Irish Film Institute -Faye Dunaway – A New Hollywood Star announced as June season at Irish Film Institute

Faye Dunaway – A New Hollywood Star announced as June season at Irish Film Institute

Irish Film Institute, Dublin announces
FAYE DUNAWAY:
A NEW HOLLYWOOD STAR
An IFI Season Exploring One of Cinema’s Most Magnetic and Glamourous Icons

6 – 24 JUNE 2026

TICKETS ON SALE NOW:
IFI.IE/FAYE-DUNAWAY/  

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20 May 2026: The Irish Film Institute (IFI), Dublin is delighted to announce Faye Dunaway: A New Hollywood Star, a retrospective season celebrating one of the legendary performers of modern American cinema. Running throughout June, the season brings together seven landmark films spanning the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, showcasing Dunaway’s extraordinary range, screen presence, and enduring cultural influence.

Few actors have embodied the volatility, glamour, ambition and psychological intensity of New Hollywood cinema as vividly as Faye Dunaway. This season traces her remarkable trajectory through seven career-defining performances, from her incendiary breakthrough Bonnie and Clyde (Saturday June 6th, 18.10) to the bruised, world-weary humanity of Barfly (Wednesday June 24th, 18.10), spanning a period in which Dunaway became both icon and enigma.

Along the way, Dunaway moves effortlessly between the seductive sophistication of The Thomas Crown Affair (Sunday June 7th, 17.45), the noir fatalism of Chinatown (Saturday June 13th, 14.20) the razor-sharp media satire of Network (Sunday June 14th, 14.30), the renowned excess of cult classic Mommie Dearest (Saturday June 20th, 14.30), and paranoid conspiracy thriller Three Days of the Condor (Sunday June 21st, 14.30).


Across the three decades, her performances capture women navigating power, desire, and disillusionment within shifting cultural landscapes. Whether commanding the screen with steely precision or revealing unexpected fragility, Dunaway brings an unmistakable intelligence and emotional force to every role.

Spanning genres from crime and noir to satire, romance and intimate character study, the films in Faye Dunaway: A New Hollywood Star not only showcase the remarkable range of one of American cinema’s most uncompromising performers, but also chart the evolution of Hollywood itself during a period of profound artistic transformation. Together, they form a compelling portrait of an actor unafraid of risks and contradictions and reaffirm Dunaway’s enduring status as one of cinema’s most magnetic and uncompromising presences.

 

SEASON SCHEDULE

Bonnie and Clyde – Saturday June 6th at 18.10
The Thomas Crown Affair – Sunday June 7th at 17.45
Chinatown – Saturday June 13th at 14.20
Network – Sunday June 14th at 14.30
Mommie Dearest – Saturday June 20th at 14.30
Three Days of the Condor – Sunday June 21st at 14.30
Barfly – Wednesday June 24th at 18.10

 

FILM TRAILERS

Bonnie and Clyde
The Thomas Crown Affair
Chinatown
Network
Mommie Dearest
Three Days of the Condor
Barfly

FILM NOTES

Season notes by David O’Mahony, IFI Head of Cinema Programming

BONNIE AND CLYDE
Arthur Penn
Saturday, June 6th (18.10)
Film info: 111 mins, USA, 1967, Digital

Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde ignited a seismic shift in American cinema, helping to usher in the New Hollywood era with its audacious blend of glamour, violence, and anti-establishment energy. Faye Dunaway’s iconic turn as Bonnie Parker captures both yearning and defiance, redefining the screen outlaw. Breaking taboos with its stylised brutality and moral ambiguity, the film challenged studio conventions and signalled a new, director-driven future for Hollywood filmmaking.

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR
Norman Jewison
Sunday, June 7th (17.45)
Film info: 102 mins, USA, 1968, Digital

Norman Jewison’s The Thomas Crown Affair is a stylish, seductive caper that pairs Faye Dunaway’s razor-sharp insurance investigator with Steve McQueen’s enigmatic millionaire thief. Set against a backdrop of wealth and artifice, their cat-and-mouse game unfolds as a battle of wits and desire. Dunaway’s poised performance embodies a new kind of female autonomy, while the film’s formal experimentation and cool sophistication capture the evolving sensibility of late 1960s Hollywood.

CHINATOWN
Roman Polanski
Saturday, June 13th (14.20)
Film info: 130 mins, USA, 1974, Digital

1937; cocky private investigator J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) becomes embroiled in a byzantine scandal surrounding the murder of Hollis Mulwray, chief engineer for the LA Department of Water & Power. Polanski’s brilliantly constructed masterpiece gradually exposes layers of intrigue involving Hollis’s enigmatic widow Evelyn (Faye Dunaway), and Noah Cross (a sulphurous John Huston), the dead man’s powerful former partner, and living embodiment of moral corruption and decay.

NETWORK
Sidney Lumet
Sunday, June 14th (14.30)
Film info: 121 mins, USA, 1976, Digital

When news anchor Howard Beale (posthumous Oscar winner Peter Finch) suffers an on-screen breakdown, Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway, in her sole Oscar-winning role), an ambitious network executive, exploits his fragile mental state to capitalise on his newfound celebrity. Cynical, blackly funny and remarkably prescient in its depiction of the advent of a news media culture predicated on ratings and entertainment rather than actual news, Network remains one of the greatest satires of US cinema.

MOMMIE DEAREST
Frank Perry
Saturday, June 20th (14.30)
Film info: 129 mins, USA, 1981, Digital

An incendiary portrait of Hollywood icon Joan Crawford, Mommie Dearest sees Faye Dunaway deliver a blistering turn, charting a volatile, abusive relationship with Crawford’s adopted daughter, Christina. The film’s initial critical backlash and negative public reception effectively stalled Dunaway’s career, yet its heightened performances and infamous – and highly quotable – moments have since been reclaimed, transforming it into a cult favourite, an enduring camp classic that continues to provoke fascination and debate.

THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR
Sydney Pollack
Sunday, June 21st (14.30)
Film info: 117 mins, USA, 1975, Digital

Robert Redford’s fourth collaboration with director Sydney Pollack is a classic example of the paranoid conspiracy thrillers that proliferated in the wake of Watergate. Redford plays CIA researcher Joe Turner who returns from lunch one day to find everyone in his department has been killed. Kidnapping a stranger (Faye Dunaway) at gunpoint, Turner hides out at her apartment, warding off threats to his life from assassin Max Von Sydow whilst trying to uncover why he has become a target.

BARFLY
Barbet Schroeder
Wednesday, June 24th (18.10)
Film info: 100 mins, USA, 1987, Digital

Barbet Schroeder’s Barfly follows hard-drinking writer Henry Chinaski (Mickey Rourke) – literary alter-ego of writer Charles Bukowski – as he drifts between seedy Los Angeles bars, brawls, and writes poetry and short stories for magazines. He forms a tentative, turbulent bond with fellow drinker Wanda (Faye Dunaway), and briefly attracts the interest of a publisher who sees promise in his writing. Gritty yet tender, the film captures the poetry and despair of lives lived on the margins of society.

 

NOW BOOKING

Book now for cinema screenings via ifi.ie/faye-dunaway or via IFI Box Office in-person or over the phone via 01 679 5744.

Season bundles are available for IFI Members only:

3 Film Pass*

€30

5 Film Pass*

€50

7 Film Pass*

€70

These packages can only be booked by IFI Members in-person or by calling the IFI Box Office on 01 679 5744. Season bundles do not include See ifi.ie/support for full details on IFI Membership and to sign up.

The films in this season are available for 25 & Under cardholder pricing. Sign-up is free for the 25 & Under card for those aged 16-25. See ifi.ie/25under for full details.

 

SUPPORT

The IFI acknowledges the support of the Arts Council.

 

About the IFI

The Irish Film Institute (IFI) is Ireland’s national cultural institution for film. It provides audiences throughout Ireland with access to the finest independent, Irish and international cinema, including online via its streaming platform IFI@Home; it preserves and promotes Ireland’s moving image heritage through the IFI Irish Film Archive, and provides opportunities for audiences of all ages and backgrounds to learn and critically engage with film. As the only cinema with a 70mm projector, the IFI is the home of film in Ireland with a commitment to analogue exhibition.

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