MOVIE: Stars jet in for the Dublin film festival

SOME of the world’s leading movie stars and filmmakers will be in town later this month when the 17th Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival returns to the capital from February 20 to March 3.

Ireland’s premier film event features a packed programme of over 120 events running across 12 days. It includes the finest local and international feature films, short films and documentaries, along with a dedicated children’s and young people’s programme and a host of special events featuring industry leaders. 

Kicking off the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival in style will be the Opening Gala and Irish premiere of ‘Papi Chulo’, the new film from Irish director John Butler, known for the award winning ‘Handsome Devil’ and ‘The Stag’.

Joining John on the red carpet for the premiere will be the stars of the film, Matt Bomer, known for ‘A Normal Heart’, ‘Magic Mike’ and ‘The Magnificent Seven’, and his co-star Alejandro Patiño.

The comedy drama tells the story of a well-heeled, lonely, gay TV weatherman who strikes up an unusual friendship with an older straight migrant worker from Mexico and deals with themes of friendship, class, ethnicity and economic migration.

Fans of cult TV show The Office will be thrilled to hear that Stephen Merchant is visiting the festival for the premiere of his new movie, ‘Fighting With My Family’, bringing with him the true, colourful and crazy story of the rise of WWE Superstar Paige.

Merchant wrote and directed the film, which tells the story of reformed gangster and former wrestler Ricky, his wife Julia, daughter Saraya and son Zak who make a living performing in tiny venues across the country. 

One of the most exciting talents to come from Ireland in recent years and 2019 BAFTA Rising Star Award nominee, Jessie Buckley, will be attending the festival with her new film ‘Wild Rose’.

Starring alongside the much-loved and twice Oscar-nominated Julie Walters and Hotel Rwanda’s Sophie Okonedo, Jessie displays her considerable musical and dramatic talent as Rose-Lynn Harlan in this inspiring, infectiously joyous heart warmer.

Other high profile guests to walk the red carpet at the festival include Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbour), Lucy Fry (Wolf Creek) and Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver) who is in town for the world premiere of ‘She’s Missing’. The drama thriller by Irish writer and director Alexandra McGuinness is about a young woman, Heidi, whose best friend goes missing at a rodeo after meeting a mysterious man.

She sets out across the desert, unveiling astonishing secrets and encountering the unexpected violence of life on the road.

Speaking about the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival 2019 programme, Grainne Humphreys, Festival Director, said: “As well as celebrating the best of Irish film talent, the programme for this year’s festival once again features a global line-up including world premieres and visits from the industry’s best known stars. We’ve found some fantastic titles for this year and we’re looking forward to sharing these discoveries.”

Ms Humphreys added that as always, the festival supports established and emerging home-grown talent and the pro-gramme is packed with a terrific line-up of new Irish features.

There will be, for example, Neil Jordan’s ‘Greta’, a psychological thriller about a lonely, mysterious widow whose friendship with a naïve young woman becomes increasingly disturbing.

The film stars Chloë Grace Moretz alongside French actress Isabelle Huppert whose performance is described as a dark, delicious treat.