JDIFF 2011 Comes to a Close

28 Feb 2011 :

Benda Bilili! Tweet The 2011 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival came to an end on Sunday, February 27th with a screening of Francois Ozon’s comedic feature, ‘Potiche’ with the director in attendance. The event welcomed other international filmmakers including actors Martin Sheen and Kevin Spacey and comedian Richard Ayoade. Winners of both the festival’s Volta awards and the UNTITLED Screenwriting competition were also lauded during the event. The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (JDIFF) played host to several Irish premieres including Woody Allen’s ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’; Emilio Estevez’s ‘The Way’ starring his father Martin Sheen, who took part in a Q&A session following the screening; George Nolfi’s ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ and Anton Checkov’s ‘The Duel’. A special screening of ‘The Usual Suspects’ was held in a specially prepared warehouse in Dublin’s city centre and was attended by Kevin Spacey. The JDIFF Audience Award was again won by a documentary this year. Following on from previous successful documentaries such as ‘Wave Riders’ and ‘His & Hers’, the winning project this year was Renaud Barret’s ‘Benda Bilili!’. The doc tells a story of hope through music, where five parapelegics and an able bodied teenager form the street band Staff Benda Bilili, and eventually achieve international success. The doc fought off competition from projects such as Emilio Estevez’s ‘The Way’ and Frank Berry’s ‘Ballymun Lullaby’. JDIFF’s Volta awards had three recipients this year - actor Martin Sheen, who was presented the award by Jim Sheridan after the screening of ‘The Way’; film historian and preservationist Kevin Brownlow, who was presented the award by Dublin International Film Festival Chair Arthur Lappin after the live presentation of ‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ in the National Concert Hall, and director François Ozon, who was presented the award by Neil Jordan at a special reception held in the French Embassy. Speaking during the festival’s closing night, Gráinne Humphreys reflected on this year’s installment, saying: “We’ve had 11 days of outstanding films, generous and insightful film makers and enthusiastic audiences, so we’re very extremely pleased with the reception that this year’s festival has received, and grateful to all our sponsors, friends and supporters.” A full list of all the event’s award winners and more information is available at

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