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August 4th 2021: This month, the Irish Film Institute (IFI) presents a season of four films from prolific Swedish director Roy Andersson, and one documentary on his craft and life. Opening on Wednesday, August 4th with Songs from the Second Floor, the season traverses Andersson’s singular style and concludes with Fred Scott’s documentary Being a Human Person. Tickets for this first IFI Cinema season of 2021 are on sale now from ifi.ie and www.ifihome.ie.
Andersson’s features stand alone in contemporary cinema as works of deep compassion, examining the trials and tribulations of human existence through unique vignettes. Songs from the Second Floor, You, The Living, A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence, About Endlessness, and the documentary Being a Human Person all screen at the IFI this August, and online on IFI@Home from August 13th, showcasing the absurdist auteur’s craft.
Songs from the Second Floor (2000), screening Wednesday 4th, took four years for Andersson to complete and showcases a turning point in his filmmaking style, which won him the Jury Prize from Cannes Film Festival in 2000. Set in an anonymous city, the film consists of 46 ‘episodes’, each filmed in a single take.
Screening on Sunday 8th, You, the Living (2007) presents a series of scenes across the Swedish city of Lethe. This deadpan feature is the second in Andersson’s Living Trilogy, and offers hypnotic and sympathetic portraits of a series of characters, accompanied by a soundtrack of Dixieland jazz.
Following on from You, The Living, Andersson’s A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2015) depicts a solemnity across society, with pale faces contemplating the absurd. This conclusion to the Living Trilogy won the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, and screens at the IFI on Wednesday 11th.
Andersson’s most recent release, About Endlessness (2020), depicts prismatic moments of war, hope, fragility and resentment, with an endlessness that could be nihilistic, or could indicate transcendence. Showing at the IFI on Sunday 15th.
Concluding the season on Wednesday 18th is Being a Human Person, the documentary on Andersson himself which captures the human vulnerability examined throughout his filmography. Directed by BIFA and Grammy-nominated Fred Scott, the film looks inside Andersson’s home studio and delves into the themes of Andersson’s career.
Tickets for the Roy Andersson: A Human Person season are now on sale from www.ifi.ie/roy-andersson, directly from the IFI Box Office on 01-6793477, and online from www.ifihome.ie/page/roy-andersson.
FULL SEASON SCHEDULE: WEDNESDAY 4TH (18.20) – Songs from the Second Floor SUNDAY 8TH (15.30) – You, the Living WEDNESDAY 11TH (18.20) – A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence SUNDAY 15TH (15.30) – About Endlessness WEDNESDAY 18TH (18.20) – Being a Human Person
FROM AUGUST 13TH: Online on IFI@Home: www.ifihome.ie/page/roy-andersson FROM AUGUST 13th: Full online season bundle: www.ifihome.ie/bundle/roy-andersson-a-human-person-bundle
IFI acknowledges the support of the Arts Council.
ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH 16:00, 20:55
BALTIMORE 18:30
IO CAPITANO 13:20
JEANNE DU BARRY 13:10, 18:10
PERFECT DAYS 13:30
THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN 15:40, 20:45
THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN Q&A (PREVIEW) 18.30
THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE 20:40
THE ZONE OF INTEREST 16:10
The IFI is supported by The Arts Council
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