Dublin Film Festival 2009

johnnyskeleton

Does anyone have any information on the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival this year?

I've been looking on their website but it doesn't look like they have updated it much since last year.

fitz

The have a couple of news items on there for this years festival, but they generally don't provide updates until the programme is released and tickets launched...21st of this month.

monkeyfudge

I went in and got my photo taken for their ad campaign about a month ago... I wonder if they'll use it... I didn't see the photo, but I imagine it looks nuts.

johnny_ultimate

Yeah couple of announcements made in the newsletter that shows up in my inbox every now and then - one of them mentioned Let the Right One In, which I am really looking forward to watching. Hoping they'll announce Synecdoche, New York (new Charlie Kaufman film) above all else - looks like the general release won't be until March or April otherwise. But was a good festival last year, don't know how much time I'll have this time around but will try to get to as much as I can. Looking forward to the announcements on the 21st.

bnt

A bit more news: Neil Gaiman has just confirmed he'll be there on the 15th. (This straight from Neil himself.) I think that means there will be a screening of Coraline too.

MementoMori

I think that they should announce their programme earlier.

The way they do it at the moment means that invariably I end up missing out on some films because I have made previous plans which is a nuisance. I can understand that they are probably waiting to get confirmation for some films but I don't understand why they don't at least announce some of the confirmed films they have earlier.

For example the fact that Neil Gaiman has already confirmed his attendence like the previous poster mentioned.

Hopefully the line-up of films is better than last year, which I felt was an extremely disappointing line-up of average films.

monkeyfudge

I've an invite to the programme launch on Monday.

Anyone else going?

MementoMori

The programme is up online now.

Can't say I'm overly impressed by the line-up on first impressions.

If anyone has any insights/tips be sure to post them up.

nialldinho

anyone having trouble booking online? i've tried about 5 times now and it keeps saying their system has encountered an unexpected error.

johnny_ultimate

Just booked Let the Right One In, Synecdoche New York (yay!) and Tokyo! Happy enough with those three, will probably have a more detailed look over the lineup to see if there's anything else of note (Neil Gaiman film does sound interesting).

Oh, and unexpected error first time but worked fine the second.

RNL

I'm liking the look of this Akerman retrospective. I'll definitely be checking out Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, I've wanted to see that for ages.

I'm disappointed at not seeing Adoration, 24 City and 35 Shots of Rum in the lineup. Particularly the first two, since they played Cannes.

Oh well, it looks to be a better lineup than last year; just going through the blurbs now.

monkeyfudge

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Oh, and unexpected error first time but worked fine the second.

Same here.

I was at the launch this evening... good fun... lots of free whiskey...

Cunning Alias

No "9". Aww.

monkeyfudge

Cunning Alias wrote: »

No "9". Aww.

Could be the surprise film...

RNL

That'd be pretty far in advance though.

The International or Duplicity maybe...

delbertgrady

I'm disappointed that An Education, Telstar and Wendy & Lucy aren't on. All three are doing the festival circuit (Telstar was on in the London Film Festival in October) and I really expected one or two of them to be in the programme.

Also, like last year, they've scheduled some of their major attractions very close to each other, which is bound to cause havoc. I'm thinking of last year's delayed screening of Cassandra's Dream to accomodate people running up from Battle in Seattle: I'm predicting a similar situation this year at Let the Right One In in Cineworld, in order to facilitate people arriving from the Savoy screening of Five Minutes of Heaven.

And they already showed The American Friend, two years ago.

Decuc500

I'll be doing the dash from Five Minutes of Heaven up to Cineworld to see Let The Right One In. It'll probably mean missing any interviews with the director and actors from Five Minutes of Heaven after the film which is a pity.

But every year there's a couple of mad dash's from cinema to cinema. I suppose with a programme as big as it is and several cinemas in Dublin being used this is to be expected.

Overall I think it's a strong lineup and I'll have to make some tough choices where there's a clash of films I want to see.

The only disappointment is the lack of Asian films this year.

speedboatchase

Is it too early for wildly optimistic predicts for the secret film? Come on Watchmen

monkeyfudge

speedboatchase wrote: »

Is it too early for wildly optimistic predicts for the secret film? Come on Watchmen

Ha. Well it was 300 two years back.

I've got my tickets though... it's usually not a great film... but it's always exciting.

delbertgrady

Agreed. Although the suspense and excitement beforehand is usually outweighed by the deflation and disappointment when the film is revealed.
The batting average over the last six years has been poor.
But I still buy a ticket every year. Just in case.

monkeyfudge

Yeah... you'd be raging if you missed out on a rare screening of "It's a Wonderful Life" with the lost "killing spree" ending restored.

fitz

Got my tickets last night.
Managed to get a programme book yesterday evening, so knew what I wanted to book by the time midnight rolled around:

Coraline
Gran Torino
Surprise Film
Let The Right One In
Good
In The Loop
Revolution
I Sell The Dead
The Burning Plain

My one criticism of the lineup is that there's a lot of similarly themed movies. Take out the internationality of the lineup, and it's a bit repetitive.

me-skywalker

has anybody worked at thsi beofre i knwo they are always looking for volunteers.. but what exactly is it that they do and is it worth gettign involved in? i loev movies and films and wouldnt mind being involved but i jsut dont wanna end up stuck standing a railing entrance gettign abuse from skangers!

davros

No East Asian cinema? That's very disappointing.

No doubt the schedule includes a whole bunch of films that are slated to be shown in the IFI in coming months anyway. These should be dropped. Along with the likes of Mise Eire and Brief Encounter that have only recently gotten outings and pop up regularly anyway. It should be for films we otherwise have no chance to see.

I'm sure there are some gems in there this year, but on a first pass through the list I haven't picked them out.

speedboatchase

I worked there three years ago writing reviews for the website and doing vox pops, was actually a lot of fun. I recommend you guys get tickets for Bill Mahers documentary Religulous, it's hilarious

BlitzKrieg

*tokyo* has a korean director involved

davros

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

*tokyo* has a korean director involved

True. I disregarded it because I don't think anything matches a director working inside his/her own culture. It has been a few years since the DIFF had a decent representation of Asian cinema.

Decuc500

As the previous poster said it's been a while since the DIFF has highlighted Asian cinema and seeing as South Korea and Japan consistently make some of the most interesting films today that's disappointing.

I'd rather see an Asian strand as opposed to the Turkish one this year but that's just me.

Mitch Connor

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Ha. Well it was 300 two years back.

I've got my tickets though... it's usually not a great film... but it's always exciting.

I've my fingers crossed for Watchmen, as it is out a few weeks after the show, so it is a possibility imo.

Only got tickets for the mystery show and Coraline.

delbertgrady

Why is Doubt the opening film when it goes on general release a week earlier, on February 6th?

speedboatchase

If it actually was Watchmen I would squeal like a little girl

Are these correct for the secret film?

2008 - ?
2007: 300
2006: The Squid and the Whale
2005: The Jacket
2004: Starsky And Hutch

BlitzKrieg

davros wrote: »

True. I disregarded it because I don't think anything matches a director working inside his/her own culture. It has been a few years since the DIFF had a decent representation of Asian cinema.

I'm sorry

I'm a Cyborg was at last years DIFF and it was by the same director who gave us Oldboy, sympathy for mr vengance and lady vengance.


2008 surprise film was The Escapist

delbertgrady

speedboatchase wrote: »

If it actually was Watchmen I would squeal like a little girl

Are these correct for the secret film?

2008 - ?
2007: 300
2006: The Squid and the Whale
2005: The Jacket
2004: Starsky And Hutch

2008 was The Escapist. Garbage.
2003 was Buffalo Soldiers. Also garbage.
The rest you have spot on.

BlitzKrieg

and it was galaxy quest the year before that (which was the first year correct?)

EDIT: I seem to be incorrect there sorry.

dont know why I remember Galaxy Quest being the first surprise film.

Decuc500

Surprise films:

08 The Escapist
07 300
06 The Squid & The Whale
05 The Jacket
04 Starsky & Hutch
03 Buffalo Soldiers

Also Heartbreakers, Galaxy Quest, Wag The Dog, Donnie Brasco, The Birdcage, The Usual Suspects from the old festival going back through the years...

RNL

There's basically no chance whatsoever of Watchmen being the surprise film. It's too long, for one thing (163 minutes in a 180 minute timeslot is far too tight given the throngs they have to shepherd in and out for the closing film straight afterwards), and it'd also make it the world premiere, and the Dublin Festival's nowhere near high profile enough for that; 300 had already played Austin and Berlin before it played Dublin (I think the print was actually the same one screened in Berlin).

flogen

RNL wrote: »

There's basically no chance whatsoever of Watchmen being the surprise film. It's too long, for one thing (163 minutes in a 180 minute timeslot is far too tight given the throngs they have to shepherd in and out for the closing film straight afterwards), and it'd also make it the world premiere, and the Dublin Festival's nowhere near high profile enough for that; 300 had already played Austin and Berlin before it played Dublin (I think the print was actually the same one screened in Berlin).

The time thing isn't a huge indicator but it being the first showing is.

If it turns out that the world premier is held in early Feb. somewhere more predictable then I'll start getting my hopes up - as you say, it's 100 times more than extremely unlikely that Dublin will get to show it before anyone else.

RNL wrote: »

That'd be pretty far in advance though.

The International or Duplicity maybe...

Would make more sense if Owen's scheduled interview was closer to the screening date - doubt he'll be hanging around Dublin for a week to two separate things, especially when The International is due out on the 27th and he'll have plenty of UK press stuff to get done. Of course they don't need him there to do that, but I imagine they'd have taken full advantage of his visit by scheduling the two on the same day if they had one of his films secured.

It would also suck if they showed a film that was due out 5 days after the secret screening - would remove the right to refer to it as anything "special", anyway!

cine-man

I think the most popular guess will be for Watchmen, I think this may only be possible as it has the same director as 300 (Zack Snyder); if he has any influence he may want it to be screened here as 300 went down so well. However as a previous poster said, I think it is unlikely to have its world premiere here.

My best guess would be either The International or Duplicity; they are 2 of the main films out in the month following the festival that aren't already being screened. I think it is more likely to be The International as Duplicity is further away from release and will not have been released in the US yet.

As you can see from last years film though, it could literally be anything!!

delbertgrady

cine-man wrote: »

As you can see from last years film though, it could literally be anything!!

Yes. The stunned silence that greeted The Escapist was deafening.

RNL

flogen wrote: »

The time thing isn't a huge indicator

If I'm not mistaken, last year the closing film screened at 8pm, as opposed to 8.30 this year, and in the write-up on the surprise film there were a handful of 'clues' offered, one of which was that it'd definitely be shorter than two hours, which I suppose means they thought they'd need a half hour or so to empty and refill the theatre.

Remember also that there were a few trailers before the films every(?) year, and 163 minutes + trailers definitely makes Watchmen too long.

Even if it screens at the Berlinale (like 300 did), which I agree would increase its chances of screening in Dublin, it's just too long, it's unrealistic to expect it to fit into that time slot.

RNL

cine-man wrote: »

My best guess would be either The International or Duplicity; they are 2 of the main films out in the month following the festival that aren't already being screened. I think it is more likely to be The International as Duplicity is further away from release and will not have been released in the US yet.

Yeah, and The International is having its world premiere at the Berlinale, so they could pull a 300 (the 2006 Austin screening of which was more of a sneak preview than a world premiere).

flogen

RNL wrote: »

If I'm not mistaken, last year the closing film screened at 8pm, as opposed to 8.30 this year, and in the write-up on the surprise film there were a handful of 'clues' offered, one of which was that it'd definitely be shorter than two hours, which I suppose means they thought they'd need a half hour or so to empty and refill the theatre.

Remember also that there were a few trailers before the films every(?) year, and 163 minutes + trailers definitely makes Watchmen too long.

Even if it screens at the Berlinale (like 300 did), which I agree would increase its chances of screening in Dublin, it's just too long, it's unrealistic to expect it to fit into that time slot.

I take your point but it doesn't rule it out completely - assuming that running time includes credits (I'm not sure - you may know whether it does) and they drop any trailers you have 17 minutes to play with from the final credit.

There also seem to be a few reports that the run time is actually 10 minutes shorter than it was in October 2008 - I'm just basing that on a few things I read after a search and they may have been dis-proven since.

If that is the case you've got your half hour clean up right there and since when to things run on time in Ireland anyway?! The Secret of Kells can wait!

Seriously though -

I know that's all based on a lot of ifs; if they don't show trailers and if the run time includes credits and if it's shorter than previously assumed etc. - but I'm not convinced that the time issues disproves Watchmen.

As I said before, though, I won't be crossing my fingers - I don't think it'll be Watchmen and won't until it gets a full screening elsewhere.

bugler

I booked tickets for a few films yesterday morning and afternoon. I've received no email confirmations yet. Is everyone else experiencing the same thing?

Brimmy

I got an email confirmation but I booked in person.

Got tickets for:
Let the Right One In
Surprise Film
Synecdoche.

Contemplating getting tickets for:
Tokyo!
Coraline
I Sell The Dead
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel.

Being a jobless student doesn't help that much though in getting to see these. Probably going to skip I Sell The Dead as it's on the night of my 21st and just wait till the general release. Was going to skip Coraline too but the HDness and Neil Gaiman make it tempting.. FAQATT looks good too so it looks like Tokyo! & Mr Perlman will have to suffer for now.

Can't wait for Synecdoche though. Anyone entered the lottery to the Clive Owen talk? I went looking on the website but couldn't find it.

Would love for the Surprise Film to be Watchmen but I know it's not going to happen. I can still hope though. It'll probably end up being Duplicity or the International or worse, being end up stuck with the legend of Chun Li :pac:

dog-man-star

delbertgrady wrote: »

Why is Doubt the opening film when it goes on general release a week earlier, on February 6th?

Doubt is opening in Ireland on a different date to the UK, it opens here on Friday Feb 27th!

dog-man-star

speedboatchase wrote: »

Is it too early for wildly optimistic predicts for the secret film? Come on Watchmen

Hope I'm not ruining the fun in guessing what the secret movie will be, but it's 100% not Watchmen. The first Watchmen preview isn't happening until after the festival.

Tedious Bore

anyone know is there anything special about it?

like free whiskey / nibbles or anything?

costs more than the others...

Vamoose Killers

Hmm, some of the Berlinale ones were a tenner but most were around the 7/8 euro mark. And the quality of films was much greater.

flayersd

I had trouble booking tickets as well, I ended up calling the office in Temple bar. 01 6728861. I wish they'd update their site sooner so you can check out what you'd like to see. You shouldn't have to look up other countries festivals to check out reviews and buzz around films. It's a bit Irish!!

flayersd

I have booked "I sell the Dead" as I think it looks really quirky and interesting. It's staring Hellboy and one of the Hobbits- not too shabby for and Irish film!!

Nolanger

Who cares about the DFF - they only show mainstream movies - most of which will get released here over the next few months anyway. Nothing unique about this festival, no movies ever discovered there, no prizes, no controversy, and completely forgotten the following week. On the pyramid of film festivals the DFF would be on the ground with 100s of other no-name festivals.