As Dublin gears up its annual film festival, founder and director Michael Dwyer reflects on the agony and the complications of programming the event - and leaving it in the hands of a new director. Donald Clarkeselects the notable films and events
AS MICHAEL Dwyer squares up to his final spell as director of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (Diff), he could be forgiven for feeling more than a little apprehensive. This is, after all, the second time the Irish Times film correspondent has set such a creature loose into the woods. On the previous occasion it continued to flourish for close to a decade before suddenly sickening, withering and dying beneath a bush.
Michael helped found the first Dublin Film Festival in 1985 and stayed with the organisation until 1991. In 2002, after encountering financial embarrassment, the festival failed to emerge and, by the end of that year, appeared to have met its maker.
Having nurtured the beast back to life in 2003 (albeit under an augmented name), is Dwyer concerned that it may, once again, perish some time in the future?
"It is now very firmly established as a new event," he says. "And we did make sure we did the interviews for the new director back during the summer, leaving us plenty of time to make the transition."
Gráinne Humphreys, formerly the assistant director of the Irish Film Institute, was announced as the new Diff director just before Christmas. A respected figure with a vast knowledge of film and formidable reserves of energy, Humphreys does seem like the ideal candidate for the job. But what happens 10 years down the line? The old festival enjoyed great success in the mid-1990s before difficulties set in.
"I am confident in the board we have," Dwyer says. "That is important for the long term. They would always give a great deal of thought to all significant appointments in the future and that is where responsibility lies."
Dwyer will continue to sit on the board. I ask if he has any fears that he might begin behaving as Mrs Thatcher did towards poor John Major - apologies to both outgoing and incoming directors for the unflattering comparisons - and indulge in a bit of backseat driving.
"Oh no, it's Gráinne's festival now," he says. "I think it is always a disaster when festivals are programmed by committees. She will do a fine job. She has so much experience. And her get-up-and-go attitude will be invaluable."
Humphreys is aware of the responsibility she is taking on. "I have been going to the Dublin Film Festival since I was 18," she says. "Michael was an integral part of it all that time. It is thanks to him that I know about a great many film-makers I would not otherwise have encountered. I am sure we will remain as passionate about new film-makers as ever."
Of course, most festival punters couldn't care less about who is in charge as long as the films are good, the projector doesn't break down and the odd celebrity turns up to wave at them. This year the programme features another excellent array of movies, both high- and low- of brow, from the usual dizzying array of countries. Some issues should, however, be addressed. There were mutterings in previous years that tickets seemed somewhat expensive.
"Well, I don't think that's true," Michael says. "The price is €9 for everything except the opening and closing films at Cineworld. The more you go to see, the cheaper it gets. There are packages of 30 tickets and a season ticket and so on. Nine euro is about what you'd pay as a booking fee for most concerts, for example."
Unprompted, Dwyer acknowledges that, in previous years, some festival-goers have complained that a number of the showcase movies have turned up in commercial cinemas days after their screening at Diff. Indeed, last year, Capote, an early hit, appeared in multiplexes before the festival was over.
"People have said to me, 'Oh, all the films open within a month of the festival closing.' That's just not true. There was one film that opened when the festival was still on last year and - though we had an ad in the programme saying when it was opening - Capote was the first film to sell out. Remember that half the films shown in Cannes open when the festival is on, sometimes on the day of their screening."
It might be fair to ponder what, exactly, does qualify a film for a screening at a festival.
"Well, if a film is good and it hasn't been shown here yet then I think it is probably worth screening. We are showing Letters from Iwo Jima at the festival and it will open before the end. But if a film is good enough to be nominated for an Oscar I think it is good enough to be screened at Diff."
To be fair, without trying too hard, a keen punter could watch three films a day every day without coming across anything that will ever make its way into a commercial cinema. The programme does seem to strike a balance between the mainstream and the obscure, between populism and its pointy-headed opposite. As ever, by using four city-centre cinemas (the IFI, Cineworld, the Savoy and the Screen), the event, unlike those in larger cities, allows its patrons to travel everywhere on foot. It's an easy event to have fun at.
Michael Dwyer admits that he is looking forward to having some fun himself at next year's festival. For now he has to face up to another month or so of frantic scurrying. Yet, he admits that the hardest part of the job - putting together the programme - is behind him.
"It takes intense concentration to ensure that you don't have two films from the same genre on at the same time or two films from the same country at the same time. It is, in that sense, like a massive Sudoku puzzle. It is really like masochism in that it is like pleasure and pain at the same time."
MUSIC ON FILM
Kerang! Whether by accident or design, this year's festival features a scattering of delights for music enthusiasts. Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (February 18th, IFI, 6.20pm) examines the career of the reclusive musician who began life as a crooner before channelling his Jacques Brel enthusiasm into the production of some of the most influential music of the late 1960s. Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (February 24th, Cineworld, 8.30pm) sees Julian Temple, director of The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, pondering the life and times of the late frontman for The Clash. The Thrills (February 23d, IFI, 11pm) turns a lens towards the east-coast band with the west- coast sound.
Elsewhere, among the dramatic features, Glen Hansard of the Frames acts and sings in John Carney's already highly regarded Once (February 19th, Cineworld, 9pm), which, last weekend, became the first ever Irish film to win a major prize at the Sundance film festival.
IRISH RELEASES
Irish features do not occupy quite as much space as in previous years, but there are still domestic delights to be savoured at Diff 2007. Robert Quinn's Cré na Cille (February 17th, IFI, 6.20pm), based on Máirtín Ó Cadhain's admired novel, is the first ever Irish-language feature to play at the festival. Liam O'Mochain, that dogged guerrilla film-maker, investigates the grim world of the lavatory attendant in WC (February 23d, IFI, 6.20 pm). Niall Heery's Small Engine Repair (February 21st, IFI, 6.20pm) has already picked up major awards, while Steve Hudson's True North (February 18th, Cineworld, 6.30pm), a tense tale set among compromised trawler-men, won fans at last year's Toronto Film Festival.
Also of interest is the documentary Mine Your Own Business (February 18th, IFI, noon) in which Anne McElhinney and Phelim McAleer dare to question the effect western environmental campaigns have on poor workers.
SEE IT HERE OR WAIT FOR THE DVD
With the modest success of Match Point and Melinda and Melinda, it looked as if Woody Allen's distribution problems might be over. Yet Scoop (February 25th, Savoy, 11am), a comedy set in London, but unrelated to the Evelyn Waugh novel, still shows no signs of making it into commercial cinemas in these territories. Similarly, Colour Me Kubrick (February 25th, Cineworld, 1.10pm), starring John Malkovich as a man who posed as the great director, might appear on the big screen domestically only at Diff.
Michael Dwyer has let it be known that the recent films of Lars von Trier are not to his taste, but he has found space for the Danish eccentric's latest venture, The Boss of It All (February 25th, Cineworld, 1.00pm), in his last festival. The still in the programme features a couple shagging on a desk. Oh, Lars, you are a one!
SPECIAL EVENTS
Celebrity guests, public discussions and related special events are what lend film festivals their character. The visiting luminaries this year include Jeremy Thomas, producer of such films as The Last Emperor and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, and the actor Gabriel Byrne, whose latest film, Jindabyne (February 16th, Savoy, 8pm), opens the event. Both will participate in public interviews with the festival director.
Other distractions include conversations on pursuing careers in film and getting scripts into production, and - particularly exciting this - a screening of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (February 22nd, National Gallery, 6.30pm), featuring musical accompaniment by the innovative collective 3pekano.
FIRST CHANCE TO SEE THE BIG MAINSTREAM RELEASES
Those of us who think that 28 Days Later is by far Danny Boyle's best film will be eager to set eyes upon Sunshine (February 23d, Cineworld, 8.30pm), a science fiction thriller that reunites the director with Alex Garland, writer of the earlier film, and Cillian Murphy, its star. The stiletto-cheeked Corkonian is expected to attend the screening. Other big movies swaggering into town include The Good German (February 17th, Savoy, 10.30am), a noir thriller from Steven Soderbergh; The Illusionist (February 24th, Cineworld, 8.40pm), a tale of Victorian magic starring Ed Norton; and - well, you never know - the perennially popular surprise film.
KNOW YOUR OSCARS
This year the festival ends on the same night the Oscars are handed out. As in previous years, Diff will allow film enthusiasts to get an early glance at some of the movies up for gongs. The best foreign-language film category is particularly well served with screenings for The Lives of Others (February 17th, Cineworld, 8.30pm), a hugely praised drama of Communist East Germany; Water (February 17th, Screen, 8.40pm), Toronto-based Deepa Mehta's tale of the struggle for Indian independence; and - more colonial ponderings - Rachid Boucherab's coruscating Days of Glory (February 17th, Cineworld, 6pm), which examines the Algerian contribution to the second World War.
Elsewhere, a few days before it opens commercially, there will be screening of Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima (February 19th, Cineworld, 8.30pm) and punters eager to get a glimpse at Ryan Gosling, an outsider in the best actor category, should rush to see his nominated performance in Half Nelson (February 19th, Screen, 8.40pm). Best of all, Diff patrons can actually get the chance to meet a nominee. Our own Consolata Boyle, up for costume design for The Queen, will be interviewed in the IFI on February 21st
MOST EAGERLY ANTICIPATED
This year's most mouth-watering prospects include the first dramatic feature from Werner Herzog in five years. Rescue Dawn (February 20th, Screen, 8.20pm), starring Christian Bale, sees the old master returning to the jungle for the story of a downed US fighter pilot's attempt to escape enemy territory during the Vietnam War. The Oscar-nominated Deliver Us from Evil (February 17th, Cineworld, 1pm), a documentary on child abuse in the Catholic Church, has already caused a huge storm.
Equally exciting is the prospect of Shane Meadows's This Is England (February 18th, Cineworld, 8.50pm) in which the director of such gritty gems as Dead Man's Shoes and A Room for Romeo Brass examines the world of the skinhead in 1980s Britain.
The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival runs from February 16th-25th. More detals at www.dubliniff.com
