Belfast Film Festival returns for its 24th edition on October 31 for 10 days showcasing the best films from across the globe alongside some of the best from home-grown talent. The bumper programme has been unveiled and is outlined below.
Opening and Closing Films
Kicking off the festival perfectly on Halloween Night with the Irish premiere of Aislinn Clarke’s Irish language horror Fréwaka. Closing night (9 November) sees the UK premiere of The Wise Guy directed by Sam O’Mahony.
Ireland Focus
This year’s festival is proud to celebrate talent from across the island of Ireland, and the mid-week gala screenings are jam-packed with Irish talent; Dead Man’s Money directed by Paul Kennedy brings together Northern Irish stars Ciarán McMenamin and Kathy Kiera Clarke; Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) and Christopher Abbott (Poor Things) are utterly heartbreaking in Christopher Andrews rural drama Bring Them Down and Ciaran Cassidy’s award-winning documentary Housewife of the Year gets its Northern Irish premiere. One of Ireland’s most prolific actors will be celebrated as BFF presents Lalor Roddy with its Réalta award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Film in recognition of his many years of excellence on the big screen.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Pat Murphy’s astonishing film Anne Devlin, and the festival will have a special screening with a Q&A with Pat Murphy, Bríd Brennan who plays the title role and cinematographer, Thaddeus O’Sullivan.
To celebrate 100 years of BBC Northern Ireland, the team will host a one-off, archive event in BBC Blackstaff Studios, Ulster Mirror.
Additionally, Belfast Film Festival presents three world premieres of Northern Ireland Independent Films The UnHolylands, Beautiful and Loud and Clear and The Spin.
Jessica Kiang, International Programmer for Belfast Film Festival said: “Irish cinema is having a moment on the world stage, but is world cinema also becoming, well, more Irish? It sure seems so, from the spirit of resistance, rebellion and reckoning with the past that spices up our New Cinema international selection, runs like a current through this year’s International Competition from Mongolia to Martinique to Massachussetts, and is perfectly reflected in the anarchic vibe of Competition juror and Romanian Golden Bear-winner Radu Jude — the closest thing modern cinema has to a renegade mad scientist.”
Radu Jude and International Competition
This year’s guest of honour is none other than Golden Bear winning king of audacious satire Radu Jude (Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of The World) who will be In Conversation with BFF programmer Jessica Kiang on Saturday 2nd November. Jude will join Dorota Lech, curator and programmer of the Toronto Film Festival and award-winning Irish filmmaker Dean Kavanagh on the International Competition jury.
New Cinema
There are Hollywood stars galore in this year’s New Cinema strand; Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain starring the director himself and Succession breakout Kieran Culkin; Amy Adams stuns in Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch, Rooney Mara stars in tense, wildly inventive kitchen drama La Cocina and Cate Blanchett is deadpan-hilarious in bizarre political satire Rumours. BFF24 will feature the brand new Mike Leigh (Naked, Secrets and Lies) film Hard Truths, the debut feature King Baby from dynamic directorial duo Kit Redstone and Aaran Shearing, Flow directed by Gints Zilbalodis Latvia’s Oscars pick, and perhaps the most exciting and pioneering US indie of the year, RaMell Ross’ deftly adapted Nickel Boys based on the novel by Colson Whitehead (The Underground Railroad). Cannes award winners Armand, Grand Tour and The Other Way Around will all have Irish premieres at BFF24.
Palestine Cinema Days
In response to the global call to action from their friends at Filmlab Palestine, Belfast Film Festival will once again be hosting a Palestine Cinema Days screening on 2nd November at the Black Box. This screening of Naila and The Uprising directed by Julia Bacha will be one of hundreds of screenings happening throughout the world in solidarity with colleagues in Palestine.
Commenting on the 2024 programme, Michele Devlin, Director of Belfast Film Festival said: “This year’s programme showcases some of the best of new international film alongside gorgeous new work from Irish filmmakers. We have a special 40th anniversary event for the groundbreaking feature Anne Devlin bringing the creative team Pat Murphy, Thaddeus O’Suillivan and Brid Brennan together for the first time in many years. We are proud to be partnering once again with our friends in FilmLab, Palestine, to present Naila and The Uprising directed by Julia Bacha which is one of hundreds international solidarity screenings taking place across the world on the 2nd November.”
Tickets are on sale today, Thursday 3rd October from 10am. https://belfastfilmfestival.org/
Belfast Film Festival is funded by Northern Ireland Screen, Belfast City Council, the Department for Communities and Film Hub NI. And proudly sponsored by Yellowmoon, Birra Moretti and Hastings Hotels.
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