DECEMBER 2015

SUNSET SONG

2

THE IRISHFILM INSTITUTE

EXHIBITPRESERVEEDUCATE

The Irish Film Institute is Ireland’s national cultural institution for film. It aims to exhibit the finest in independent, Irish and international cinema, preserve Ireland’s moving image heritage at the IFI Irish Film Archive, and encourage engagement with film through its various educational programmes.

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Our final Feast Your Eyes event of the year – pairing a feature with a specially devised menu – will be perennial Christmas favourite, It’s a Wonderful Life. Start your seasonal celebrations by joining us on Tuesday, December 15th at 18.30 for this Jimmy Stewart classic and enjoy a deliciously festive main course in the IFI Café Bar afterwards. Tickets €20 (free list suspended). Attaboy, Clarence!

Looking for a great Christmas stocking filler? Why not give an IFI Gift Card? Credit can be added to cards and spent in the IFI Film Shop, IFI Café Bar and IFI Cinemas throughout the year – the perfect present for the film fan in your life! Just ask at the IFI Box Office.

GIFT CARD

Why not give the gift of year-long IFI Membership this Christmas? For just €25 (€15 concessions), IFI Members get cheaper tickets, discounts, double loyalty points which add up to FREE tickets, the chance to see a FREE preview every month, and lots more! Moreover, as an IFI Member, you also directly help support the IFI’s vital work in preserving and restoring Ireland’s precious moving image heritage via the IFI Irish Film Archive, and in engaging young people through our national education programme.

FEAST YOUR EYES

From the best in Irish film and TV to the top DVDs of 2015, including The Queen of Ireland, A Doctor’s Sword, Song of the Sea and Older than Ireland, look no further than the IFI Film Shop for the best gifts! You can also get your hands on the latest DVD release from the IFI Irish Film Archive, GAA Hurling Gold 2: All-Ireland Hurling Final Highlights 1960 – 1968 – perfect for any GAA fan. Don’t forget, if you’re an IFI Member, you’ll automatically get 10% off (excludes gift cards) and the IFI Film Shop will be open on Christmas Eve.

IFI MEMBERSHIP

It’s a

Won

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l Life

IFI FILM SHOP

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DIRECTOR’S NOTE

DECEMBERAT THE IFI

This December, the programme brings to a close a very busy year for the IFI with some fantastic new releases and Christmas classics.

As we draw towards the end of another busy year at the IFI, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers and members for their support over the last 12 months. The IFI is a not-for-profit organisation, constantly investing in our film preservation and education initiatives. It is through our Box Office, Café Bar, Film Shop, fundraising and membership that we generate our income in order to be able to continue to preserve over 30,000 cans of film (representing Ireland’s moving image heritage) in the vaults at the IFI Irish Film Archive, and develop new and ongoing lifelong learning opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. It is your support of our programme (and even every cup of coffee that you purchase!) that helps us to continue to do the work that we do. So, this December, I would like to thank you for all of your support throughout 2015, and would encourage you to look to IFI Membership and IFI Gift Cards as you’re doing your Christmas shopping this year. Also, if you’re looking for the perfect stocking filler for any sports enthusiasts in your life, be sure to pick up a copy of GAA Hurling Gold 2, with highlights from All-Ireland Hurling Finals from 1960 to ‘68. It’s the latest in the suite of IFI DVDs and another way in which we continue to make the archive collection accessible to the public.

Before 2016 however, we have one last exciting month of events for your enjoyment. It wouldn’t be December without a selection of Christmas classics, and this year we’re bringing back old favourites: It’s a Wonderful Life; The Red Shoes; and When Harry Met Sally for short runs, with special screenings of Scrooge and Hugo (3D) as part of our IFI Family strand and, to mark the passing of Irish screen legend Maureen O’Hara, a tribute screening of Miracle on 34th Street.

This month we also celebrate the tenth edition of IFI & Kinopolis, our annual celebration of the finest new Polish cinema. This year’s programme sees one of the strongest selections yet. We’re delighted to welcome guest Krzysztof Stroiński, who will take part in a Q&A after the screening of Anatomy of Evil, and to open the Festival with the Irish co-production 11 Minutes from the director of Essential Killing, Jerzy Skolimowski, who was last at the IFI for a fantastic Q&A just a few years ago.

I’m also pleased to announce the third year of the Pete Walsh Critical Writing Award in memory of our late colleague. We are inviting anyone and everyone with a strong interest in cinema to write about a film they saw at the IFI (or elsewhere) during the course of 2015. Entries will be evaluated by a panel of industry experts. The winner of the Pete Walsh Critical Writing Award will once again be offered a pass for a year of free films at the IFI. Full details on the Award will be announced this month, so please visit our website for further details on how to apply.

And finally, I would like to thank the board and staff of the IFI for all of their hard work during 2015, and on behalf of everyone at the IFI, I’d like to wish all of our patrons and supporters a very merry Christmas.

Ross Keane Director

The

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NEW RELEASES, IFI DOCS & IFI CLASSICS

SEASONS & EVENTS CALENDAR

For a breakdown of times and dates of IFI New Releases, IFI Docs & IFI Classics, check out our weekly schedule on www.ifi.ie/weekly-schedule or the IFI ads in The Irish Times on Fridays and Saturdays. You can also sign up to receive our weekly ezine by joining at www.ifi.ie/signup.

TIMES

DATE SCREENING TIME

2ND WED

IFI CAFÉ BAR PUB QUIZ (FREE EVENT) 21.30

3RD THURS

IFI & KINOPOLIS: 11 MINUTES 18.30

4TH FRI

IFI & KINOPOLIS: KARBALA 18.30

5TH SAT

IFI & KINOPOLIS: CHEMOIFI & KINOPOLIS: ANATOMY OF EVIL + Q&A

16.0018.10

6TH SUN

IFI & KINOPOLIS: ANIMATION PROGRAMMEIRELAND ON SUNDAY: IMMORTAL STORIESFROM THE VAULTS: IRENEIFI & KINOPOLIS: BODY/CIAŁO

12.0012.0016.0018.30

12TH SAT

OUT 1: NOLI ME TANGERE 13.00

13TH SUN

OUT 1: NOLI ME TANGERE 13.00

15TH TUE

FEAST YOUR EYES: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE 18.30

18TH FRI

WILD STRAWBERRIES: THE CHOIR 11.00

19TH SAT

IFI FESTIVE FAVOURITES: SCROOGE 16.00

20TH SUN

IFI FESTIVE FAVOURITES: SCROOGEIFI FESTIVE FAVOURITES: MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET

11.0016.00

24TH THURS

CINEMAS CLOSED

25TH FRI

CINEMAS CLOSED

26TH SAT

CINEMAS CLOSED

27TH SUN

IFI FESTIVE FAVOURITES: HUGO (3D) 11.00

30TH WED

WILD STRAWBERRIES: THE CHOIR 11.00

Excited about this month’s programme? So are we! Tell your friends which film you’re planning to watch, share your movie reviews and show us your best pics on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!Join the IFI Community online:

@IFI_Dub

@IrishFilmInstitute

@IrishFilmInstitute

GET SOCIAL!

CAROL CONTINUING FROM NOV 11 MINUTES OPENS DEC 4THBARGAINTOWN OPENS DEC 4THTHE LESSON OPENS DEC 4THSUNSET SONG OPENS DEC 4THGRANDMA OPENS DEC 11THIT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE OPENS DEC 11THPEGGY GUGGENHEIM: OPENS DEC 11TH ART ADDICT WHEN HARRY MET SALLY… OPENS DEC 11THTHE FORBIDDEN ROOM OPENS DEC 18THTHE RED SHOES OPENS DEC 18TH

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DECEMBER 2015

NEW RELEASE

Jerzy Skolimowski (Essential Killing, The Deep End), one of the greats of Polish cinema, presents a typically complex and darkly humorous ensemble piece in which the lives of a separate group of characters interweave and overlap over the course of the titular period. Set in Warsaw, among those we meet are a newly wed actress whose jealous husband waits outside the hotel suite in which a sleazy Hollywood director (Richard Dormer) may be attempting

to seduce her, a group of nuns buying hot dogs from a vendor with a secret, a drug-dealing courier fleeing the bed of his married lover, and a group of paramedics faced with an unusual problem while attending a patient.

Filled with ominous portents and foreboding sounds, Skolimowski’s impressively kinetic take on the Hollywood thriller builds to a cunning and unexpected climax in which the characters’ fates are decided.

OPENS DEC 4TH

CONTINUING FROM NOVEMBER

FILM INFO:82 minutes, Poland-Ireland, 2015, Subtitled, DigitalNotes by Kevin Coyne

Taking the form of an extended flashback, Todd Haynes’ (Far from Heaven, I’m Not There) exquisite film depicts the burgeoning relationship formed by upper-middle-class socialite Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) and Therese (Rooney Mara), a sales assistant at a department store. Behind her glamorous façade Carol’s emotional state is precarious – with her marriage on the rocks, she is facing a nasty custody battle for her daughter, all of which informs her advances towards the much younger Therese.

Based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt, Carol is a sensuous, erotic film suffused with intoxicating design and period detail. Haynes’ approach is richly allusive – the poignant dinner scene, with which the film begins, for example, explicitly references Brief Encounter – and one is left with the impression of a film that will immeasurably repay repeat viewings.

FILM INFO:118 mins, U.S.A., DigitalNotes by David O’Mahony

CAROL NEW RELEASE

11 MINUTES

IFI & KINOPOLISSee pages 9-11 for details of the IFI Kinopolis Polish Film Festival, December 3rd-6th.

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DECEMBER 2015

Bargaintown is a prescient meditation on urban decay made by a young German filmmaker in Dublin in 1988. Featuring interviews with antique dealers, barbers and barmen, it is a record of the lives and opinions of a vanished Dublin, years before the Celtic Tiger changed its very fabric. Highlights include an auction at Tormey Brothers, a night of song and dance at the old Workingmen's Club on Wellington Quay, and performances by veteran bluesman Frank Quigley.

The film was rapturously received at its recent Dublin premiere at the IFI Documentary Festival 2015. This digital restoration from 16mm negative elements has been supported by the IFI and by the Goethe-Institut Irland.

BARGAINTOWN

OPENS DEC 4TH

EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI†

FILM INFO:70 minutes, Germany, 1988, Black and White, Digital Notes by Sunniva O'Flynn

IFI D

OC

A schoolteacher’s moral authority in the classroom is tested by the fickle hand of fate in this starkly compelling morality tale from Bulgaria, the debut feature from writing-directing duo Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, whose minimalist approach foregrounds the excellent performances and finely tuned narrative.

Nadezhda (Margita Mosheva) is a schoolteacher in a provincial town who becomes mildly obsessed with

uncovering a petty thief in her class; someone is stealing money from her purse, and she is loath to let the culprit go unpunished. Her conscientious approach to life has less traction at home where her husband’s drunken behaviour and chronic financial irresponsibility is bringing the family close to penury. Forced into ever more humiliating circumstances in her attempts to save the family home from the bank, Nadezhda finds her actions spiralling dangerously out of control.

OPENS DEC 4TH

EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI†

FILM INFO:106 minutes, Bulgaria, 2014, Digital, SubtitledNotes by David O'Mahony

THE LESSON

NEW

REL

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Terence Davies (Distant Voices, Still Lives; The Long Day Closes) is justly celebrated as one of the finest directors working today; his latest film, an adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s classic 1932 novel, is another poetic, exquisitely composed exploration of memory and the past. Agyness Deyn stars as Chris Guthrie, the teenage daughter of a farming family in Northeast Scotland eking a hardscrabble existence under the

watchful eye of their tyrannical father (Peter Mullan, bringing his customary nuance to the role). Chris is forced to shelve her plans of freedom and escape as events conspire to make her the de facto head of this most dysfunctional of families. A measure of happiness does arrive in the form of handsome young Ewan Tavendale (Kevin Guthrie), only for it to be interrupted by the shadow of the Great War.

SUNSET SONG

NEW RELEASE

In her first leading role since co-starring with Bette Midler in the farcical Big Business (1988), Oscar-nominated Lily Tomlin takes on an altogether different part here in this affecting comedy-drama from Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy). Tomlin plays Elle, a revered but flat broke poet, grieving the death of her long-term partner Violet, and who we first meet as she’s callously ending a four-month relationship with girlfriend Olivia (Judy Greer). Moping around the

house afterwards, Elle is interrupted by 18-year-old granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner), who reveals she’s pregnant and in need of $630 to get the abortion she’s scheduled for that afternoon. With no money to help, the pair venture out to try and get the cash together in time to make the appointment. An offbeat and timely road movie with a great deal to admire, Grandma boasts superb performances, particularly from Tomlin as volatile, forthright Elle.

GRANDMA

FILM INFO:135 mins, U.K., 2015, DigitalNotes by David O’Mahony

OPENS DEC 4TH

OPENS DEC 11TH

FILM INFO:79 minutes, U.S.A., 2015, DigitalNotes by Alice Butler

NEW RELEASE

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DECEMBER 2015

Devoted patron of the arts, astute collector and heiress of a small fortune at just 21, Peggy Guggenheim’s life and singular career are the subjects of this absorbing documentary. Interspersed throughout with extracts from rediscovered tapes of a very candid Guggenheim in what became her final interview, Art Addict is a persuasive account of the influential role she played, championing – and purchasing for her now world-famous museum in Venice – the work of seminal modern artists

including Picasso, Pollock and Berenice Abbott. With insightful contributions from artist Marina Abramović, founder of the Pace Gallery Arne Glimcher, writer Francine Prose, and art dealer-curator Jeffrey Deitch among others, the film evaluates assumptions made about Guggenheim’s agency in her professional decisions and considers how her intense commitment to art may have been an effort to find expression for an often tragic personal life, marked by loss and chaotic, turbulent relationships.

Director Guy Maddin (The Saddest Music in the World, Keyhole) is famed for drawing on the history of cinema, particularly the silent era, to inform his films, but The Forbidden Room, co-directed with Evan Johnson, represents some of his best work yet, in which these influences and interests are synthesised to create something new and wildly original. An Exquisite Corpse variant, the film follows over a dozen strands which segue and intrude into one another with an invigorating

lack of logic, creating instead a convoluted, matryoshka doll-style narrative. Included in these threads are a guide on taking a bath, a submarine crew nervous about their volatile cargo, a lumberjack seeking to rescue a damsel in distress, and the dreams of a sentient volcano, populated by a starry cast featuring, amongst others, Charlotte Rampling, Mathieu Amalric, Geraldine Chaplin, and Elina Löwensohn.

OPENS DEC 18TH

EXCLUSIVELY AT IFI†

FILM INFO:119 minutes, Canada, 2015, Colour and Black and White, DigitalNotes by Kevin Coyne

THE FORBIDDEN ROOM

PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT

IFI D

OC

OPENS DEC 11TH

FILM INFO:96 minutes, U.S.A., 2015, DigitalNotes by Alice Butler

NEW

REL

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11 M

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For full programme details, please see the Festival’s website www.kinopolis.ie Our thanks to Sabina Wasik for her assistance.

The IFI and Kinopolis celebrate the festival’s tenth edition with one of its strongest programmes yet, displaying the wealth of talent currently working in Polish cinema, from elder statesman Jerzy Skolimowski to auteur Małgorzata Szumowska to first-time director Bartosz Prokopowicz. We’re also pleased to welcome our special guest, actor Krzysztof Stroiński who will take part in a Q&A following Anatomy of Evil.

We’re delighted to open this year’s festival with Irish co-production 11 Minutes, the new film from Jerzy Skolimowski (Essential Killing), which follows a group of characters linked in unexpected ways. Mainstream Polish cinema is represented by Karbala, the true story of Polish soldiers caught under fire in Iraq, and Anatomy of Evil, an entertaining and complex thriller. Chemo features a remarkable performance from Agnieszka Żulewska as a young woman suffering from cancer. As always, there will be a programme showcasing the best of recent Polish animation, and Małgorzata Szumowska’s outstanding Body/Ciało, one of the major prize-winners at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, will close the festival.

In collaboration with Kinopolis Polish Film Festival. Introduction and notes on individual films by Kevin Coyne.

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IFI & KINOPOLIS DECEMBER 3RD – 6TH

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Benek (Tomasz Schuchardt), suffering from depression and entertaining thoughts of suicide, meets the vivacious Lena (an outstanding Agnieszka Żulewska), whose free-spirited embrace of

life turns him around; suddenly, the future seems bright. However, Lena’s attitude is revealed to be inspired by her cancer, for which she has decided not to undergo treatment. This resolve is pushed to the background when she unexpectedly falls pregnant. Drawn from the experience of first-time director Bartosz Prokopowicz, whose own wife was killed by the disease, Chemo is undeniably moving in its depiction of Lena’s decline, but it determinedly avoids the maudlin, instead celebrating the couple’s love.

(CHEMIA)

FILM INFO:104 minutes, Poland, 2015, Subtitled, Digital

DEC 5TH (16.00)

On an ordinary day on and around Warsaw’s Grzybowski Square, the lives of a disparate group of people overlap over the course of 11 minutes, leading to an unexpected chain of events that

will decide many of their fates. Among them are: a beautiful young actress, newly wed, but at risk of falling prey to an oleaginous director (Richard Dormer); a hot dog vendor with a troubling past; a motorcycle courier making illicit deliveries; and a broken-hearted woman finding comfort in her loyal dog. Made with real verve, the film works as both brash thriller and meditation on the vagaries of fate.

11 Minutes opens at the IFI on December 4th, see page 5.

(11 MINUT)

FILM INFO:82 minutes, Poland-Ireland, 2015, Subtitled, Digital

DEC 3RD (18.30)

In 2004, the Polish military controlled the South Central zone of Iraq, which included the Karbala governorate and its capital, a city holy to Shi'a Muslims. A sudden uprising saw a small contingent of

Polish and Bulgarian soldiers hugely outnumbered by militia forces, but ordered to hold Karbala’s City Hall, seat of the local authorities and police. This fictionalised version of the subsequent battle, the largest in which Polish troops had taken part since the Second World War, sees Bartłomiej Topa as Captain Kalicki, responsible for his men’s survival, in this intelligent and unsentimental example of quality mainstream Polish cinema.

FILM INFO:110 minutes, Poland, 2015, Subtitled, Digital

DEC 4TH (18.30)

IFI & KINOPOLIS 10TH POLISH FILM FESTIVAL

11 MINUTES

CHEMO

KARBALA

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ANATOMY OF EVIL

Taking loose inspiration from a number of real-life events, including the unsolved murders of Chief of Police Marek Papała and journalist Jarosław Ziętara, Anatomy of Evil is a gripping thriller in which former

hitman ‘Lulek’ (Krzysztof Stroiński), 65 and recently released on parole, is offered one last job by the very prosecutor responsible for his imprisonment.

Realising the limitations imposed by age, he presents himself to Staszek (Marcin Kowalczyk), a sniper dishonourably discharged from the army, as a senior officer who may be able to get him back in uniform. Duplicity and suspicion abound as events come to unexpected conclusions.

(ANATOMIA ZŁA)

FILM INFO:122 minutes, Poland, 2015, Subtitled, Digital

DEC 5TH (18.10)

Always one of the festival’s most popular events, this year’s animation programme begins with a trio of shorts featuring Hip-Hip and Hurra, the pink hippopotamus and purple weasel who together solve mysteries

aimed at imparting knowledge of nature to children. This is followed by an episode of Mami Fatale, in which an elderly woman abandons the city for an idyllic life in the countryside, preparing delicious meals for her pets, Psiną (Doggie) and Prosięciem (Piglet).

Finally, we meet Jim and Screw, two boys whose lively imaginations lead them to adventures in which they encounter beloved characters from well-known fairy-tales.

EVENT INFO:Total duration: 86 minutes, SubtitledRecommended age: 3-8

DEC 6TH (12.00)

Winner of the Berlinale’s Silver Bear for Best Director (Małgorzata Szumowska, Elles, In the Name of ...), Body/Ciało is a complex, eccentric, and thoroughly engaging rumination on how one deals with the loss of

a loved one, laced with droll black humour. Coroner Janusz (Janusz Gajos), for whom death is quotidian, is unable to relate to the grief of his daughter Olga (Justyna Suwała) at the loss of her mother, his wife. Olga’s decline into an eating disorder leads them to therapist Anna (Maja Ostaszewska), who claims she has a message for them from beyond…FILM INFO:

90 minutes, Poland, 2015, Subtitled, Digital

DEC 6TH (18.30)

BODY/CIAŁO

KINOPOLIS FOR CHILDREN: ANIMATION PROGRAMME

SPECIAL GUESTKrzysztof Stroiński will take part in a Q&A following this screening.

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IFI FESTIVE FAVOURITES

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Vicky Page (Moira Shearer) is a young ballerina who becomes an overnight sensation in this classic backstage drama. Schooled by her instructor, the imperious Lermontov, to forget everything but ballet, she nevertheless finds herself falling for

charming composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring).

With The Red Shoes, directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger perfected their idea of the ‘composed film’, where every aspect of production serves the whole, the remarkable mid-film sequence in which dance, drama, surrealistic design and painterly colour coalesce into a beautiful whole being typical of their unique approach. It remains a remarkable cinematic experience.

FILM INFO:133 mins, U.K., 1948, DigitalNotes by David O'Mahony

OPENS DEC 18TH

Required viewing during the Christmas period, James Stewart is at his most likeable in It’s a Wonderful Life as George Bailey, loyal family man and friend whose selfless nature has resulted in his spending his whole life in hometown

Bedford Falls. When despotic merchant Mr. Potter seizes an opportunity to ruin George, and thus consolidate his own control over the town, George finds himself preparing to jump from a bridge. However, a higher power intervenes and sends Angel Second Class Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) to show George what life in Bedford Falls would have been like had he never been born.

FILM INFO:130 minutes, U.S.A., 1946, Black and White, DigitalNotes by Kevin Coyne

OPENS DEC 11TH

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Sally’s (Meg Ryan) initial encounter with Harry (Billy Crystal) sees the two parting on unfriendly terms due to their disagreement on the issue of whether men and women can ever be just friends, with Harry believing that sex

always gets in the way while Sally believes in platonic friendship.

Over the years, the two encounter each other repeatedly, eventually becoming friends. However, everything changes when the two sleep together.

There is an abundance of riches on display here, arising primarily from Nora Ephron’s insightful and witty script and the chemistry between the two leads in one of cinema’s most beloved romantic comedies.

FILM INFO:95 minutes, U.S.A., 1989, DigitalNotes by Kevin Coyne

OPENS DEC 11TH

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY…

THE RED SHOES

FEAST YOUR EYESOur Feast Your Eyes event – pairing a feature with a specially devised menu – will be It’s a Wonderful Life on Tuesday, December 15th at 18.30. Enjoy this seasonal favourite with a festive main course in the IFI Café Bar after. Tickets €20. See page 2 for details.

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So the batteries have run out on all the new gadgets and there’s nothing on TV? This magical film is the perfect antidote to family post-Christmas cabin fever. Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese delights with this terrific adventure-filled 3D story about young Hugo who lives

alone in a 1930s Paris train station. In between dodging the ticket inspector, he keeps the station clocks going and hunts for a missing key to an automaton left by his father. Along comes Isabella, whose grandfather turns out to be the great special effects inventor, George Meliès. The pair set out to restore the great filmmaker’s reputation.

Tickets: €5.80 per person, €15.40 family tickets (2 adults + 2 children/1 adult + 3 children).*

*Includes €1 supplementary charge on all 3D screenings.

FILM INFO:128 minutes, U.S.A., 2011, 3DRecommended age: 10+ Notes by Alicia McGivern

DEC 27TH (11.00)

“Christmas, sir, is humbug,” said Ebenezer Scrooge.

Among the many versions of Dickens’ essential Christmas story, A Christmas Carol, this one, starring Alastair Sim and showing in a brand new digital format,

is regarded as the best. Filled with the requisite Yuletide ingredients, from snow-covered streets to roaring fires, holly, plum pudding and carol singing, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is played with gusto by Sim. Grinching away as he counts his pennies, the actor moves easily between comedy and drama as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future pay him a call on Christmas Eve. Scrooge realises he still might have time to change his miserly ways…

Tickets: €4.80 per person, €14.40 family tickets (2 adults + 2 children/1 adult + 3 children).

FILM INFO:86 minutes, U.K., 1951, DigitalNotes by Alicia McGivern

DEC 19TH (16.00) & DEC 20TH (11.00)

IFI FAMILY: SCROOGE

To honour the legacy of the recently deceased Maureen O'Hara, we are delighted to present one of her most loved films, which is a perennial Christmas favourite. When passer-by Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) complains that the

man due to play Santa Claus in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is unsuitable, he himself is soon persuaded to play the role at the company’s flagship store.

When Kris begins to insist that he is the real Santa, a court case ensues in which everyone’s Christmas beliefs are put to the test.FILM INFO:

96 minutes, U.S.A., 1947, Black and White, D-CinemaNotes by Kevin Coyne

DEC 20TH (16.00)

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET

IFI FAMILY: HUGO (3D)

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IRELAND ON SUNDAYWILD STRAWBERRIES ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIMEIFI FAMILYFROM THE VAULTS OUT 1: NOLI ME TANGERE

IFI EVENTS

DIRECTOR:Fergus Daly

FILM INFO:78 minutes, Ireland, 2014, Digital

Ireland on Sunday is our monthly showcase for new Irish film.

An artist (Esperanza Collado) seeking inspiration for a project based on the classic Irish novel Melmoth the Wanderer (Maturin’s unique anatomy of torture

DEC 6TH (12.00)

IRELAND ON SUNDAYIMMORTAL STORIES

Wild Strawberries is our bi-monthly film club for over 55s.

Dustin Hoffman revels and surprises in this role as stern choirmaster Carvelle to a bunch of varyingly talented schoolboys at the fictional American Boychoir

School. When gifted Texan lad Stet arrives, the not-easily-impressed Master and his ambitious no. 2, Drake (Eddie Izzard), are reluctant at first to give him the training that will allow his voice to soar. Making the most of age-old traditional choral arrangements, director Girard (The Red Violin) lets the music star in this ultimately uplifting tale.

Tickets: €4.25 including regular tea/coffee before the event. Wild Strawberries is our film club for over 55s. If you are lucky enough to look younger please don’t take offence if we ask your age.

DEC 18TH & 30TH (11.00)

DIRECTOR:François Girard

FILM INFO:103 mins, U.S.A.-Netherlands, 2015, Digital

WILD STRAWBERRIESTHE CHOIR

and cruelty) travels across Europe absorbing traces of the book in the locations of its setting and in the places associated with the writers it influenced (perhaps only Ulysses has been a more influential Irish novel). Immortal Stories is an exploration of those hidden zones of great cities haunted by literary ideas and characters. It depicts the endless wandering of an artist undergoing an increasingly detached and disjointed experience of contemporary life.

In this latest feature-length work, documentarian and critic Fergus Daly again negotiates the intersection of art, cinema and philosophy.

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ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME

IRENE DEC 6TH (16.00)

This early Irish emigrant comedy follows Irene (Colleen Moore) as she leaves her beer-swilling father (Charles Murray) and her washerwoman mother (Kate Price) for the bright lights of New York City. Her job with boutique proprietor Madame Lucy (George K. Arthur in one of the earliest gay characterisations on screen) provides much comic potential and the film’s climax is a startling two-strip Technicolor fashion sequence in an otherwise black and white film.

Irene is a highly entertaining vehicle for the indomitable Colleen Moore, one of the most fashionable stars of the silent era, and the warmly comedic Cork-born Kate Price.

Irene has recently been acquired by the IFI Irish Film Archive from the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

This screening will be accompanied by pianist Morgan Cooke.

DIRECTOR: Alfred E. Green FILM INFO: 90 mins, 1926, Colour and Black and White, Digital

FROM THE VAULTS

GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST Join us for FREE screenings of films from the IFI Irish Film Archive. Simply collect tickets at IFI box office. Please see www.ifi.ie for dates and times. PROGRAMME 1 DOUBLE PIQUET This rarely seen film directed by composer/director Robert Wynne Simmons (The Outcasts) tells the story of a visitor to an Irish country house who finds himself transported back in time to the scene of a cold-blooded murder at the card table. FILM INFO: 29 mins, 1979, Digital

PROGRAMME 2 AMHARC EIREANN: CHRISTMAS NEWSREEL COMPILATION Festive Extracts from Gael Linn’s newsreels. FILM INFO: 5 mins, 1956 – ‘64 , Digital

CHRISTMAS MORNING Tiernan MacBride's short film tells the tale of the folk song `Arthur McBride'. The song is played and sung by Paul Brady. FILM INFO: 7 mins, 1978, Digital

NOT A BAD CHRISTMAS Enda Walsh’s first film bears all the hallmarks of his dark, domestic humour as Santa chokes, dies and is buried in the garden pond. FILM INFO: 13 mins, 1999, Digital

Please see pages 12 and 13 for more festive films at the IFI this month.

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TICKETS€20 (no concessions, free list suspended). Tickets for individual days or episodes will not be available.

Virtually impossible to see over the last four decades, this screening of Jacques Rivette’s magnum opus in its full-length version, the first ever in Ireland, is a remarkable opportunity to finally experience one of the Nouvelle Vague’s most expansive creations.

Broken down into eight episodes, the film revolves around two theatre groups, each rehearsing a different play by Aeschylus, a con artist (Juliet Berto), a deaf-mute busker (Jean-Pierre Léaud), and the possible existence of a secret society,

FILM INFO:Dec 12th: 414 minutes + intermissions; Dec 13th: 361 minutes + intermissions. France, 1971, Subtitled, Digital Notes by Kevin Coyne

DEC 12TH & 13TH (13.00)

OUT 1: NOLI ME TANGEREJACQUES RIVETTE

the Thirteen, influenced by the work of Balzac (as is the film itself). Unique and monumental, Out 1 is not to be missed.

Please note: the screenings on both days will have regular intermissions (15 mins after episode 1, 30 mins after episode 2 (at approx. 4.30pm) and 15 mins after episode 3). A special offer of free soup with any sandwich bought is available and customers can pre-order this, and any drinks, at the IFI Café Bar.

IFI BEST MEMBERSMohamed AbbasKaren AdamsMohammed Al KabourNuala AylwardCiara BarrettPaul BatesChristine BaynesConor BentClaus ChristensenJerry ClancyKatrina CollinsJessica ConwayVicky ConwayTara CooganAnthony CooteJason Cross

Peter CullivanJohn DalyLiam DalyAndrew DavidsonVladimir DotsenkoBarbara EganFionnuala EganHelen FahertyMarc FlanaganKen FletcherClaire GarryJem GoldenTim GrantRoderick HanlonShay HennessyJason Hickey

Sean HopkinsAengus HughesDermott JewellFred JohnstonIvor KellyTom LenihanAine MageeRobert MaguireMaureen MahonGrainne McGuckinRosemary McAuleyAlison McConeBobby McCuneAndrew McGuinnessThomas McNicholasSean Mistéil

Niall MooneyDonal MooreNiall MurphyFintan MurrayBrian NortonJoseph NugentFelix O'DonoghueKeith O'HaraLiam O'DwyerKillian O'HigginsJohn O'LearyFionn O'LearyLiam O'MahonyTerence O'RourkeLiam O'SullivanLorraine Payne

Alessandro PettiniMaria PramaggioreAustin PriorMaria QuirkeLuis Romero SiliutoEmma SkeltonEugene SlevinJoseph SmythDavid TarrantPaul TyrrellPeter WalshIan WeldonPeter WilliamsonPaolo Zaccagnini

The IFI would like to thank the following patrons for their valued support as Best Members. To become an IFI Best Member, see www.ifi.ie or call 01 679 5744.

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If you’re looking for an ideal present or stocking fillers for the film fans in your life, then look no further than the IFI Film Shop.

Specialising in Irish and world cinema, from dramas to documentaries and including the top DVDs of 2015, the IFI Film Shop has it all under one roof! You can also get your hands on the latest DVD release from the IFI Irish Film Archive, GAA Hurling Gold 2: All-Ireland Hurling Final Highlights 1960 – 1968 – perfect for any GAA fan.

If you have any queries, please ask our staff who will be happy to help you with all your shopping needs and specialist searches.

Don’t forget, if you’re an IFI Member, you’ll automatically get 10% off!* *Excludes gift vouchers/cards

IFI Film Shop, 6 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, D2 www.ifi.ie filmshop@irishfilm.ie 01 679 5727 @IFI_FilmShop

NEW RELEASE!GAA HURLING

GOLD 2

OPEN CHRISTMAS

EVE!

PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR CINEMA FANS IN THE IFI FILM SHOP!

IRISH HITS ON SALE NOW!

THE QUEEN OF IRELANDA DOCTOR’S SWORD

SONG OF THE SEAOLDER THAN IRELAND

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All-Ireland Hurling Final Highlights: 1960-1968

Relive your county’s past hurling glories with GAA Hurling Gold 2! This DVD compilation includes rare footage of some of the greatest players

ever to lift the camán. Featuring the finest moments in Irish hurling from

iconic players such as Gerry McCarthy, Jimmy Doyle, John Doyle and

Eddie Keher, this compilation makes the perfect gift.

Other DVD titles available from the IFI Irish Film Archive: GAA Gold, GAA Football Gold and Seoda

ON SALE NOW!

GAA HURLING GOLD 2

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PUBLIC & CLUB SCREENINGSAround half of our films are classified by the Irish Film Classification Office, are open to the general public and do not require membership. Unclassified films require membership. You have two options: annual membership (€25 or €15 concessions) or daily membership (€1 per person each time you visit the cinema). For further details on membership, please go to www.ifi.ie or call our Box Office.

†The exclusivity status of films is correct at time of going to print

LOYALTY & MEMBERSHIPThe IFI Loyalty Card is free and allows you to earn points that you can later exchange for free cinema tickets. Membership gives you the chance to attend a free preview screening every single month and discounts when you spend at the IFI. Go to www.ifi.ie or call our Box Office for details. Please remember: no card, no points!

PARKINGOn presentation of your IFI cinema ticket, the Fleet Street Car Park will offer IFI patrons a special rate of €5.00 for 3 hours’ parking. Simply present the cinema ticket along with the parking ticket when you pay at the cash desk, prior to collecting your car.

BOX OFFICE & PRICESADMISSION FEESThese apply to regular IFI screenings and do not necessarily apply to special events or festivals. Reduced admission fees for annual members and their guests are detailed in brackets.

MONDAY – FRIDAY12.30pm to 6pm €7.60 (€7) Conc. €5.90 (€5.50)6pm to 10pm €9.00 (€8) Conc. €7.60 (€7)

SATURDAY – SUNDAY*12.30pm to 3pm €7.60 (€7) Conc. €5.90 (€5.50)3pm to 10pm €9.00 (€8) Conc. €7.60 (€7)

*including Bank Holidays

Credit card bookings can be taken between 12.30pm and 9.00pm on (01) 679 3477 or 24-hours at www.ifibooking.ie. Online and telephone bookings are subject to a booking fee of 50c per ticket to a maximum of €1 per transaction. There are no booking fees on any ticket purchase made in person at the IFI Box Office. Please be advised that tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded.

All cinema screens at the IFI are wheelchair accessible. If you are a wheelchair user, please let the IFI Box Office know at least 30 minutes in advance of a screening (01 679 5744 /boxoffice@irishfilm.ie). To enable us to determine your requirements and assist you fully, we regret that we are unable to offer wheelchair bookings online.

YOUR VISITTO THE IFI

Films start at the times stated in this programme. Latecomers may be refused admission after the start of the feature.

LATECOMERS POLICY

IFI BOARDPatron: Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland Board Members: Lenny Abrahamson, Paddy Breathnach, Michael Collins, Maeve Connolly, Sheila de Courcy, Garry Hynes, Neil Jordan, Margaret Kelleher (Chairperson), Trish Long, Kevin Moriarty, Patsy Murphy, Dr. Harvey O’Brien, Terence O'Rourke, Dearbhla Walsh.

CONTACTIrish Film Institute, 6 Eustace Street,Temple Bar, Dublin 2

Box Office: (01) 679 3477, Web: www.ifi.ie

Facebook.com/irishfilminstitute Facebook.com/IFICafe

@IFI_Dub@IFI_Filmshop

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All-Ireland Hurling Final Highlights: 1960-1968

Relive your county’s past hurling glories with GAA Hurling Gold 2! This DVD compilation includes rare footage of some of the greatest players

ever to lift the camán. Featuring the finest moments in Irish hurling from

iconic players such as Gerry McCarthy, Jimmy Doyle, John Doyle and

Eddie Keher, this compilation makes the perfect gift.

Other DVD titles available from the IFI Irish Film Archive: GAA Gold, GAA Football Gold and Seoda

ON SALE NOW!

GAA HURLING GOLD 2

GAA-HG2-A2-poster.indd 1 09/11/2015 10:15

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GAA-HG2-A2-poster.pdf 1 17/11/2015 12:40

IN CINEMAS DECEMBER 11