What will you be seeing at this years Irish Film Institute open day?
After the enormous success of the last years IFI Open Day, the Temple Bar cinema will once again throw open its doors to the public for a day of free film screenings on June 11th 2011. The event sees a selection of exciting previews of new releases, specially selected classics and films that reflect the different programming strands that the IFI runs all year round. There will also be a special online poll giving our audiences the programming power to select the film for this year’s Audience Choice screening.
Announcing the programme IFI Director Sarah Glennie said, “Last year’s IFI Open Day was a huge success, so we’re delighted to be able to do it once again this year. I hope that lots of people will use this opportunity to come and discover the IFI, some maybe for the first time, but also to find out more about all the different aspects of what we do and to experience the breadth of programming that we have on offer year-round. We are incredibly lucky to have such a loyal and engaged audience, and IFI Open Day is also our way of saying thanks to everyone who supports us.”
This year’s exclusive sneak previews include ‘Jack Goes Boating’, the hotly-anticipated directorial debut from Philip Seymour Hoffman; ‘Cell 211’, an action-packed Spanish film that promises to keep you on the edge of your seat; ‘Armadillo’, a new documentary that asks tough questions about the ‘war on terror’ whilst bringing you closer to those fighting it; and ‘Sensation’, a new Irish dark comedy on sex in rural Ireland combining the talents of director Tom Hall with Domhnaill Gleeson in the lead role.
The classics programme includes the cult favourite ‘The Honeymoon Killers’, a tribute to Elizabeth Taylor in ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’, Jean-Luc Godard’s freewheeling and wonderfully baffling ‘Pierrot le fou’, the Marx brothers in ‘A Night at the Opera’; F.W. Murnau’s silent classic ‘Sunrise’, and one of the first confirmed classics of this century, ‘Donnie Darko’ in its original cut.
IFI Family will be showing the magical Jim Henson production ‘Labyrinth’ which tells the tale of young Sarah’s quest to rescue her baby brother from David Bowie’s Goblin King – a fantastic opportunity to introduce young film fans to the IFI in advance of the IFI Family Festival later this summer.
I Can’t… I Can’t, in dealing frankly with family planning and sex, was highly controversial when it was first screened in 1969 and has not been shown in Dublin since. Based on a screenplay by Lee Dunne, this newly acquired copy is now being preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive for this and future generations to enjoy.
There will be one last chance to see the IFI’s first 3D film that was a sell-out hit during its release in April, Werner Herzog’s ‘Cave of Forgotten Dreams’. There will also be a chance to vote for a screening of another favourite from the past year in the poll for this year’s Audience Choice screening. The shortlist of 12 films – all released at the IFI over the past year – has been created by members of the IFI staff but the public will decide whose selection will triumph. Audiences can vote for their favourite at www.ifi.ie where they will also find IFI staff members’ championing their own choices.
Audience members will also get a chance to chat with the people behind the various programmes at the IFI during Meet the Programmers which will be an informal gathering where audiences can discuss the various IFI programming strands and analyse the staff picks for the Audience Choice.
Tickets for all films will become available at 11am on June 11th at the IFI. Tickets will not be available online or by phone. There is a maximum of four tickets per person, all allocated on a first come, first served basis. Arrive early as tickets are expected to go very quickly at the start of the day!
IFI Open Day Schedule
Jack Goes Boating 12.30pm
Labyrinth 12.30pm
Sunrise 12.30pm
Life, Above All 2.20pm
Donnie Darko 2.30pm
I Can’t… I Can’t 2.30pm
Pierrot le fou 4.15pm
Meet the Programmers 4.30pm
A Night at the Opera 4.40pm
Cell 211 4.45pm
The Honeymoon Killers 6.20 pm
Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf 6.40pm
Sensation 7.00pm
Armadillo 9.00pm
Audience Choice Film 9.10pm
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (3D) 9.20pm