MAY 2024 AT THE IFI

April 26th, 2024: This May, the Irish Film Institute (IFI) presents a selection of exciting international new releases, including Love Lies Bleeding, La Chimera, and The Beast. On Saturday 4th, the IFI in partnership with GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival will present UNMASCED, a day-long event celebrating lesbian and trans-masc visibility in cinema. From Sunday 5th, the IFI is delighted to present a selection of films from The World Cinema Project, a programme of The Film Foundation, founded by Martin Scorsese, which is dedicated to protecting and preserving film history.

Opening on Friday 3rd is Elene Naveriani’s bittersweet portrait Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (coming to IFI@Home from Monday, June 3rd); and Rose Glass’s unapologetically queer Love Lies Bleeding, starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian.

From Friday 10th, Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera, starring Josh O’Connor and Isabella Rossellini; documentary Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger; and IFI Documentary Festival 2023 highlight Much Ado About Dying open in IFI Cinemas. The opening night screening of Much Ado About Dying will be followed by a Q&A with director Simon Chambers.

Irish cheerleading documentary Eat/Sleep/Cheer/Repeat; Hoard, winner of the award for Best First Feature at the BFI London Film Festival 2023; a new restoration of Roberto Rossellini’s neo-realist classic Rome, Open City; and Tiger Stripes, winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, open in-cinema from Friday 17th. The opening night screening of Eat/Sleep/Cheer/Repeat will be followed by a Q&A with director Tanya Doyle and documentary subjects Jayleesa Cunningham and Rickie Kavanagh. Tiger Stripes will be available to stream nationwide on IFI@Home from Friday, June 21st, following its cinema release.

Opening at the IFI from Friday 24th is new Irish documentary Piano Dreams (with an opening night Q&A screening with director Gary Lennon); Ransom ’79, a new documentary dedicated to chronicling legendary reporter Charlie Bird’s final story break; and a new 4K restoration of Danny Boyle’s explosive adaptation Trainspotting. The opening night screening of Ransom ’79 will be followed by a Q&A with director Colm Quinn.

Screening in-cinema from Friday 31st is Bertrand Bonello’s visionary The Beast, starring Léa Seydoux and George MacKay; and Robert Wynne-Simmons’s The Outcasts, presented exclusively at the IFI as a new 2K restoration – undertaken by the IFI Irish Film Archive, for the IFI’s Digital Restoration Project, funded by Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann with further support from Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) and EU Creative Europe MEDIA programme. The opening night screening of The Outcasts will be followed by a Q&A with director Robert Wynne-Simmons.

The IFI in partnership with GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival present UNMASCED, a celebration of lesbian and trans-masc visibility in cinema. This day-long event on Saturday 4th will showcase queer lives through two captivating documentaries, Outitude and Beyond The Aggressives: 25 Years Later, and two short film programmes spanning genres, continents, and decades, Scannáin Sapphic and Butches and Boys. Tickets and further information now available on the IFI website – with a full day film bundle available at the IFI Box Office (in-person or via phone at 01 679 3477).

From Sunday 5th, the IFI is delighted to present a selection of films from The World Cinema Project, a programme of The Film Foundation, founded by Martin Scorsese, which is dedicated to protecting and preserving film history. The film restorations are provided by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata. The project has restored films from 30 different countries representing the rich diversity of world cinema, work which chimes with the efforts of the IFI Irish Film Archive to preserve Ireland’s moving image heritage for future generations.

The From The Vaults strand this month presents John McGahern: A Private World, Pat Collins’s documentary about the beloved Irish author, on Tuesday 7th. May’s Archive at Lunchtime programme, McGahern: Short Stories on Film, presents two short film adaptations of the author’s work, Cathal Black’s Wheels and Michael O’Connell’s Swallows, screening for free at lunchtime on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays throughout the month.

On Sunday 12th, the IFI will welcome internationally-recognised silent film accompanist Stephen Horne to our Eustace Street home to perform alongside a rare and not-to-be-missed screening of Safety Last!, starring screen legend Harold Lloyd. On Thursday 16th, we are honoured to present a screening of 17-May-74 Anatomy of a Massacre, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Dublin Monaghan Bombings. The film will be followed by a Q&A with director Joe Lee and members of Justice for the Forgotten, hosted by historian Donal Fallon (Three Castles Burning).

On Wednesday 22nd, our EAFFI Discoveries strand returns with The Shadowless Tower, introduced by Dr. Qi Zhang, Assistant Professor at DCU’s School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies. May’s Irish Focus strand partners with the Dublin Dance Festival to present Laura Murphy’s This is It | 8 Dance Portraits, screening in-cinema on Saturday 25th.

On Sunday 26th, the Mystery Matinee offers audiences the chance to see a surprise film, new or old, for only €6.20. Also on Sunday 26th, IFI Family presents The Smeds and The Smoos and Superworm, two short film adaptations of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s work, with fun activity sheets available to take away after the screening.

On Monday 27th, the IFI Youth Panel, a youth-led programming group formed from 22&Under cardholders, will present a screening of indie classic Little Miss Sunshine. This month, Wild Strawberries, the monthly film club for over 55s, presents The Great Escaper, starring Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson, on Wednesday 29th (Open Captioned) and Friday 31st. May’s The Bigger Picture offering will be Clio Barnard’s The Arbor, introduced by theatre and opera director Tom Creed, screening on Thursday 30th.

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

SCHEDULE

THURSDAY 2ND
PNYC: Portishead – Roseland New York

FROM FRIDAY 3RD
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
Love Lies Bleeding

SATURDAY 4TH
IFI & GAZE: UNMASCED

SUNDAY 5TH
World Cinema Project: The Housemaid

TUESDAY 7TH
From The Vaults: John McGahern: A Private World

THURSDAY 9TH
World Cinema Project: Memories of Underdevelopment

FRIDAY 10TH
Much Ado About Dying + Q&A

FROM FRIDAY 10TH
La Chimera
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
Much Ado About Dying

SATURDAY 11TH
World Cinema Project: The Colour of Pomegranates

SUNDAY 12TH
World Cinema Project: Oh, Sun!
Ciné Concert: Safety Last!

WEDNESDAY 15TH
World Cinema Project: Touki Bouki