FEBRUARY 2025 AT THE IFI

January 30th, 2025: This February, the Irish Film Institute offers up a jam-packed programme of carefully curated, thought-provoking and all-round entertaining film experiences. From highly-anticipated Irish and international releases, to a host of incredible special events, including a two-month-long retrospective season dedicated to master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, collaborative screenings with Classics Now, the Museum of Literature Ireland, and Dublin International Film Festival, special previews of awards-nominated titles, and much more – all presented on the big screen right in the heart of Temple Bar to our audiences.

With the season of love coming up on the horizon, why not book yourself and a date in for a sumptuous meal at the IFI Café Bar with our extra-special Valentine’s Day Menu? Or treat the film-lover in your life to a Valentine from the IFI Film Shop.

And remember, film buffs nationwide can explore a host of incredible Irish and world cinema from the comfort of the couch on IFI@Home, with a large-scale hybrid season of our Ingmar Bergman titles also available to stream throughout the Republic of Ireland via IFI@Home from Saturday, February 1st!

Tickets for new releases and special events are 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.

ENDS.

For further information and high-res images, please contact Casey Hynes (chynes@irishfilm.ie) at the IFI Press Office.

February Programme Highlights

IFI Seasons
Saturday 1st – Saturday, March 29th
A towering figure whose legacy permeates twentieth-century culture, Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) has created images so iconic that his name alone has become shorthand for a particular strain of seriously intended, refined, intellectually stimulating European art cinema, to the extent that we are at risk of forgetting just how groundbreaking, beautiful, and truthful his films are. No other filmmaker has so relentlessly plumbed the depths of the human psyche, and explored our relationships to one another, and to good and evil, and done so with greater visual invention, and with such élan and consistency.

An exceptionally prolific artist, Bergman made more than 60 films and documentaries for both theatrical release and television, directed over 100 plays, wrote several novels and autobiographies, and somehow found time for five marriages, too. Consequently, it is possible, in a curated retrospective such as this, to reflect only part of his prodigious output, but we nevertheless believe that the films presented across February and March will allow IFI audiences to explore some of his lesser-known works while revisiting the timeless masterpieces.

Additionally, a large-scale hybrid season offering is available to stream throughout the Republic of Ireland via IFI@Home. All streaming titles for the season will be available to enjoy online from Saturday, February 1st. This season has been supported by the Embassy of Sweden in Ireland. Tickets and full season programme are available on the IFI website; season bundles available in-person or by phone at IFI Box Office.

IFI Regulars
Weekly, Monday, Wednesday & Saturday
This month’s Archive at Lunchtime programme, Love Hurts, presents two short pieces, RTÉ’s Radharc: ‘Dear Angela’ and Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s The Woman Who Married Clark Gable, starring Brenda Fricker, screening for free at lunchtime Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays in February.

Tuesday 4th
Continuing the IFI Irish Focus strand, we are delighted to present Burkitt, a richly layered creative documentary from artist filmmaker Éanna Mac Cana which explores the life of Irish surgeon Denis Burkitt who discovered Burkitt’s lymphoma, a cancer which Mac Cana himself survived. Screening on World Cancer Day, the film will be followed by a Q&A with Éanna Mac Cana.

Wednesday 5th
Each month, we invite a special guest to choose a film to show on the big screen. For this month’s The Bigger Picture, we screen S.R. Bindler’s fascinating Texas-set Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary, chosen by outgoing IFI Development Manager, visual artist and festival producer Emily Brennan.

Tuesday 11th & Tuesday 18th
Our From The Vaults strand returns this month, presented with the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), with a double-whammy of Edna O’Brien adaptations. Desmond Davis’s Girl With Green Eyes, adapted from O’Brien’s autobiographical novel The Lonely Girl, will screen on Tuesday 11th, with an introduction by Margaret Kelleher, Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama, UCD; Davis’s adaptation of The Country Girls will screen on Tuesday 18th.

Sunday 23rd
This month’s IFI Family presents Away, the gorgeous animated debut from Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, ahead of the March release of his Academy Award-nominated second feature Flow. Tickets are just €7.00, with a Family of 4 ticket available for €23.00!

Later that day, the Mystery Matinee returns! Let us take the hassle out of choosing the movie. Grab a ticket, sink into your comfy cinema seat and prepare to enjoy a surprise film. Will it be a brand-new release hot off the presses, or a forgotten cult classic that you missed on the big screen? One thing’s for sure, it will always be a brilliant and unexpected piece of quality cinema, with tickets costing just €6.50 for IFI Members, and €7.00 for non-members.

Monday 24th
This month’s IFI Youth Panel selection is Mathieu Kassovitz’s breakthrough film La Haine, which boldly weaves its political message with the street culture of ‘90s urban Paris and has been chosen by the IFI Youth Panel as a distillation of nihilism and youth rage.The IFI Youth Panel is an open, welcoming and accessible gathering of film fans, formed from our IFI 22 & Under cardholders, and all are welcome to join these dynamic monthly screening parties. IFI 22 & Under cardholders can avail of €5.00 tickets – see more on our website.

Wednesday 26th & Friday 28th
Wild Strawberries, our monthly film club for over 55s, presents Clint Eastwood’s latest feature Juror #2. The screening on Wednesday 26th will be Open Captioned. Join us for this friendly and inclusive gathering, with complimentary tea and coffee served pre-screening!

IFI Special Events
Thursday 6th
We’re delighted to screen Elisa in Wonderland, the second feature from internationally acclaimed visual artist Cléa Van der Grijn and the 2023 recipient of the Arts Council Authored Works Award which is presented in partnership with IFI, followed by a Q&A with Cléa Van der Grijn, hosted by Tommy Creagh (Bloomsday Film Festival).

Sunday 16th & Thursday 20th 
Marking the film’s 50th anniversary, we’re very excited to once again screen Chantal Akerman’s beloved Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles – voted the greatest film of all time in the most recent Sight & Sound decennial poll, and presented in a new 2K restoration. A quintessentially IFI film.

Saturday 22nd & Thursday 27th
Having finally overcome the legal issues around its appropriation of Bruce Wayne and his nemesis, Vera Drew’s anarchic, funny, and fiercely original autobiographical debut feature The People’s Joker is finally available for general screening, and will screen twice at the IFI in February. Both screenings have audio description available, and the screening on Thursday 27th will be Open Captioned.

Festivals
Sunday 2nd
This year, the IFI and Classics Now will present a screening of Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq. Taking the bones of Aristophanes’s comedy Lysistrata, and its anti-war female-led sex strike, Spike Lee fashions a bracingly current and cinematically exuberant cri de coeur against black-on-black violence in Southside Chicago. Screening in-cinema, with an introduction by Dr Kerry Phelan, Lecturer in Ancient Classics at Maynooth University, and across the Republic of Ireland on IFI@Home.

Monday 24th – Saturday, March 1st
The IFI is proud to once again partner with the Dublin International Film Festival to present a series of screenings, including five documentaries, two of which are funded under the Arts Council’s Reel Art scheme, and two classics by renowned Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman. Amanda, directed by José Miguel Jiménez and a recipient of the Reel Art award, screens at the IFI on Monday 24th, followed by a Q&A. Latina, Latina, directed by Adrian Duncan and also in receipt of the Reel Art award, screens on Tuesday 25th. John Connors’s new documentary Where The Road Meets The Sky screens on Wednesday 26th, followed by a Q&A. Docufiction E.1027 – Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea, directed by Beatrice Minger and Christoph Schaub, screens on Thursday 27th. Born That Way, directed by Éamon Little, screens on Friday 28th, followed by a Q&A. As part of a retrospective dedicated to the filmmaker, Elia Suleiman’s Divine Intervention and It Must Be Heaven both screen on Saturday, March 1st, with the former followed by a Q&A with the director. Tickets on sale now through the DIFF website.

Irish & International Film Releases
From Friday 7th
Becoming Led Zeppelin, Bernard MacMahon’s long-gestating documentary which covers the formation and early years of one of rock’s seminal bands; Chris Andrew’s Bring Them Down, chronicling an escalating feud between neighbouring families in the west of Ireland and starring Christopher Abbott, Colm Meaney, and Barry Keoghan; and Mohammad Rasoulof’s enthralling The Seed of The Sacred Fig, recently nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature.

Are you an IFI Friend? Join us for our next IFI Cinema Club discussion after the screening of Bring Them Down at 18.15 on Tuesday, February 11th on the IFI Mezzanine!

From Friday 14th
David Lean’s timeless Brief Encounter, back in cinemas to mark its 80th anniversary – the perfect film for Valentine’s Day moviegoers; Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail, nominated for this year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Feature; and Mahdi Fleifel’s To a Land Unknown, following its premiere at last year’s Directors Fortnight at Cannes.

From Friday 21st
Oscar winning-director Walter Salles’s latest film I’m Still Here, featuring an Academy Award-nominated performance from lead actress Fernanda Torres – with special previews of the film taking place from Friday 14th; Picnic at Hanging Rock, returning to the big screen to celebrate its 50th anniversary in a 4K restoration; and Ariane Labed’s September Says, based on the novel Sisters by Daisy Johnson.

From Friday 28th
Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, with an extraordinary comeback performance from Pamela Anderson – there will be a preview screening of the film on Monday 10th, followed by an exclusive, pre-recorded Q&A with the star; and Maura Delpero’s exquisite second feature Vermiglio.

IFI@Home
A world of incredible Irish and international cinema awaits in the IFI@Home library, with huge collections of classic and new films to rent and stream from the comfort of your couch. New releases and more available this February:

Available until February 17th
This month, in partnership with Unifrance initiative MyFrenchFilmFestival, IFI@Home offers audiences a chance to enjoy a selection of the best of contemporary French cinema in the comfort of their own homes, and also the chance to savour a cult film on its thirtieth anniversary, Pierre Salvadori’s The Apprentices (1995). This features the first of two appearances from one of France’s most prolific actors, François Cluzet. Other familiar faces to appear include Adèle Exarchopoulos, the consistently excellent Virginie Efira, and former IFI French Film Festival guests Louise Bourgoin and Emmanuelle Devos. The selection also features the new film from Cédric Kahn, another former festival guest. In style, the selection on offer runs the gamut from comedy to social drama, and showcases once again the breathtaking array of talent that makes French cinema so universally admired. Full programme available to browse now on IFI@Home.

Streaming now
Pat Boonnitipat’s How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies, which sees teenager M commit to caring for his grandmother, who has recently received a terminal diagnosis, in the hope that his newfound devotion will be rewarded with a life-changing inheritance.

IFI Café Bar
This February
Join us with your sweetheart for a delectable meal at the IFI Café Bar this Valentine’s Day! Sample our special Valentine’s menu, and maybe book yourself into one of our screenings before or after your meal. Booking required.

IFI Film Shop
This February
Exciting new items coming to the IFI Film Shop this month include heart-gripping Irish feature Small Things Like These, adapted from the novella of the same name by Claire Keegan and starring Cillian Murphy and Eileen Walsh – arriving on DVD and Blu-ray next week; and Chantal Akerman Collection Volume 1 – 1967 to 1982, a limited edition Blu-ray, released by the BFI and available from February 24th.

All this and more at the IFI Film Shop – in-person at the IFI in Temple Bar, and online worldwide!

IFI is principally funded by the Arts Council.