December at the IFI

November 29th 2021: This December, the Irish Film Institute (IFI) is proud to present a line-up of new international releases, including C’mon C’mon, The Humans and Titane. From December 4th to 19th, the Japanese Story season will be taking place exclusively in IFI Cinemas, alongside special events, featuring the best of Irish film and Asian cinema.

Coming to the IFI this December is a wide-ranging selection of international releases, including Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God, which focuses on an awkward young man struggling who finds joy in an amazing family; C’mon C’mon, which stars Joaquin Phoenix and presents a tender exploration of family dynamics, and Final Account, a new documentary which compiles the experiences of the last living generation to have participated in Hitler’s Third Reich, all screening at the IFI from Friday 3rd.

Screening from Friday 10th are new releases Hope, centring on a modern-day family’s reaction to a cancer diagnosis, and Lamb, following a couple whose wishes for a family are granted in complete defiance of nature. The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut which examines the complexity of motherhood, and Swan Song, Irish writer-director Benjamin Cleary’s debut feature which hones in on a terminally ill man’s decision to undergo cloning, arrive in IFI Cinemas from Friday 17th.

Opening at the IFI from Friday 27th, director Joel Coen tackles one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays in The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington. In his cinematic directorial debut screening from Friday 31st, Stephen Karam adapts his one-act play into The Humans, centring on a young couple (Steven Yeun and Beanie Feldstein) as they move into their new ramshackle home and host family for Thanksgiving.

December sees a number of IFI festival favourites screen at the IFI, including IFI Documentary Festival 2021 selection The Story of Film: A New Generation which sees director Mark Cousins continue on his cinematic odyssey and looks at the filmic work that has emerged over the last 10 years, coming to IFI Cinemas from Friday 17th. IFI French Film Festival 2020 highlight Lola and the Sea centres on a young transgender girl as she must fulfil her mother’s dying wishes accompanied by her estranged father and screens from Friday 27th in-cinema and on IFI@Home. Following its sold-out IFI French Film Festival 2021 screening, Julia Ducournau’s Titane opens at the IFI from Friday 31st and follows the enticingly-murderous Alexia on her escapades, with preview screenings from Monday 27th.

This month, the IFI is delighted to be screening classic romance The Shop Around the Corner, which served as the source material for 1998’s You’ve Got Mail and stars James Stewart and Margaret O’Sullivan, from Friday 3rd. To celebrate the festive season in style, classic Christmas film It’s A Wonderful Life, following the amiable George Bailey as he considers ending his life and receives angelic assistance, screens at the IFI from Friday 10th.

In special events, the IFI and WFT Ireland present Brief Encounters with Women 2021, a short film showcase opening a window on work by a new wave of women filmmakers, taking place in-cinema on Wednesday 1st. On Saturday 4th, the IFI screens JFK (Director’s Cut), the 1991 precursor to director Oliver Stone’s recently released JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, which chronicles New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison’s investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Marking the twentieth anniversary of his passing, Alan Leonard’s Heyday: The Mic Christopher Story, which celebrates the legacy of a prodigiously talented Mic Christopher, will also screen on Saturday 4th. This year for European Cinema Night on Monday 6th, Céline Sciamma’s acclaimed Portrait of a Lady on Fire screens free of charge to the public.

The Japanese Story season takes place in IFI Cinemas from Saturday 4th to Sunday 19th, focusing on the work of Ozu and Kurosawa, including Early Summer and Throne of Blood, with additional titles examining the Japanese approach to sexuality, such as Toshio Matsumoto’s Funeral Parade of Roses. The EAFFI Discoveries strand continues this month with Short Vacation, which centres on four young students given the theme of ‘The End of the World’ for their photography assignment, screening in-cinema and on IFI@Home on Wednesday 8th.

New Irish black comedy Deadly Cuts, which follows a group of vigilante hairdressers as they defend their community from gangs and gentrification, streams nationwide on IFI@Home from Monday 6th.

Tickets for new releases and special events will be on sale from the IFI Box Office on (01) 6793477 and from www.ifi.ie, as per the IFI’s Weekly Schedule. Online rentals from IFI@Home are available at www.ifihome.ie. For further information and high-res images, please contact Casey Hynes (chynes@irishfilm.ie) at the IFI Press Office.

WEDNESDAY 1ST
IFI and Women in Film and Television Ireland: Brief Encounters with Women

FROM FRIDAY 3RD
C’mon C’mon
Final Account
The Hand of God
The Shop Around the Corner

SATURDAY 4TH
JFK (Director’s Cut)
Heyday: The Mic Christopher Story
Japanese Story: Early Summer

SUNDAY 5TH
Japanese Story: The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice

MONDAY 6TH
European Cinema Night: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
IFI@Home: Deadly Cuts

WEDNESDAY 8TH
EAFFI Discoveries: Short Vacation
Japanese Story: Early Spring

FROM FRIDAY 10TH
Hope
Lamb
It’s a Wonderful Life (4K)

SATURDAY 11TH
Japanese Story: Tokyo Story

SUNDAY 12TH
Japanese Story: Throne of Blood

THURSDAY 16TH
Japanese Story: Yojimbo

FROM FRIDAY 17TH
The Lost Daughter
The Story of Film: A New Generation
Swan Song

SATURDAY 18TH
Japanese Story: An Actor’s Revenge