OCTOBER 2023 AT THE IFI

September 26th 2023: This October, the Irish Film Institute (IFI) presents a selection of highly-anticipated new releases, including Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and Foe, starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. To mark Black History Month, the IFI presents a retrospective of Sengalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène’s work, screening in-cinema from October 5th to 19th. From October 26th to 30th, IFI Horrorthon welcomes audiences to another year celebrating dark and disquieting filmic delights.

From Friday September 29th, Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense screens at the IFI in stunning 4K to mark its fortieth anniversary. Coming to IFI Cinemas from Friday 6th is Blackberry, a breathlessly-paced account of the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone from director Matt Johnson, and Tarrac, a new Irish language release filmed in the Kerry Gaeltacht which celebrates the value of sports, female friendship, and family ties.

Screening from Friday 13th is Lisa Mulcahy’s Lies We Tell, a new psychological thriller set against the rigidly mannered confines of 19th century society, and Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, presented in a new 4K restoration to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.

From Friday 20th, Garth Davis’s Foe, an emotionally resonate film which explores our increasingly complex relationship with AI technology, starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal, and the highly-anticipated Killers of the Flower Moon, the latest release from master filmmaker Martin Scorsese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert de Niro, both open at the IFI.

GAZE International LGBTQIA+ festival highlight 20,000 Species of Bees; Beyond Utopia, a new documentary which follows various individuals as they attempt to flee North Korea; and David Fincher’s latest piece The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender, open at the IFI from Friday 27th. 

On the occasion of Black History Month, the IFI presents a retrospective of the work of Senegalese writer and filmmaker Ousmane Sembène, a seminal figure often referred to as the father of African cinema, taking place in-cinema from Thursday 5th to Thursday 19th, and including titles such as Mandabi, Xala, Guelwaar, and Moolaadé.

On Saturday 21st, the IFI is delighted to welcome back Unapologetic to present a programme of shorts touching on themes of invisibility and ambiguity on Irish screens, followed by a panel discussion with filmmakers and others exploring On-Screen Invisibilty & Ambiguity.

This month’s Archive at Lunchtime programme, Tales from the Netherworld, presents two spooky short films, A Child’s Voice and Ghost Train, in the countdown to IFI Horrorthon, screening for free at lunchtime on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays in October. On Monday 2nd, our EAFFI Discoveries strand returns with Next Sohee, a powerful, brilliantly acted psychological drama inspired by real life events, introduced by film critic Tara Brady (The Irish Times).

In partnership with Dublin Festival of History, the IFI is proud to present the world premiere of Staging The Treaty, a 10-hour film project by Tiny Ark which captured ANU Productions’s restaging of the Dáil Debates of 1921–1922, presented over four separate programmes for free on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th. On Wednesday 11th, the IFI will host an interactive discussion on depiction of the Irish Civil War on Film, both at the time and subsequently, led by History Ireland editor Tommy Graham, in partnership with Dublin Festival of History and supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme 2012-2023.

This month, the IFI’s From The Vaults strand presents The General, John Boorman’s portrait of Martin Cahill, one of Dublin’s most notorious criminals, screening on Monday 9th. October’s Irish Focus strand presents Croíthe Radacacha, a documentary exploring the personal lives of women of the Irish revolutionary period who enjoyed intimate relationships with fellow revolutionary women, screening in-cinema on Wednesday 25th, followed by a Q&A with director Ciara Hyland and Dr. Mary McAuliffe (UCD). This documentary is supported by TG4 and Coimisiún na Meán.

On Tuesday 10th, the IFI will screen How to Blow Up a Pipeline in association with The Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival, followed by an interactive exploration of climate action led by members of Bohemian Climate Co-Operative. The Bigger Picture strand in October will present a screening of Girlfriends on Wednesday 18th, introduced by Dr. Martha Shearer, School of English, Drama and Film, University College Dublin. Copies of Women and New Hollywood: Gender, Creative Labour and 1970s American Cinema, co-edited by Dr. Aaron Hunter, Dept. of Film, Trinity College Dublin, and Dr. Martha Shearer, will be available for sale afterwards.

On Sunday 22nd, the Mystery Matinee offers audiences the chance to see a surprise film, new or old, for only €6.50. This month, the IFI and Small Trans Film Club present Body is Reality: Trans Horror on Screen, a programme of short films bursting with the fears and morbid fantasies of trans filmmakers, screening at the IFI on Monday 23rd. 

IFI Horrorthon returns to our Eustace Street venue from Thursday 26th to Monday 30th, with this year’s treats including Lovecraft adaptation Suitable Flesh, starring Heather Graham and Barbara
Crampton; Devanny Pinn’s Black Mass, a disturbing recounting of a particular serial killer’s activities from the victims’ perspectives; new Irish horror Double Blind; cult classic The Omen, and much more. Full programme announcement coming soon.

The Wild Strawberries programme, our monthly film club for over 55s, offers screenings of The Return of the Pink Panther on Wednesday 25th and Friday 28th. October’s IFI Family screening is R.L. Stine adaptation Zombie Town, screening in-cinema on Sunday 29th.

SCHEDULE

FROM FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 29TH
Stop Making Sense

MONDAY 2ND
EAFFI Discoveries: Next Sohee

THURSDAY 5TH
Ousmane Sembène: Black Girl + Borom Sarret

FROM FRIDAY 6TH
Blackberry
Tarrac

SATURDAY 7TH
Dublin Festival of History: Staging The Treaty – Part 1
Dublin Festival of History: Staging The Treaty – Part 2
Ousmane Sembène: Mandabi

SUNDAY 8TH
Dublin Festival of History: Staging The Treaty – Part 3
Dublin Festival of History: Staging The Treaty – Part 4
Ousmane Sembène: Emitaï

MONDAY 9TH
From The Vaults: The General

TUESDAY 10TH
IFI & BEFF: How to Blow Up a Pipeline + panel discussion

WEDNESDAY 11TH
Dublin Festival of History: IFI & History Ireland: Irish Civil War on Film

THURSDAY 12TH
Ousmane Sembène: Xala

FROM FRIDAY 13TH
Lies We Tell
Mean Streets 4K

SATURDAY 14TH
Ousmane Sembène: Ceddo

SUNDAY 15TH
Ousmane Sembène: Guelwaar

WEDNESDAY 18TH
The Bigger Picture: Girlfriends

THURSDAY 19TH
Ousmane Sembène: Mooladé

FROM FRIDAY 20TH
Foe
Killers of the Flower Moon

SUNDAY 22ND
Mystery Matinee

MONDAY 23RD
Small Trans Film Club: Body is Reality: Trans Horror on Screen

WEDNESDAY 25TH & FRIDAY 27TH
Wild Strawberries: The Return of the Pink Panther

FROM FRIDAY 27TH
20,000 Species of Bees
Beyond Utopia
The Killer

THURSDAY 26TH – MONDAY 30TH
IFI Horrorthon

SUNDAY 29TH
IFI Family: Zombie Town

IFI is principally funded by the Arts Council.