IFI partners with Audi Dublin International Film Festival this February to screen four new Irish films

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 20th 2017: The Irish Film Institute (IFI) is proud to again partner with the Audi Dublin International Film Festival to present four films at its Temple Bar venue this February. The screenings include premieres of Paddy Cahill’s Amanda Coogan: Long Now and Jamie Thraves’s Pickups. Also screening are two new documentaries from the Arts Council’s Reel Art scheme, Ken Wardrop’s The Piano Lesson, and John Murphy and Traolach Ó Murchú’s Photo City. This influential scheme is designed to provide artists with a unique opportunity to make highly creative, imaginative, and experimental documentaries. 

                                                   _{Aidan Gillen stars in Pickups, directed by Jamie Thraves}

Paddy Cahill’s Amanda Coogan: Long Now is an exploration of Coogan’s durational performance art practice. The film captures Coogan during a gruelling six-week live exhibition, I’ll sing you a song from around the town. Hosted in Dublin’s RHA Gallery, the exhibition became the gallery’s most successful and visited in its history. Paddy Cahill has directed a number of short films and music videos; this is his second collaboration with Amanda Coogan.

Pickups, the new film directed by Jamie Thraves, is about a man called Aidan (conveniently played by Aidan Gillen) who is suffering from insomnia, back trouble, and the breakdown of his marriage. Aidan finds solace in a number of strangers he picks up, although he’s now concerned someone is stalking him. Work is getting on top of him too, he murdered a couple of people last week, and he still has more people to kill. Jamie Thraves is an award-winning filmmaker and this is his third feature collaboration with Aidan Gillen following The Low Down and Treacle Jr. He has also directed many shorts and music videos for the likes of Radiohead, Blur and Coldplay. Aidan Gillen’s acting credits include Game of Thrones, Charlie, The Wire, Love/Hate, Queer as Folk, and the forthcoming King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and The Lovers. The screening of Pickups will be followed by a Q+A with members of the cast.

Ken Wardrop’s The Piano Lesson charts the musical journey of numerous piano students through the commitment and pressure of the keyboard examinations. Piano lessons offer a unique window into students’ lives, and they provide an opportunity to consider the impact that music, learning, and creativity has. We discover meaningful truth in their successes and setbacks, unearthing charming curiosities that will make us laugh and cry. Ken Wardrop is the award-winning director of His & Hers and Mom and Me.

John Murphy and Traolach Ó Murchú’s Photo City centres on Rochester, New York, a city defined by photography. Once dominated by Kodak, the city now faces a new digital future. The film explores how the various strands of the city interact with photography, how its past informs its present, and how the resilience of its citizens perhaps suggests a future.

Screening times at the IFI are as follows:

Amanda Coogan: Long Now – Saturday, February 18th at 12.00

Pickups – Saturday, February 18th at 20.15

The Piano Lesson – Monday, February 20th at 18.30

Photo City – Tuesday, February 21st at 18.00.

Tickets for Amanda Coogan: Long Now and Pickups are now available from www.ifi.ie, the IFI Box Office on 01-6793477, and from www.diff.ie.

Tickets for The Piano Lesson and Photo City are only available from www.diff.ie, by phone on +353 1 687 7974, or in person at DIFF, 13 Ormond Quay, Dublin 1.

For further information, interview availability, and high-res images, please contact Stephen Boylan (sboylan@irishfilm.ie) or Michelle McDonagh (mmcdonagh@irishfilm.ie) at the IFI Press Office – (01) 6795744. Alternatively, please contact Patrick Stewart: ADIFF Publicity Manager on press@diff.ie – +353 (0) 1 662 4620 or + 353 (0) 83 003 4595.

IFI is principally funded by the Arts Council.

The Dublin International Film Festival is sponsored by Audi, its principal funder is the Arts Council. It is also in receipt of funding from official industry partner, the Irish Film Board.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

ABOUT THE IFI

The Irish Film Institute is Ireland’s national cultural institution for film. It provides audiences throughout Ireland with access to the finest independent, Irish and international cinema. It preserves and promotes Ireland’s moving image heritage through the IFI Irish Film Archive, and provides opportunities for audiences of all ages and backgrounds to learn and critically engage with film.

ABOUT THE DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

This year’s Dublin International Film Festival runs from February 16th to 26th. Offering unique access to a plethora of filmmaking talent, the festival transforms Dublin into a hub of glamour, creativity and film appreciation.

Over the past fourteen years, the festival has hosted over 550 major guests, including winners of the festival’s prestigious Volta Award such as Al Pacino, Julie Andrews, Danny DeVito, Daniel Day-Lewis, Joss Whedon, Brendan Gleeson, Angela Lansbury, Stanley Tucci, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Ennio Morricone.

The festival has screened world cinema from 52 different countries, a total of almost 1,500 films, of which 300 were Irish features, including Irish premieres of Sing Street, Once, Ondine, In Bruges, Calvary, The Stag, and The Secret of Kells. The festival’s young people’s programme Fantastic Flix is expanding each year, engaging schools and families, and building a new generation of film fans.