Film-maker Charlie Kaufman to attend Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival

The Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival today made some exciting announcements for next years festival, just in time to snap up a last minute Christmas gift for the movie lover in your life. The Festival will host multi award-winning screenwriter, producer, director and lyricist Charlie Kaufman, who will give a unique insight into his creative process in a public interview with Mark O’Halloran. From ‘Being John Malkovich’ through to ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ and ‘Anomalisa’, Kaufman has created some of cinemas most memorable films and this will be an unmissable event for any cinema lover.

Next years closing gala was also revealed, ‘Herself’, is a female-led drama directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!, The Iron Lady) that centres on Sandra (Clare Dunne), a mother who looks to build her life from scratch in order to provide a happy home for her two young daughters, away from a possessive ex-partner. The stellar cast also features Harriet Walter, Conleth Hill and Ian-Lloyd Anderson.  It will be jointly released to Irish and UK cinemas by Element Distribution and Picturehouse Entertainment next year.

The festival also announced Belfast born Mark Cousins’ alternative history of cinema ‘Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema’ which turns the spotlight on women’s integral role in the development of film art, in the form of a 14 hour documentary, screened over the opening weekend of the Festival. This epic five-part programme featuring contributions from Tilda Swinton, Sharmila Tagore, Jane Fonda, Adjoa Andoh, Thandie Newton, Kerry Fox, and Debra Winger, Women Make Film overturns our understanding of cinematic history by reminding audiences of the vast, and often overlooked, role played by women in the film industry across the world over the last 11 decades.

Speaking about this years line-up, festival director Gráinne Humphreys said “It is a joy for us to have Charlie Kaufman as a guest of the festival, the festival has long championed screenwriters and screenwriting and we are truly honoured to welcome one of the most original and vital voices in modern cinema.”

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