JDIFF 2011 Programme Announced | The Irish Film & Television Network

Launching the JDIFF festival programme in Dublin on Tuesday, January 25th were award-winning actors Maura Tierney (Liar Liar), who is currently in Dublin for rehearsals of ‘God of Carnage’ at The Gate Theatre, and IFTA nominee Charlene McKenna (RAW). The festival will open with Richard Ayoade’s directorial debut feature, ‘Submarine’ on February 17th.

The international guests who are lined up to attend the festival include Martin Sheen, Kevin Spacey, Richard Ayoade, Guillaume Canet, Harry Shearer, Emilio Estevez and Jim Loach and Timothy Spall all of whom will be present to support their respective projects.

The closing film will be François Ozon’s comedy ‘Potiche’, starring Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu. Jim Loach will attend the festival for the Irish premieres of his recent feature, ‘Oranges and Sunshine’. Other Irish premieres include George Nolfi’s ‘The Adjustment Bureau’; Emilio Estevez’s ‘The Way’ starring his father Martin Sheen; Jaume Collet-Serra’s ‘Unknown’, starring IFTA nominee Liam Neeson (Chloe) and Aidan Quinn (Ondine), which will have its world premiere in Berlin; Anton Checkov’s ‘The Duel’ and Woody Allen’s ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’.

There will be a special focus on emerging Romanian cinema throughout the festival, with screenings of ‘The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu’ and comedy feature, ‘Hello, How Are You?’, as well as a Latin Cinema Season which will include Diego Luna’s directorial debut ‘Abel’. Where the festival’s documentary section is concerned, screenings will include Mark Cousins’ ‘The First Movie’ and Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary, ‘Cave Of Forgotten Dreams’, which will be followed by a post screening Q&A with the director via satellite.

JDIFF sponsor, Jameson will this year launch a Cult Film Club, with a special interactive screening of ‘The Usual Suspects’, which will be attended by Kevin Spacey. Furthermore, the event’s 2011 Irish Talent Spotlight will look at the work of director Juanita Wilson, animator David O’Reilly and actor Aiden Gillen.

Festival director Grainne Humphreys commented at the launch, saying that she was: “incredibly honoured to unveil this years’ film festival programme – It’s a world class line up, with premieres of the best of international cinema, seasons of new work from Romania and Latin America, a fantastic line up of new Irish cinema, some classic films back on the big screen and a very special line up of guests.” She concluded on a positive note, noting that the event might hopefully prove to be: “great foil to the constant political media coverage, and bucking the current trends both domestically and internationally we have a good news story to tell - Ireland is awash with film talent and the festival is where to be this February.”

The 2011 JDIFF will run from the 17th to the 27th of February and for a full run down of this year’s programme of events visit www.jdiff.com

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