homegrown movies and more to Dublin 8, fitting a few screenings in before lockdown descended upon us all. This Saturday, 27th February, the cinema club returns with a selection of short films.
A dynamic programme of contemporary Irish hip hop and R&B musicals is set to be one of the more enticing elements of this year’s Dublin International Film Festival. Playback x DIFF is a collabaration between musical and film talent, as some of Ireland’s biggest names in the music scene engage creatively with rising and risen directing talent, producing that mutual staple of behind the camera skill and alternative expression in rap and R&B: the music video.
When every waking day is scary, the Horrorthon ain’t just for Halloween folks. The Irish Film Institute’s curation of the creepy and crawly, the Horrorthon will be offering a special selection of scares this Valentine’s Day to get your heart pumping and your pulse racing, all available to stream on IFI@Home.
The full programme for this year’s all-online Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival has been announced. As the biggest film festival in the fair city of film moves all online, the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival 2021 will serve as a celebration of the power of film to bring people together and explore the world in new ways. Taking place from 3-14 March 2021, the Festival has been re-imagined to bring audiences the best of new films and old classics, all while allowing people to attend the festival safely from their homes. This year VMDIFF will be delivered via the screening portal Eventive.
The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival returns at the end of this month, a celebration of the possibilities for anyone to pick up their phone and start creating great films. Now in its fourth year, this international festival remains dedicated to celebrating works shot on Smartphone and Tablets, encouraging new filmmakers and providing a platform to exhibit stories through a different lens to a wider audience.
For the last ten years First Fortnight have used the beginning of the year as an opportunity to put a focus on mental health. At what can be the most challenging time of the year, they challenge mental health prejudice through arts and cultural action. This year’s anniversary edition of the festival will revisit the past, looking at the changes across the artistic and mental health landscape of Ireland- while also exploring the future and asking how to collectively continue to push social and creative boundaries.
As part of their efforts, recent years have seen collaboration between First Fortnight and the Irish Film Institute. In January 2021, the IFI will once again partner with First Fortnight to present a selection of films on the topic of mental health.
Dublin’s biggest film festival makes its return this March. Things will be different, but the biggest celebration of cinema in the fair city of film is scheduled to go ahead this Spring. The best of filmmaking from Ireland and around the world will be shared at VMDIFF 2021 in a new multi-platform programme to meet the challenges of our current times. The Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival 2021 will be a varied selection of films available in cinemas, outdoors and at home.
A new film festival in Dublin dedicated to comedy promises offers up some much needed winter levity with an online programme of films and live stand-up acts. A mix of films and live comedy will take place at the first Dublin International Comedy Film Festival next month. Some of our Ireland’s top comedic talent on screen and off will share new shorts, features, sketches and stand-up.
The Dublin Arabic Film Festival, now into its seventh edition of featuring Arabic films here in Ireland, will be moving online next month. A staple of Dublin’s usual celebration of international cinema over the last few years, this year the festival will be going ahead, spotlighting Middle Eastern filmmaking talent on the big screen through your smaller one.
This week marks Fingal Inclusion Week, an initiative led by Fingal County Council and the Fingal Public Participation Network. Over 35 events will take place across the County of Fingal from Monday 16th November to Saturday 21st November, all of which are free to attend and open to all.
As part of Fingal Inclusion Week this year, the Bleeding Pig Film Festival in association with the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival, are presenting a free online programme of short Irish films. These shorts are about shifting attitudes, highlighting gender and LGBT issues in Ireland, include comedy and drama alike, presenting different perspectives under a common theme- the importance of acceptance and inclusion.
