Irish Film Institute -IFI DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT ON RE-OPENING

IFI DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT ON RE-OPENING

Dear friends, patrons and supports of the IFI,

After almost six months of our most recent closure, the IFI is delighted to be reopening its doors. Across almost fifteen months, the IFI has only been open for business for six weeks. For a registered charity that generates 75% of its own income through its activities, this has proved very challenging for us. However, we took the time to make some changes to the building, so we hope you enjoy the improvements.

But it is a bright day for us as we reopen the cinemas, terrace, and takeaway services. The IFI Film Shop remains open too. We are thrilled to be reopening and safely welcoming back our valued and loyal audiences. It was particularly important for us at the IFI to reopen with a strong slate of Irish titles to champion the work of our domestic film industry. Our sector has been severely hit over the course of the pandemic, and as the home of film in Ireland, we felt it was critically important for the IFI to support Irish filmmakers after such a difficult year, with a programme of fantastic new releases alongside an opportunity to see some Irish titles that had limited time in cinemas over the past year. We sincerely hope that Irish audiences will continue to demonstrate their love for film by flocking back to cinemas to support the industry as a whole. We encourage all film fans to come out and support cinemas now that we can all finally reopen. Whether that be the IFI or wherever you go to enjoy the experience of sitting in a darkened room waiting for that big screen to come to life, we hope that you support the sector to ensure that cinemas can successfully rebound after the last fifteen months, and to help us restore Ireland’s reputation as one of the top cinema-going countries. If you love film, please support your local cinemas and Irish filmmakers. It will help to ensure that our industry can continue to go from strength to strength.

Our reopening programme includes Irish new releases such as Phil Lynott: Songs for While I’m Away, and provides new theatrical releases for Irish titles that received limited or online-only releases due to Covid-19, including the Oscar-nominated Wolfwalkers and documentary The 8th. Across international cinema, the best of arthouse independent film is on offer, including opportunities to see award-winning dramas Nomadland and Sound of Metal on the big screen.

We are also thrilled that IFI@Home will continue to develop following the reopening of our venue, and we have a programme of strong Irish and international content planned over the coming months, including many films and events that will be exclusively on the platform. We see IFI@Home as an extension of the physical cinema screens that we have in Temple Bar, providing us with the opportunity to offer an even larger curated film programme than ever before.

Everyone in the IFI is excited to open our doors and see all the familiar faces of our regulars (and we hope many new ones too!). We are committed to providing a safe environment for all of our customers and staff, and we trust that you’ll have a comfortable and safe visit with us.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Ross Keane

Director/ CEO

IFI CINEMAS TODAY


The IFI is supported
by The Arts Council

Arts Council of Ireland