The IFI is delighted to welcome members of the film’s cast and crew to introduce a special preview screening at 20.30 on July 18th. There will also be a post-screening Q&A with Lance Daly and Kelly Thornton following the 16.10 showing on July 20th.

Director Lance Daly (Kisses) returns to Dublin for Life’s a Breeze, a warm and engaging comedy about a family making its way in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland. Matriarch Nan (Fionnula Flanagan) is upset when her unemployed layabout son Colm (Pat Shortt), with the aid of niece Emma (a fine performance from newcomer Kelly Thornton), organises a complete spring clean of the house the two share. Unfortunately, one of the items discarded is her old mattress, which housed her life savings, totalling close to a million euro. When Colm launches a public appeal to track the mattress down, it sparks a frenzy of dump-hunting that may lose the fortune permanently.

The film’s focus is on relationships between mother and son, and between grandmother and granddaughter, but beneath the gentle humour may be discerned some strong elements of satire on the current state of Irish society. (Notes by Kevin Coyne.)