IFI February 2010

Monthly Listings for February 2010

A SINGLEMAN FEBRUARY 2010

EXHIBITPRESERVEEDUCATE The Irish Film Institute is Ireland’s national cultural institution for film. It aims to exhibit the finest in independent, Irish and international cinema, preserve Ireland’s moving image heritage at the Irish Film Archive, and encourage engagement with film through its various educational programmes. THE IRISHFILM INSTITUTE Lazy Sundays will never be the same again with the addition of the IFI Café Bar’s new brunch menu, served each Sunday from 12 to 5. We’ve also just launched a new tapas menu if you prefer a lighter bite before or after a film, or you could even try our new sharing plates, the perfect accompaniment to all post-film analyses! To celebrate the completion of our redevelopment work, we’re offering our customers a day of free films on February 6th! See page 25 for more details. February also sees the continuation of our new strand of free programming from the IFI Irish Film Archive with our twice-weekly lunchtime screenings, each less than thirty minutes long. See page 24 for further details. The new Spring Education programme has just been announced with details of all school screenings nationwide from now until May 2010. There are a host of new titles this term, including The September Issue, The Hurt Locker and Bright Star. Visit www.ifi/education for a full list of screenings or contact 01 679 5744 to make a booking. The IFI is always delighted to present the finest in new Irish filmmaking, and in February we will be screening Margaret Corkery’s award-winning and IFTA nominated first feature, Eamon. For film notes, please see page 7. The cast and crew will attend the screening on February 5th at 6.50, and Margaret will also participate in an in-depth discussion about her career to date on February 11th. EDUCATION FREECAFÉ BAR IRISH FILM 1

DIRECTOR’S NOTE FEBRUARYAT THE IFI The IFI is delighted to be working in partnership with JDIFF to bring one of the most controversial and influential figures from experimental film, Kenneth Anger, to Dublin for a retrospective and public talk. This rare opportunity to see this extraordinary work on 16mm, and hear this unique filmmaker talk about his work, is one not to be missed. The IFI Café Bar is this year home to JDIFF’s Festival Club and we look forward to welcoming all festival-goers for post-screening sustenance and discussion. It is going to be a busy month – clear your diaries and enjoy some extraordinary and inspiring cinema! Sarah Glennie Director Welcome to the IFI’s February programme for what promises to be a great month for cinemagoers in Dublin. DIRECTOR’S NOTE To celebrate the newly refurbished IFI, we start the month with a day of free films on February 6th. From IFI classics to new releases, the day will give a snapshot of the breadth of programming that the IFI has to offer all audiences, including our new programmes, IFI Family, IFI Teen Screen and Archive at Lunchtime, which all continue during February. Some of the most anticipated films of the year are amongst our new releases, including several Oscar contenders. Precious and A Prophet continue, along with ex-Gucci designer Tom Ford’s much anticipated first feature A Single Man, the Tolstoy biopic The Last Station, and Amélie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s new film, Micmacs, all opening during the month. Jeff Bridges returns to extraordinary form in Crazy Heart, and to mark the release of this acclaimed new film we are showcasing the work of this much-loved actor with a season of nine films spanning his career from The Last Picture Show to The Big Lebowski. We are delighted to be showing Eamon by one of Ireland’s most exciting young filmmakers, Margaret Corkery. This is her first feature and it returns to Ireland after a successful run of international festival screenings, and Margaret will be joining us for a discussion about her work. Eamon is the first of a number of new Irish films we will be showing throughout the year, giving our audiences an opportunity to keep track of new talents in Irish filmmaking. The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival takes place citywide from the 18th to 28th February with a packed programme of screenings and special events connecting films from all over the world. FEBRUARYAT THE IFI The Fabulous Baker Boys (Feb 18th, 6.30) 2

FEBRUARY 2010 DATESCREENINGTIME 1ST MON ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: WATER WISDOM BROTHERS PRECIOUS A PROPHET LATE AUTUMN ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) 1.00 1.00, 6.00 1.10, 3.25, 8.40 3.00, 5.40, 8.10 3.30 8.50 2ND TUES BROTHERS A PROPHET PRECIOUS ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) LATE AUTUMN 1.00, 6.00 1.10, 3.00, 5.40, 8.10 1.10, 3.25, 8.40 4.10, 8.50 6.20 3RD WED ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: IRISH GOSSAMER BROTHERS PRECIOUS A PROPHET ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) LATE AUTUMN 1.00 1.00, 6.00 1.10, 3.25, 8.40 3.00, 5.40, 8.10 4.10, 8.50 6.20 4TH THURS BROTHERS A PROPHET PRECIOUS ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) LATE AUTUMN 1.00. 6.00 1.10, 3.00, 5.40, 8.10 1.10, 3.25, 8.40 4.10, 8.50 6.20 5TH FRI BROTHERS PRECIOUS EAMON A PROPHET LATE AUTUMN ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) 12.45, 6.00 2.20, 4.35, 8.40 2.30, 6.50, 9.00 3.00, 8.10 4.30 7.00 6TH SAT OPEN DAY SEE WWW.IFI.IE FOR DETAILS 7TH SUN THE LAST PICTURE SHOW PRECIOUS EAMON A PROPHET LATE AUTUMN BROTHERS ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) 1.00 2.20, 4.35, 8.40 2.30, 6.50, 9.00 3.10, 8.10 4.30 6.00 7.00 8TH MON ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: IRISH GOSSAMER ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) PRECIOUS EAMON A PROPHET BROTHERS FRENCH FILM CLUB DISCUSSION 1.00 1.00, 4.30 2.20, 4.35, 8.40 2.30, 6.50, 9.00 3.00, 8.10 6.00 6.30 9TH TUES ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) PRECIOUS EAMON A PROPHET BROTHERS ART THROUGH A LENS: BLOOD OF THE POET + MESHES IN THE AFTERNOON 1.00, 4.30 2.20, 4.35, 8.40 2.30, 6.50, 9.00 3.00, 8.10 6.00 6.30 10TH WED ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: WATER WISDOM ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) PRECIOUS EAMON A PROPHET BROTHERS 1.00 1.00, 4.20, 6.20 2.20, 4.35, 8.40 2.20, 6.50, 9.00 3.00, 8.10 6.00 11TH THURS ADORATION (INCLUDES IRISH SHORT) PRECIOUS EAMON 1.00, 4.20, 6.30 2.00, 4.15, 8.40 2.20, 9.00 DATESCREENINGTIME A PROPHET BROTHERS MARGARET CORKERY IN CONVERSATION 3.00, 8.10 6.00 6.30 12TH FRI A SINGLE MAN EAMON PRECIOUS A PROPHET THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN 1.00, 3.00, 5.05, 8.50 1.30, 6.30 2.00, 4.15, 8.40 3.30, 8.10 6.30 7.10 13THSAT A SINGLE MAN EAMON PRECIOUS A PROPHET LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN HOLLYWOOD COWBOY (HEARTS OF THE WEST) 1.00, 3.00, 6.45, 8.50 1.30, 6.30 2.00, 4.15, 8.40 3.30, 8.10 5.05 6.30 14THSUN A SINGLE MAN EAMON EASY RIDER A PROPHET PRECIOUS LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN 1.00, 3.00, 6.45, 8.50 1.30, 6.30 2.30 3.30, 8.10 4.10, 6.25, 8.40 5.05 15THMON ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: WATER WISDOM A SINGLE MAN EAMON PRECIOUS A PROPHET EASY RIDER LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN 1.00 1.00, 3.00, 5.00, 8.50 1.40, 6.30 2.30, 4.45, 8.40 3.30, 8.10 7.00 7.00 16THTUES A SINGLE MAN PRECIOUS EAMON A PROPHET ART THROUGH A LENS: THE GARDEN LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN 1.00, 3.00, 5.05, 8.50 2.30, 4.45, 8.40 1.30, 9.00 3.30, 5.40 6.30 7.10 17THWED ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: IRISH GOSSAMER EAMON A SINGLE MAN PRECIOUS A PROPHET TRON LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN 1.00 1.30, 6.30 2.30, 4.35, 8.50 2.30, 4.45, 8.40 3.30, 8.10 6.40 7.00 18THTHURS A SINGLE MAN EAMON PRECIOUS A PROPHET THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN 1.00, 3.00, 5.05, 8.50 1.30, 6.30 2.00, 4.15, 8.40 3.30, 8.10 6.30 7.10 19THFRI LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN A SINGLE MAN THE HEADLESS WOMAN CRAZY HEART THE LAST STATION JAGGED EDGE JDIFF: THE NATIONAL FILM SCHOOL/ IADT@ 25 2.00 2.10, 4.20, 8.50 2.20, 6.40 4.00, 8.40 4.20, 8.40 6.30 6.30 20THSAT LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN THE HEADLESS WOMAN JDIFF: KENNETH ANGER (PROGRAMME 1) CRAZY HEART THE LAST STATION A SINGLE MAN JDIFF: IFB SHORTS 2.00 2.10, 6.30 2.30 4.00, 8.40 4.10, 6.20, 8.30 4.20, 8.45 6.30 3

PROGRAMME NEW RELEASES BROTHERS ADORATION A PROPHET PRECIOUS EAMON A SINGLE MAN CRAZY HEART THE LAST STATION THE HEADLESS WOMAN MICMACS RE-RELEASES SEASONS & SPECIAL EVENTS JEFF BRIDGES SEASON KENNETH ANGER SEASON JAMESON DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL EVENING COURSE:ART THROUGH A LENS IFI OPEN DAY REGULAR IFI EVENTS IRELAND ON SUNDAY WILD STRAWBERRIES ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME IFI FAMILY 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 11-14 15-16 17-19 20 25 23 23 24 24 DATESCREENINGTIME 21ST SUN LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN THE HEADLESS WOMAN JDIFF: KENNETH ANGER (PROGRAMME 2) CRAZY HEART A SINGLE MAN THE LAST STATION JDIFF: IFB MUSICALS 2.00 2.10, 6.30 2.30 4.00, 8.40 4.20, 8.45 4.10, 6.20, 8.30 6.30 22ND MON ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: IRISH GOSSAMER CRAZY HEART A SINGLE MAN THE HEADLESS WOMAN THE LAST STATION JDIFF: THE BEHOLDER CUTTER’S WAY 1.00 2.00, 4.20, 8.40 2.10, 4.20, 8.45 2.10, 6.30 4.10, 8.30 6.30 6.40 23RD TUES A SINGLE MAN THE HEADLESS WOMAN THE LAST STATION CRAZY HEART JDIFF SEMINAR JDIFF: OUTLIVING DRACULA ART THROUGH A LENS: LOVE IS A TREASURE 2.10, 4.20, 8.40 2.10 2.30, 8.30 4.10, 8.40 5.00 6.30 6.30 24TH WED WILD STRAWBERRIES: SLEEP FURIOUSLY ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: WATER WISDOM THE LAST STATION CRAZY HEART A SINGLE MAN THE HEADLESS WOMAN JDIFF: JIMMY MURAKAMI: NON ALIEN STRANGER THAN FICTION PREVIEW 11.00 1.00 2.00, 4.15, 8.30 2.00, 4.15, 6.30 2.10, 4.20, 8.45 6.30 6.30 8.45 25TH THURS THE HEADLESS WOMAN CRAZY HEART A SINGLE MAN THE LAST STATION JDIFF SEMINAR THE FISHER KING JDIFF: THE FADING LIGHT 1.00, 6.30 1.30, 3.50, 8.40 2.10, 4.20, 8.45 2.45, 8.30 5.00 6.10 6.30 26TH FRI WILD STRAWBERRIES: SLEEP FURIOUSLY THE HEADLESS WOMAN MICMACS CRAZY HEART THE LAST STATION A SINGLE MAN JDIFF: IVUL KENNETH ANGER CELEBRATION 11.00 1.00, 5.00 2.00, 4.10, 8.45 2.00, 6.30 2.45, 6.45 4.25, 8.45 6.30 9.00 27TH SAT ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: WATER WISDOM + IRISH GOSSAMER CRAZY HEART THE HEADLESS WOMAN JDIFF: KENNETH ANGER (PROGRAMME 3) THE LAST STATION A SINGLE MAN JDIFF: CHILD OF THE DEAD END MICMACS 1.00 2.00, 6.30 2.10, 6.30 2.30 4.10, 8.30 4.25, 8.45 4.30 6.35, 8.45 28TH SUN IFI FAMILY: THE RED BALLOON + WORKSHOP IRELAND ON SUNDAY: BEYOND THE FIRE THE BIG LEBOWSKI THE HEADLESS WOMAN THE LAST STATION MICMACS A SINGLE MAN CRAZY HEART 11.00 1.00 2.00 2.10, 6.30 4.10, 8.30 4.15, 6.30 8.45 4.25, 8.45 6.30 4

FILM INFO: 100 minutes, Canada, 2008, Colour, Digital Notes by Trevor Johnston FEB 1ST - 11THCanadian-Armenian maestro Atom Egoyan returns to form with this intelligent and provocative meditation on identity, communications technology and the post-9/11 world. Egoyan’s muse, Arsinée Khanjian, plays a Toronto French teacher who picks as a translation exercise a news item about an Arab terrorist who planted a bomb in the airline luggage of his pregnant Irish girlfriend. Student Devon Bostick takes the story and through it examines his own family’s troubled past by pretending the terrorist was his own father. Soon internet chat rooms are buzzing, since he hasn’t let it slip that it’s untrue. Like the great Egoyan films of yore, this is about troubled individuals seeking meaning from places and objects in their lives, though this modern spin shows how the white noise of user-generated content, and the ubiquitous presence of ideological tensions, complicate that process. A thoughtful, elegantly framed film whose implications stay with you long after its closing credits, it’s certainly his best since The Sweet Hereafter. FEBRUARY 2010NEW RELEASES FILM INFO: 105 minutes, U.S.A., 2009, Colour, Anamorphic, Dolby Stereo, Digital Notes by Trevor Johnston FEB 1ST - 11THAs Daniel Day-Lewis and Paddy Considine will doubtless concur, Jim Sheridan has a deserved reputation as an actor’s director, something reaffirmed by career-best work from the stellar cast of this emotive US-shot home-front drama. Looking appreciably lean and mean, Tobey Maguire steps up a gear as the soldier who goes missing in action in Afghanistan, while his distraught spouse Natalie Portman struggles to raise their two small daughters, receiving surprising support from Maguire’s black- sheep brother, Jake Gyllenhaal. Presented with the opportunity to grow up for once in his life, he does so, and Gyllenhaal’s work here has a warmth and nuance that’s truly insightful, even if most of the fireworks are provided by Maguire’s character. It’s all based on an excellent Danish film by Susanne Bier, yet in a way the story seems to belong in America and Sheridan has succeeded in retaining its gut-level intensity while giving the material a useful expressive polish . . . and a dab of U2 on the soundtrack. BROTHERS PRECIOUSADORATION IFI IRISH SHORTS This screening includes Andrew Kavanagh’s IFB- funded animation, Hasan Everywhere, about a friendship between an Israeli writer and a Palestinian artist exiled in New York. 6 minutes. 5

(UN PROPHÈTE) FILM INFO: 155 minutes, France-Italy, 2009, Subtitled, Colour, Digital Notes by Trevor Johnston FEB 1ST - 18THLauded on the festival circuit, Jacques Audiard’s latest is one of the great European crime flicks of recent years. Newcomer Tahar Rahim provides a compelling central presence as an initially terrified Muslim prisoner in one of France’s toughest jails who ensures his survival by throwing his lot in with a group of Corsican lifers, becoming an essential part of the criminal operation they run from behind bars and something of a surrogate son for their grizzled head honcho (Niels Arestrup). Whether he has their respect is another matter, as Audiard weaves a compelling labyrinthine narrative of blackmail, murder and internecine rivalry around troubling questions of French national identity. The film’s build-up and release of tension is nothing short of masterly, its evocation of the skewed rules of life on the inside scarily convincing. And while Arestrup exudes Brando-esque charisma as the domineering heavy, Rahim matches him all the way as the steely protagonist, determined to belong, but only on his own terms. IFI Student Night, Feb 1st, 8.10, Tickets €5. FILM INFO: 110 minutes, U.S.A., 2009, Colour, Dolby Digital Stereo, 35mm Notes by Trevor Johnston FEB 1ST - 18THPrecious is an overweight, illiterate Harlem teenager who’s already had a son with Down syndrome and is pregnant with her second child. Home life, meanwhile, brings daily abuse from her volatile mother while her since-departed father got her pregnant on both occasions. Based on the novel Push by former literacy-teacher Sapphire, here’s a story dealing with the farthest reaches of urban degradation, yet it’s ultimately an uplifting parable about the untapped possibilities within the marginalised of our society. It’s a film which doesn’t shy away from the reality of the streets, but director Lee Daniels’ eclectic stylings are born from an irrepressible determination to avoid the usual worthily depressing naturalism. Thanks to Gabourey Sidibe’s uncannily subtle, truly Oscar-worthy central performance, we understand just what it’s like to be told you’re worthless, and we’re rooting for her all the way as she begins to turn her life around, aided by Mariah Carey as a no-nonsense care worker. This is a life- affirming knockout of a movie. A PROPHET PRECIOUS FRENCH FILM CLUB Screening of A Prophet, Feb 8th, 8.10. Pre-screening talk on prison reform, 6.30. See www.ifi.ie for details. 6

FILM INFO: 100 minutes, U.S.A., 2009, Colour, Anamorphic, Dolby Stereo Notes by Trevor Johnston FROM FEB 12THThe finest performance of Colin Firth’s career illuminates this affecting adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s early ‘60s novel about an English professor adrift in Los Angeles after the loss of his long-time male companion. The name of writer-director Tom Ford, perhaps new to cineastes, will be familiar to dedicated followers of haute couture. He makes an impressive transition from catwalk to silver screen with this story about a man determined to maintain a fastidiously elegant appearance while underneath his heart is in tatters. Although Ford’s eye for the era’s Southern California cool-school design cossets Firth’s personal crisis amid a milieu of truly swoonsome allure, the performers remain the centre of attention. Julianne Moore’s boozy confidante offers a touching vignette of self-deception, but it’s Firth’s uncanny rendering of George Falconer’s sardonic wit and quintessential English reserve as he wonders how to persevere in a world without love which makes this chic, sincere film compellingly truthful as well. FEBRUARY 2010NEW RELEASES A SINGLEMAN FILM INFO: 86 minutes, Ireland, 2009, Colour, Dolby Stereo, Digital Notes by Peter Walsh FEB 5TH - 18THAlready a success on the international festival circuit and nominated for a number of forthcoming IFTA awards, Eamon is a clever and imaginative first feature by writer- director Margaret Corkery. It’s a sharply focused, darkly comic oedipal tale about a six-year-old needy kid with “behavioural problems”. Clinging to his mother (Amy Kirwan) to the point of sharing her bed, Eamon (Robert Donnelly) sidelines his father (Darren Healy), who’s sexually frustrated from being confined to sleeping in the spare room. Far from resolving the tensions between the family members, a holiday trip to a Wicklow seaside resort brings all their conflicts out into the open. Employing crisp images, colourful production design and some very droll observations on Irish family life, Corkery manoeuvres her excellent cast through a comic drama that reaches beyond realism to engage, playfully and entertainingly, with some provocative ideas. Presented in association with Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board. EAMON Director Margaret Corkery will be in conversation at the IFI on Feb 11th, 6.30. Free but ticketed. 7

FILM INFO: 112 minutes, U.S.A., 2009, Colour, Anamorphic, Dolby Stereo, 35mm Notes by Peter Walsh FROM FEB 19THIn a career spanning more than 40 years, Jeff Bridges has long been one of American cinema’s best-loved actors. Good roles have been thin on the ground since his unforgettable turn as the Dude in The Big Lebowski (1998), but the long wait ends with Crazy Heart, which boasts one of the actor’s finest performances. The film looks as though it might have been conceived as a worthy vehicle for the talents of the now 60-year-old Bridges. Adapted from Thomas Cobb’s novel by first-time director Scott Cooper, it has something of the feel and pace of a ’70s American independent production. Bridges plays 57-year-old Bad Blake, a washed-up country musician who just about keeps his act together to perform in dismal bars across the American Southwest. Blake may embody every known cliché about wayward country singers, but Bridges somehow manages to capture the charm, dignity and humanity that lie beneath the self-destructive bluster. Give the man his Oscar! Please see page 11 for details of a Jeff Bridges season.. FILM INFO: 112 minutes, Germany-Russia- U.K., 2009, Colour, Dolby Stereo, Digital Notes by Trevor Johnston FROM FEB 19THA stellar cast and genuinely fascinating subject matter make this fictionalised account of the final days of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy an engrossing watch. Since the year is 1910, it’s almost surprising to see the great man (a suitably imposing Christopher Plummer) treated as a multi-media celebrity, yet reporters and newsreel cameramen dog his steps, covering the ongoing dispute between Sofya (Helen Mirren), his wife of some 46 years, and the Tolstoyan political movement that’s contesting the valuable publishing rights for War and Peace. Each side seeks to use Tolstoy’s new secretary (James McAvoy) to discover what the old man’s really thinking, yet the elderly author is just as interested in this earnest young man’s romantic misadventures. The ensuing ructions are as much farce as tragedy, as the seasoned performers relish the theatricality of the occasion, while the film engagingly illustrates the fine line between heartfelt passion and sheer bloody-mindedness. CRAZY HEART IFI TEEN SCREEN Special Crazy Heart screening for our monthly teen film club (age 15-18). For more information text your name to 085 1737232. THE LASTSTATION 8

(MICMACS À TIRE-LARIGOT) FILM INFO: 105 minutes, France, 2009, Subtitled, Colour, Anamorphic, Dolby Stereo, 35mm FROM FEB 26THAmélie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s new film combines his patented whimsy and visual inventiveness with a satirical treatment of the international arms trade. Comedian Dany Boon (a megastar following the phenomenon that was Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis/Welcome to the Sticks) plays Bazil, a video shop clerk who gets a non- fatal bullet in his brain during a drive-by shooting. Taken in by the Micmacs, seven misfits living in a secret lair under a rubbish dump, he discovers that rival Parisian arms dealers manufactured the bullet that hit him. Bazil plans revenge and is aided and abetted by his incredibly resourceful new friends. Although some commentators have claimed that the subject of arms trading grounds the film in contemporary reality, Micmacs, like Jeunet’s earlier films (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children) is a fable that looks and sounds like a live action cartoon. It’s surely no accident that Jeunet himself has cited Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a major influence. FROM FEB 19THArgentine writer-director Lucrecia Martel, long-regarded among the most promising new voices in world cinema, takes a significant step forward with this exquisitely rendered cinematic puzzle. Produced by Pedro Almodóvar, it’s the mesmerising portrait of a bottle-blonde woman of a certain age who can’t quite put herself back together again after she runs over something – maybe someone? – on the drive home. She’s not exactly clear on who or what she hit, yet ever since the incident she can’t really be sure of anything; suddenly it’s as if her life is not really hers to live. Martel trusts the audience to pay attention to the telling micro-details painstakingly revealed in the course of events, but she rewards us with a brilliantly unsettling vision of disconnected lives in a country where class divisions and a dark political history lurk just behind the everyday. Justified comparisons with Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Antonioni’s L’avventura give some idea of her accomplishment. FEBRUARY 2010NEW RELEASES (LA MUJER SIN CABEZA) FILM INFO: 87 minutes, Argentina-France- Italy-Spain, 2008, Subtitled, Colour, Anamorphic, Digital Notes by Trevor Johnston THE HEADLESSWOMAN MICMACS 9

FEBRUARY 2010RE-RELEASES Made late in his career, this 1960 production shows Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu’s sensibility at its most playful, and yet somehow serious. Not untypically for the director, the plot turns on the question of marriage: Yoko Tsukasa is the daughter of widow Setsuko Hara and it’s time to get her Increasingly recognised as one of cinema’s greatest stylists, German-born Max Ophüls made films in France and the U.S., and died at 55 in 1957 after completing Lola Montès. This bittersweet saga, the finest of his Hollywood sojourn, represents the quintessence of his art, an aching Re-released in a new 35mm print that does justice to its outstanding visuals and inspired soundtrack, Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969) became famous as one of those film industry milestones that could be treated (praised then, condemned later) as a statement of the Zeitgeist, of two drug-dealing bikers “going to look for America” and finding only moral waste and redneck repression. With its soundtrack composed of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Robbie Robertson, Carole King and others, and its fairly constant pot-smoking, Easy Rider became the pop event of its time, its despair and alienation from America merely a predictable reflex gesture. In fact, simple though it might be, its message about the American Dream that had lost its way is both sharply pointed and, literally and metaphorically, takes in a lot of ground. It also has a clarity and resonance that its reputation may not lead one to expect. paired off. Hence, three old male friends of her late father try to arrange things, only to complicate relations between mother and daughter, each of whom thinks the other is trying to get rid of them. The older men are essentially children in their well-meaning bumbling, while the desires of the female characters don’t always comply with society’s expectations of them. It all unfolds with refined deliberation and exquisite use of colour, blending wry smiles and bittersweet emotions. “Life, which seems complex,” Ozu wrote of the film, “suddenly reveals itself as very simple, and I wanted to show that.” illustration of the gulf between our dreams of romance and the cruel realities doomed to disappoint us. Cynical 19th-century concert pianist Louis Jourdan receives a surprise missive from a woman about to breathe her last. She could be any one of numerous, half-remembered lovers, yet little does he realise that sender Joan Fontaine has let her passion for him shape the whole course of her life. Ophüls’ camera endlessly circles these fate-locked individuals, the sweeping crane shots exemplifying love’s vertiginous exhilaration, while the artificial studio snow and sleigh rides crystallise an unforgettable emotional chill. Author David Thomson called it “a perfect film”, and that’s no understatement. (AKIBIYORI) FILM INFO: 128 minutes, Japan, 1960, Subtitled, Colour, Digital Notes by Trevor Johnston FEB 1ST - 7TH FILM INFO: 86 minutes, U.S.A., 1948, Black and White, Digital Notes by Trevor Johnston FEB 12TH-21ST FILM INFO: 95 minutes, U.S.A., 1969, Colour, Dolby Stereo, 35mm FEB 14TH (2.30) FEB 15TH (7.00) LATE AUTUMN LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN EASY RIDER 10

The justified awards-season acclaim for Jeff Bridges’ wonderfully lived-in performance as the has-been country crooner in Crazy Heart is an excellent reason to showcase the work of an actor who’s been so good for so long we’ve probably taken him for granted. The son of studio-era stalwart Lloyd Bridges, Jeff has in a way been the living embodiment of all that was cherishable about the pre-Star Wars American cinema in which he made his name. No matter who he’s playing, there’s always something real about Jeff Bridges on screen, and something of the maverick too – an edge, but also a vulnerability. That might seem like a mass of contradictions, but it also explains the range of his material, always presented with a technical skill that often goes unnoticed because it’s seemingly so offhand. And at the age of sixty, he’s far from finished yet – as The Big Lebowski would have it, this dude will abide . . . JEFF BRIDGESSEASON Introduction by Trevor Johnston, notes on individual films by Peter Walsh and Trevor Johnston. 11

BRIDGES SEASON The pinnacle of former critic Peter Bogdanovich’s directorial career, this evocative portrait of idling lives in 1950s small-town America is a far more piercing and grown-up offering than the bulk of today’s Hollywood output. Twenty-two- year-old Jeff Bridges had previously only In The Deer Hunter, Michael Cimino created an unforgettable portrait of the stresses and strains of male loyalty, but his directorial début shapes a no less well- observed portrait of rutting manhood in the form of a Clint Eastwood caper flick. Clint’s suitably imperious as the career crook on An underrated gem, Howard Zieff’s delightful 1975 comedy proved an ideal vehicle for Jeff Bridges, utilising to the full his winning combination of youthful innocence and unforced charm. He plays a country hick with literary ambitions who’s conned into enrolling at a non-existent university in the hope of honing his talent for writing colourful sagas of the Wild West. Instead he ends up working as a stuntman in ‘B’ Westerns at the dawn of the sound era. Delighted to be rubbing shoulders with grizzled veterans on the Western lot, the young tyro throws himself into his work, seemingly unable to distinguish between his fantasies and the tawdry realities of Tinseltown. His initiation into the ways of the world makes for a series of brilliantly funny gags, but this Hollywood-on- Hollywood comedy is distinguished by its more subtle, bittersweet observations on the dream factory as a breeding ground for private obsessions. done a few bit parts but he laid down a marker here with his generous, astute, Oscar-nominated performance as the none- too-smart teenage stud Duane, who’s about to trace the fine line between innocence and experience. It’s very much an ensemble piece however, with terrific work from Bridges’ sensitive pal Timothy Bottoms, rich bitch Cybill Shepherd, and wise old-stager Ben Johnson – all unfolding at a particular cultural moment as the community’s fleapit cinema faces closure. The bracingly austere black-and-white camerawork imprints it all with the qualities of myth, as Hank Williams on the soundtrack strikes the perfect note of raw desolation. A classic. the run from the ex-partners, scary George Kennedy and amiable dullard Geoffrey Lewis (Juliette’s dad!), who reckon he’s done them out of the proceeds of a heist they pulled together. Enter Jeff Bridges, a feckless drifter looking to get in with Eastwood, and whose slightly skewed way of looking at things influences the senior partner’s game plan. Touchingly gauche as the young man eager to find his place in the scheme of things, Bridges was well worth his Oscar nomination in a movie which delivers crime-pic thrills, but takes the time to develop complex bonds between its bristling badass characters. FILM INFO: 118 minutes, U.S.A., 1971, Black and White, 35mm FEB 7TH (1.00) FILM INFO: 115 minutes, U.S.A., 1974, Colour, Anamorphic, 35mm FEB 12TH (6.30) (HEARTS OF THE WEST) FILM INFO: 103 minutes, U.S.A., 1975, Colour, 35mm FEB 13TH (6.30) THE LAST PICTURE SHOW HOLLYWOOD COWBOY THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT 12

BRIDGES SEASON Disney’s 1982 hi-tech fantasy, a box- office disappointment on its initial run, has belatedly been recognised as one of the most influential effects movies of the post-Star Wars era. Made at a moment when what passed for computer gaming was the preserve of the amusement arcade, FILM INFO: 96 minutes, U.S.A., 1982, Colour, Anamorphic, Blu-Ray FEB 17TH (6.40) writer-director Steve Lisberger’s story about a games designer sucked into his own circuits by an evil corporate megalomaniac was conceptually years ahead of its time, while its extraordinary design work – those neon-glowing grids, the high-adrenaline motorcycle chases – still looks startlingly fresh today. Inspired casting as the authority- flaunting hero, Jeff Bridges’ maverick presence ensures that it’s not just a technical exercise and, occasional naiveties aside, the whole enterprise still buzzes with the excitement of broaching uncharted territory. The fact that Disney will this year release a big-budget sequel, Tron Legacy (with Bridges reprising his role), is its own tribute to the film’s pioneering achievement. The Bridges boys are cannily cast in this perceptive character drama about a jobbing piano duo on the supper-club circuit, with Beau the steady, serious one in frequent conflict with Jeff, his loose-cannon sibling. Aware that their act is losing its shine, they draft in Michelle Pfeiffer, whose FILM INFO: 114 minutes, U.S.A., 1989, Colour, Dolby Stereo, 35mm FEB 18TH (6.30) experience has been limited to an escort service but who certainly gets the punters’ attention when she dons a red dress and delivers Makin’ Whoopee from the top of Jeff’s piano. Professional demeanour and personal desires soon become messily intermingled, with writer-director Steve Kloves (who has since spent much of his time adapting Harry Potter for the screen!) using the escalating tensions to examine the perils of emotional shutdown as the parties discover they’re not as invulnerable as they thought. Then-newcomer Pfeiffer was hot news at the time, but Jeff Bridges’ portrait of youthful talent curdling into cynicism is masterly indeed. A courtroom thriller in the classic mould, this teaser from the pen of Joe Basic Instinct Eszterhas is constructed with old-fashioned respect for the audience’s intelligence. When a rich socialite is brutally murdered, prime suspect is the husband (Jeff Bridges) who was first on the scene. FILM INFO: 108 minutes, U.S.A., 1985, Colour, Dolby Stereo, 35mm Given that he’ll be the one to benefit financially from the murder, could the solution to the case really be that obvious? Careerist state prosecutor Peter Coyote is itching to land a conviction, but the more intimately acquainted defence counsel Glenn Close gets with her client, the stronger her faith in his innocence. Under Richard Marquand’s classy direction, the steady drip-feed of new revelations has the viewer continually reassessing their own opinions, yet the entire movie succeeds thanks to Bridges’ uncanny ability to appear as a charismatic innocent one minute, steely schemer the next. Unlikely as it might sound, it’s among his best performances. FEB 19TH (6.30) THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS JAGGED EDGE TRON 13

Perhaps the most shamefully neglected masterpiece of 1980s American cinema, this complex and compelling modern film noir actually improves on its source material, Newton Thornburg’s fine post-Vietnam novel Cutter and Bone. Whereas the novel spells out all the details, the film (brilliantly (CUTTER AND BONE) FILM INFO: 105 minutes, U.S.A., 1981, Colour, 35mm FEB 22ND (6.40) After the debacle of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam took on his first project as director-for-hire, and made a triumph of this modern-day fairy-tale, blending madness, murder, and quixotic romanticism. Jeff Bridges grounds the proceedings with his spot-on turn as a former radio talk-show FILM INFO: 137 minutes, U.S.A., 1991, Colour, Dolby Stereo, 35mm FEB 25TH (6.10) Still a major cult movie, The Big Lebowski is the Coen brothers’ funniest creation and probably the film for which Jeff Bridges is now best known. Jeffrey Lebowski (Bridges), aka the Dude, is a laid-back Los Angeles stoner (“high in the runnin’ for laziest man worldwide”) who spends much FILM INFO: 117 minutes, U.S.A., 1998, Colour, Dolby Stereo, 35mm of his time chatting with fellow bowling fanatics Walter (John Goodman), a motor- mouth Vietnam veteran, and Donny (Steve Buscemi), a nice guy who’s always one step behind. The Coens throw Jeff and his pals into a Raymond Chandler-style plot involving mistaken identity and the kidnapping of the wife of a millionaire (also named Lebowski). The complicated story is amusing in itself, but the real pleasures of the film have more to do with the terrific characterisations (Bridges and Goodman are awesome), the imaginative flights of fancy, and the Coens’ characteristically sharp observations on the zanier aspects of 1990s American culture. FEB 28TH (2.00) directed by Czech émigré Ivan Passer) remains tantalisingly ambiguous on the question of guilt or innocence as a bitter, horribly mutilated Vietnam vet (John Heard) and his two cohorts (Jeff Bridges and Lisa Eichhorn) hunt down a rich Santa Barbara oil tycoon in the belief that he murdered a young woman and dumped her body in a trash can. A strong sense of ambiguity also applies to the relationships between the three main characters who are amongst the finest portraits of disillusioned American outcasts ever captured on screen. Heard is extraordinary as the paranoid Cutter, but he’s matched by Bridges’ turn as the ageing beach bum who fears commitment. host who’s hit the skids since one of his listeners was responsible for a shooting. On the verge of suicide, he’s befriended by Robin Williams, a seemingly deranged tramp convinced the answer to all their problems is retrieving the Holy Grail from its secret hiding place in New York City. Thus begins an unlikely tale of redemption, aided and abetted by an Oscar-winning Mercedes Ruehl as Bridges’ brazen yet understanding partner. Largely eschewing its director’s characteristic fantastical trimmings, here’s a journey of discovery unveiling the myth and magic lurking just behind the everyday. One of a kind, and quite possibly Gilliam’s career best. CUTTER’S WAY THE FISHER KING THE BIG LEBOWSKI 14

In association with the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, the Irish Film Institute is truly honoured to welcome Kenneth Anger to Dublin for a retrospective programme of his films and a public talk at the IFI. One of the true masters of experimental film, the work of Kenneth Anger has influenced generations of filmmakers, from Derek Jarman to Martin Scorsese. Born in 1930 in California, Anger’s incandescent works evoke and reference pop icons within occult settings, depicting youth counter- culture in the midst of violence and eroticism. Now in his eighth decade, he remains as creative and controversial as ever. The season comprises of three programmes of short films, with the talk following the last programme. www.kennethanger.org Notes by Derek O’Connor A CEREMONY IN CELEBRATION OF KENNETH ANGER FEB 26TH, 9.00, Tickets €5 Conceived by Padraic E. Moore, this unique evening of music, ritual and performance has been organised as a response to, and celebration of, Anger’s work. It includes a special performance by one of Ireland’s most exciting young musicians, David Turpin. KENNETH ANGERSEASON 15 INVOCATION OF MY DEMON BROTHER

ANGER SEASON Shot when the filmmaker was just seventeen, Fireworks (1947, 20 minutes) remains a landmark of both experimental and gay cinema, a homo-erotic dream within a dream in which a young man (played by Anger himself) undergoes a rite of passage through a series of violent and Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954) is directly inspired by the life and teachings of the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley: its dense, multi-layered imagery portrays a hallucinatory ritual in which magicians (amongst them Anger’s good friend Anaïs Nin) assume the identities In 1967, the footage for Anger’s magnum opus Lucifer Rising was stolen by Anger’s Lucifer, Bobby Beausoleil, who was later convicted for his participation in the Charles Manson murders. After a severe depression and a public renunciation of filmmaking, Anger entered an inspired new period of productivity, during which he made the frenetic metaphysical collage Invocation Of My Demon Brother (1969) using ‘scraps’ of footage of the original Lucifer Rising, set to an eerie synth soundtrack by Mick Jagger. Work on Lucifer Rising resumed, with a cast that included Marianne Faithfull and director Donald Cammell: this 1980 edit features music recorded behind bars by Beausoleil. Filmed in Germany, Egypt and the UK, Lucifer Rising portrays Lucifer as the ‘rebel angel’ behind the Love Generation, a transcendental finale to Anger’s Magick Lantern Cycle. The programme also includes Anger’s 1979 ‘revisit’ of the stunning Rabbit’s Moon (see Programme One). ecstatic encounters. Puce Moment (1949, 6 minutes), a fragment of an unfinished work, offers, in Anger’s words, “A lavish coloured evocation of Hollywood now gone, as shown through an afternoon in the milieu of the 1920s film star.” An intensely personal work, Rabbit’s Moon (1950, 16 minutes) was created in the aftermath of a suicide bid: it’s a fable of the unattainable, combining elements of commedia dell’arte with Japanese myth. A technical and atmospheric masterpiece, Eaux d’Artifice (1953, 12 minutes) is one of Anger’s most purely abstract works: scored to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, a Baroque lady flits in and out of Rome’s Tivoli Fountain until she finally melts into the waters. of mythological figures for a Dionysian revelry. Scorpio Rising (1963) is perhaps Anger’s most influential work, in his words “a death mirror held up to American culture – Brando, bikes and black leather; Christ, chains and cocaine”. Its masterful juxtaposition of vivid homoerotic imagery and classic ‘50s and ‘60s pop songs pre-empts (many say invents) music video. This screening also includes the delicious Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965), an elegant hymn to the hot rod as contemporary fetish-object. FILM INFO: 54 minutes FEB 20TH (2.30) FILM INFO: 66 minutes FEB 21ST (2.30) FILM INFO: 51 minutes FEB 27TH (2.30) PROGRAMME THREE: INVOCATION OF MY DEMON BROTHER RABBIT’S MOON LUCIFER RISING PROGRAMME ONE: FIREWORKS PUCE MOMENT RABBIT’S MOON EAUX D’ARTIFICE PROGRAMME TWO: INAUGURATION OF THE PLEASURE DOME KUSTOM KAR KOMMANDOS SCORPIO RISING Kenneth Anger will attend this screening for a public talk and discussion about his work with Dr Maeve Connolly. 16 Rabbit’s MoonKustom Kar Kommandos Invocation of my Demon Brother

17 JDIFF SCREENINGS AT IFI To celebrate a quarter of a century of the teaching of filmmaking in Dun Laoghaire, the JDIFF is delighted to present a selection of its live action graduate films. Beginning in the academic year 1984/85 at the then Dun Laoghaire College of Art & Design, the National Film School at IADT has become the leading centre of excellence in the country at third level for professional education in film, television, animation and new media, and is the only full member in Ireland of CILECT, the international Association of Film and Television Schools. The NFS has built its reputation on the consistently high percentage of its graduates entering the entertainment and media industry, whose achievements have also been recognised through successes in competitions and festivals, both at home and abroad. Last month NFS graduates received 17 nominations for the 2010 IFTA Awards. FEB 19TH (6.30) New shorts from the Irish Film Board’s Signature and Reality Bites schemes. Runners (Directors: Rob Burke and Ronan Burke), Bye Bye Now (Directors: Aideen O’Sullivan and Ross Whitaker), Corduroy (Director: Hugh O’ Connor), If These Walls Could Talk (Director: Anna Rodgers), Circus Man (Directors: Keith Walsh, Jill Beardsworth), Alibi (Directors: Darren Bolger, Caroline Campbell), Jericho (Director: Liam Gavin), The Ballad of Kid Kanturk (Director: John Butler). FEB 20TH (6.30) IFB SHORTS Runners New mini musicals from the Irish Film Board’s Short Shorts scheme. The Man In 301 (Director: David Freyne), Separation’s Agency (Director: Shane Martin), Moore Street Masala (Director: David O’Sullivan), Dental Breakdown (Director: Ian Power), Chairs (Director: Pete Moles), A Clown’s Requiem (Director: Jason Ford), Mr. Foley (Directors: D.A.D.D.Y.).FEB 21ST (6.30) IFB MUSICALS Moore Street Masala THE NATIONAL FILM SCHOOL/IADT @ 25 Bookings: 01 687 7974 www.jdiff.com

Irish writer J.S. Le Fanu’s creation, the female vampire Carmilla, has established a fascinating lineage through filmic adaptations, arguably inspiring a more radical and transgressive creative wellspring than her literary successor Dracula. Made under the Arts Council’s Reel Art Initiative, FILM INFO: 75 minutes, Ireland, 2010 FEB 23RD (6.30) Fergus Daly and Katherine Waugh’s engrossing new film explores the radical influence of Carmilla on generations of filmmakers, from Carl Dreyer’s extraordinary Vampyr to Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses, from the Gothic kitsch of Hammer through to films produced within a visual art context. Featuring interviews with leading film scholars and artists influenced by Le Fanu, this film seeks to redefine his critical importance as an Irish writer whose ghostly traces remain profound and enigmatic. The world-renowned animator Jimmy Murakami (When the Wind Blows, The Snowman) was eight years old when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour during World War Two. Like many other Japanese- American citizens, the Murakami family was evacuated to a concentration camp FILM INFO: 90 minutes, Ireland, 2010 FEB 24TH (6.30) called Tule Lake in the California desert. Considered a threat to national security, Jimmy’s family, along with many thousands of other internees, spent four years in the camp, where they suffered all kinds of deprivations and where his young sister Sumiko died of leukemia. Jimmy, now in early retirement, decided to return to this period of his life by creating a series of stunning paintings that illuminate his memories of prison life. He also finally chose to return to Tule Lake Camp. Made under the Arts Council’s Reel Art Initiative, Sé Merry Doyle’s wonderful new film follows this extraordinary journey with great compassion and grace. The making of a portrait is an intimate experience, one which can be a pleasurable event for both parties or one that’s fraught with difficulties. Either way, to paint someone’s picture is a unique way of really getting under their skin. In a world where anyone can make a realistic likeness on their cellphone, the importance of the painted portrait remains: as an emblem of power and prestige, as a political act and ultimately as a memorial. These themes and many others are explored through the work of three of Ireland’s most notable portrait painters: James Hanley, Mick O’Dea and Brian Maguire. Made under the Arts Council’s Reel Art Initiative, Conor Horgan’s witty new documentary follows each artist as they create new work, providing an illuminating insight into their individual creative processes. FILM INFO: 52 minutes, Ireland, 2010 FEB 22ND (6.30) THE BEHOLDER OUTLIVING DRACULA: LE FANU’S CARMILLA JIMMY MURAKAMI: NON ALIEN 18Bookings: 01 687 7974 www.jdiff.com

19 Principal Cast: Aurélia Petit, Jean-Luc Bideau, Adélaïde Leroux, Jacob Auzanneau. Filmmaker, artist and wild man of British cinema Andrew Kötting reinvents himself – in French – as a Franco-Swiss filmmaker with this intimate and eccentric family FILM INFO: 96 minutes, Switzerland, 2009 FEB 26TH (6.30) story. Alex (Jacob Auzanneau) and his older sister Freya (Adélaïde Leroux) are teenage scions of the dynasty of an émigré Russian patriarch (Jean-Luc Bideau). When the pair are caught playing taboo games, Ivul père is furious, telling his son never to set foot on his land again, an order the boy follows literally, taking to the trees and living a life off ground. Absolutely convincing as a French film in the ‘intimist’ vein, Ivul is at the same time 100% Kötting – mixing English ruralism and French family narrative with the kind of visual and sonic mixing familiar from the director’s Gallivant and This Filthy Earth. Ivul sees Kötting developing a bold but tender new variant outsider aesthetic. IVUL With his customary grace and skill, acclaimed Irish documentary maker Desmond Bell has mixed early cinema archive film and new material to retrace the story of navvy poet, novelist, dramatist and screenwriter Patrick MacGill. Born in 1889 into crushing poverty in Donegal in the west of Ireland, FILM INFO: 83 minutes, Ireland, 2010 FEB 27TH (4.30) MacGill went on to become one of Ireland’s most successful authors. His autobiographical novels, penned in Scotland and hugely popular at the time, paint a vibrant picture of the life of the navvy, the labourer and the whore, “the outcasts of a mighty industrial society”. MacGill lived the life of a navvy in the Scottish highlands and in his writing fact and fiction, social report and love story mingle. Director Bell, alongside his collaborator Stephen Rea, has fashioned an elegant and engaging portrait while also interrogating the basic principles by which biographies are told and retold. Featured Cast: Valene Kane, Patrick O’Donnell, Bibbi Larsson, Emma Eliza Regan. With his previous feature, Our Wonderful Home (shown in JDIFF 2009), Ivan Kavanagh proved to be an acute observer of the fissures and fractures of the modern Irish FILM INFO: 71 minutes, Ireland, 2010 family. He returns to the subject with his remarkable new film. Alongside her sister Cathy (Emma Eliza Regan), Yvonne (Valene Kane) returns home to Dublin to watch over her dying mother (Bibbi Larsson), a widow who cares for their disabled brother, Peter (Patrick O’Donnell). As the days pass, both sisters struggle with their own fears and doubts, their mother’s imminent death forcing them to address their complex relationship. A family united will be torn apart, as the siblings must decide: who will care for Peter when their mother dies? Shot with simplicity and featuring impressive performances from its young Irish cast, a highly emotive subject is tackled with great skill and control by talented young filmmaker Kavanagh. FEB 25TH (6.30) THE FADING LIGHT CHILD OF THE DEAD END JDIFF SCREENINGS AT IFI Bookings: 01 687 7974 www.jdiff.com

EVENING COURSE:ART THROUGH A LENS FEB 9TH (6.30) Our course starts with two films and a follow-up talk exploring Dada, Surrealist film movements and the emergence of the American avant-garde. FEB 16TH (6.30) Placing iconic English film director and artist Derek Jarman’s work in a wider context of underground experimental filmmaking, The Garden will be followed by a talk focusing in particular on the films of Kenneth Anger, the subject of a special season at the IFI. FEB 23RD (6.30) A four-week evening course in conjunction with NCAD that will look at key figures from the world of art and cinema who have experimented with film or developed a cinematic aesthetic to their work. Complete course including Artists’ Day €60/€55 (members). Tickets for individual screenings from Box Office on the night, subject to availability. For information or bookings, please contact Deirdre Dolan on 01 679 5744 or ddolan@irishfilm.ie. BLOOD OF THE POET (1930) French Surrealist Jean Cocteau’s first full-length feature was his most abstract and shows a strong influence of filmmakers Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel. MESHES IN THE AFTERNOON (1943) Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid were part of a new generation of post-World War II Americans who began experimenting with cinema. This short film remains one of the most culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant films made during this period. Exquisite film shot in Jarman’s garden in his coastal home of Dungeness, Kent, it addresses mortality, Christianity and intolerance, and was made while Jarman was seriously ill with AIDS. A five-part collection by Finnish conceptual artist, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, that tells the stories of five women who harbour individual psychoses. Focusing on the construction of image, language, narrative and space, these “human dramas” are based on real and fictitious events from the artist’s experiences, from people she knows or complete strangers. A follow-up talk will explore ways in which film can be experienced – the gallery, cinema or web – and how artists respond to these different platforms. Art Through A Lens will continue during March: MAR 2ND Final session will include films by a number of contemporary artists whose work directly draws on different genres of filmmaking such as documentary and music video. MAR 6TH - ARTISTS’ DAY The course will culminate with an Artists’ Day which will include a screening of Helen by Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy. They will join a panel of artists to discuss film, art and their frequent intertwining in a stimulating day of talks and screenings. THE GARDEN (1990) LOVE IS A TREASURE (2002) Meshes in the Afternoon 20 Image courtesy of Basilisk Communications

21 THE IRISH FILM INSTITUTE IFI LOYALTY CARD Spend at IFI Cinemas, IFI Film Shop or IFI Café Bar and collect 4c back in points to redeem against free cinema tickets for every €1 you spend With our regular double points events and extra points offers, you’ll have enough points to treat yourself in no time Plus IFI members will automatically get double points on all their purchases – and that even includes double points on all our bonus point offers! Sign up for an IFI Loyalty Card and you’ll be going to the cinema for free in no time... Fancy building points each time you make a purchase at the IFI? Want to convert those points into free tickets? Now you can with the IFI Loyalty Card! With points for everyone who spends at the IFI, and with double points for members, you’ll be able to reap the rewards of all your visits to the IFI! 4c back in points at the IFI for every €1 spent. — — — 21

22 MEMBERSHIPSCHEME Free tickets, discounts on tickets, free screenings and a host of other benefits... It can only be the IFI Membership! The IFI membership has been re-launched, with a host of new benefits on offer. All of the Member benefits plus: Special invitation to the Annual Members’ Evening with an exclusive free screening, private programme review by the IFI Director and drinks reception Invitation for you and a guest to one Festival Opening Night per annum, which includes cinema tickets plus access to the drinks reception Free membership of the Tiernan MacBride Library at the IFI (worth €20) Annual tours of the Irish Film Archive at the IFI Listing on the IFI website as a Best Member Listing in one monthly programme per annum as a Best Member — — — — — — Contact the membership office on 01 679 5744 for more details on customised corporate packages which include: Discounted membership rates for your employees Discounted tickets for your employees Private screenings or special events for your clients or staff Presentations/meetings in a unique environment Unique opportunities for corporate entertainment and staff socials Recognition for your organisation as a supporter of the arts through IFI publications, website etc. The IFI Corporate Membership packages can fit perfectly within any company’s CSR policy, internal marketing plans or sports and social calendar! — — — — — — One free preview screening every month* Free cinema ticket (off peak use) Double loyalty points which can be redeemed against more free tickets Discount on tickets (approx. 15% cheaper evening tickets) Monthly programme posted to your home (free of charge) 10% discount in the IFI Film Shop 10% discount on food at the IFI Café Bar (over €10)** Discounts on tickets for up to 3 accompanying friends Concession prices on selected film courses and special events Priority notification of special events Dedicated Members’ Pages on the IFI website with latest news and updates Weekly ezine sent direct to your inbox with all the latest releases and news from the IFI Invite by email and operates on a first come, first served basis. Maximum two diners per membership can avail of discount. — — — — — — — — — — — — * ** MEMBERS (€25, €15 CONCESSIONS) BEST MEMBERS (€99) CORPORATE MEMBERS 22

IRELAND ON SUNDAY WILD STRAWBERRIES ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME IFI FAMILY REGULAR EVENTS Ireland on Sunday, our monthly showcase for new Irish film. Beyond the Fire is a feature film by London-based Irish filmmaker Maeve Murphy in which a former Catholic priest (Scot Williams), recently released from DIRECTOR: Maeve Murphy FILM INFO: 78 minutes, Ireland, Colour, Digibeta FEB 28TH (1.00) jail in Ireland, arrives in London and begins a tentative relationship with another damaged soul, rape victim Katie (Cara Seymour). Murphy spoke extensively to survivors of rape and religious and non- religious sexual abuse while writing the film, and handles themes of abuse, recovery and forgiveness with an un-histrionic sensitivity in this raw, low-budget drama. Winner of the Best Film (UK Feature) at the London Independent Film Festival. Director Maeve Murphy will participate with one of those survivors, Colm O’Gorman (founder of One in Four), in a post-screening Q&A. Wild Strawberries, our bimonthly film club for the over 55s. Described by John Banville as “simply a masterpiece”, Gideon Koppel’s enthralling documentary is set in Treufeurig, a hill- farming community in mid-Wales, a place DIRECTOR: Gideon Koppel FILM INFO: 94 minutes, U.K., 2008, Documentary that is truly alive in its inhabitants – human and animal – but also dying in terms of its way of life. The seasons pass in the coming and going of the mobile library, school, choir practice, calf- and pig- birthing. If there’s a central character at all, it is Pip, Koppel’s mother, who brings her dog for a walk to her late husband’s grave and later, and without any change in mood, brings a stuffed owl to be refurbished. This quiet, beautiful film yields unexpected thrills in the sight of sheep leaping through a field and will take you simply out of the rush of everyday. REGULAR EVENTS FEB 24TH & 26TH (11.00) BEYOND THE FIRE SLEEP FURIOUSLY 23

© Disney This new series of free screenings from the IFI Irish Film Archive presents a wide range of material from the collections of shorter fiction and non-fiction film, which provides a unique insight into Irish society. The programmes are free and under a half hour in length, making this a perfect way to spend your lunch hour. This month’s films were made by the late Colm O Laoghaire, one of Ireland’s most prolific and talented independent directors. WATER WISDOM This dramatised film, made in Ring, Co. Waterford, was designed to encourage small farming communities to cooperate in providing themselves with piped water, thereby maximising efficiency on the farm and minimising embarrassment in the home! FILM INFO: 22 minutes, Ireland, 1962, Colour Bringing you and your young film fans some of the best family films from around the world. THE RED BALLOON(LE BALLON ROUGE) FEB 28TH (11.00) Our family film for February is this classic Oscar-winning French film. Mostly without dialogue (ideal for those who are unsure about subtitles!) the 34-minute film tells the story of a young boy, Pascal, who follows a red balloon around the streets of Paris. His journey around the post-war streets is one of childlike wonder, joy and adventure, followed by a loss of innocence. Director Albert Lamorisse’s career was tragically cut short, yet this film and his other short, The Mane, have immortalised him as a filmmaker with a truly cinematic sense of storytelling. After the screening, and in association with Poetry Ireland, storyteller Liz Weir will bring the audience on an imaginary journey around Dublin, all from the comfort of the cinema. Join us for this rare cinematic treat. FILM INFO: 34 minutes, France, 1957 (+ 1 hour workshop) TICKET INFO: €5 per child, Family Ticket (2 Adults, 2 Children) €15 Recommended Age: 6+ IRISH GOSSAMER This tourist film, one of many commissioned by Bord Failte to entice visitors to Ireland, juxtaposes beautifully-hued Irish textiles with images of the Irish life and landscape from which the weavers took their inspiration. FILM INFO: 25 minutes, Ireland, 1958, Colour See programme calendar for screening times. 24

THE IRISHFILM INSTITUTE 25 IFI Cinema 3FREE FILM SCREENINGS! OPEN DAY To celebrate the end of our redevelopment, and to mark the opening of our new Cinema 3, IFI Film Shop, renovated Café Bar and public areas, the IFI is delighted to offer its customers, both old and new, a day of FREE film screenings. On February 6th the IFI will throw open its doors to the public for an entire day of free films, across all three cinemas. The programme of screenings will be announced online at www.ifi.ie on January 27th with full details of how to get your FREE tickets. So whether it be as a reward for all of your patience during our redevelopment or as a chance to see all of our changes for the first time, join us on February 6th for our special celebration of cinema and the IFI. IFI Cafe Bar

PUBLIC & CLUB SCREENINGS Around ½ of our films are classified by the Irish Film Classification Office, are open to the general public and do not require membership. Unclassified films require membership. You have two options: annual membership (€25 or €15 concessions) or daily membership (€1 per person each time you visit the cinema). For further details on membership, please see page 22. LOYALTY & MEMBERSHIP The IFI Loyalty Card is free and allows you to earn points that you can later exchange for free cinema tickets. Membership gives you a free preview screening every single month and discounts when you spend at the IFI. See pages 21 and 22 for further details. Please remember: no card, no points! PARKING On presentation of your IFI cinema ticket, the Fleet Street Car Park will offer IFI patrons a special rate of €5.00 for 3 hours parking. Simply present the cinema ticket along with the parking ticket when you pay at the cash desk, prior to collecting your car. BOX OFFICE & PRICES The redevelopment at the IFI is now complete. The new cinema, toilets, film shop and lift have now all opened. ADMISSION FEES These apply to regular IFI screenings and do not necessarily apply to special events or festivals. Reduced admission fees for annual members and their guests are detailed in brackets. MONDAY – FRIDAY 2pm to 6pm €7.75 (€7) Conc. €6 (€5.40) 6pm to 10pm €9.20 (€8) Conc. €7.75 (€7) SATURDAY – SUNDAY 2pm to 4pm €7.75 (€7) Conc. €6 (€5.40) 4pm to 10pm €9.20 (€8) Conc. €7.75 (€7) Credit card bookings can be taken between 12.30pm and 7.30pm on (01) 679 3477 or 24-hours at www.ifibooking.ie. Online and telephone bookings are subject to a booking fee of 50c per ticket to a maximum of €1 per transaction. There are no booking fees on any ticket purchase made in person at the IFI box office. REDEVELOPMENT UPDATE LATECOMERS POLICY Films start at the times stated in this programme. Latecomers may be refused admission after the start of the feature. FREE WIFI NOW AVAILABLE AT THE IFI CONTACT Irish Film Institute 6 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Box Office: (01) 679 3477 Web: www.ifi.ie YOUR VISITTO THE IFI 26

ABBEY THEATRE BOOK NOW (01) 87 87 222 /// WWW.ABBEYTHEATRE.IE ||||| TICKETS FROM €15 ||| MEMBERSHIP FROM €10 ||||| LITTLE GEM BY ELAINE MURPHY A HEART-WARMING TALE THAT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL A WHOLE HEAP BETTER ABOUT LIFE | CHRIST DELIVER US! BY THOMAS KILROY A VIVID AND RESONANT NEW PLAY ABOUT GROWING UP IN IRELAND IN THE 50S | MACBETH BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE A DARK DEPICTION OF AMBITION, GUILT AND MURDER ||||| SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE ||||||||| AT THE ABBEY THEATRE FROM JANUARY TO MAY 2010 ||||||||| ...................................................................................