Feature Zone
Our specially curated feature film programme will be held at a number of venues in the town. Each venue will host a number of films at various times throughout the day.
These films will be selected by our celebrity curator. The shortlist will be compiled year on year by our festival programmers to keep consistency in the brand moving forward.
Opening Film • Out of competition
Run, Uje, Run
Spring, Uje, Spring
Henrik Schyffert • Sweden • 2021 • 78 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 11, An Díseart, 8pm • 113
Nov/Samhain 11, An Díseart, 10pm • 133
An autobiographical ppp music drama comedy about how life takes turns you couldn’t fantasise about when you get a disease diagnosis. About what you have to catch up with before you die. And what you don’t have to do. And about the very ordinary, dreary but also lovely everyday. “Amazing to see how the director gets away with making such a lightweight comedy on a serious topic.”
Director’s Comment:
“We all struggle to try to get our lives together. Try to have our dreams, hopes and plans in sync with our truth and everyday life. Trying to get the map and reality to match. And most of the time it is actually harder to draw a map than to change its reality. It is difficult. Not to say impossible. But you can’t help but be drawn to people who try.
International Competition
Tailor
Raftis
Sonia Liza Kenterman • Greece • 2021 • 95 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 12, An Díseart, 6pm • 231
Nov/Samhain 13, An Díseart, 8pm • 345
Nikos lives in the attic of the family’s tailor shop. When the bank threatens to repossess the shop and his father falls ill, Nikos takes action: with a wondrously strange tailor shop on wheels, he reinvents himself while bringing style and confidence to the women of Athens.
Director’s Note
A general theme in all my films is outcasts. I am deeply intrigued by characters who are considered losers from both society and from their families; by those who suffer a great loss but finally manage to break free and survive amidst a personal and social crisis. Thus arose the story of Tailor: a contemporary allegory of an everyman who must battle seemingly insurmountable odds. Tailor is a dramedy: a personal tale with humour and courage.
Klondike
Maryna Er Gorbach • Ukraine • 2022 • 100 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 11, An Díseart, 6pm • 112
July 2014. Expectant parents Irka and Tolik live in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, disputed territory in the early days of the Donbas war. Their nervous anticipation of their first child’s birth is violently disrupted by the nearby crash of flight MH17 elevating the tension enveloping in their village. The looming wreckage of the downed airliner and an incoming parade of mourners emphasise the surreal trauma of the moment.
As well as being brutal and unforgettable, it is also a poetic and imaginative film. Klondike was awarded the Best Direction during this years’ Sundance Film Festival.
Zalava
Arsalan Amiri • Iran • 2021 • 93 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 12, An Díseart, 10pm • 216
Nov/Samhain 13, An Díseart, 2pm • 344
In a village named Zalava in the northwestern section of Iran, the people are terrified of an ancient demon that they have devoted their lives to keeping at bay. They perform ceremonies, including bloodletting, and call for the expertise of a shaman, who uses a jar to contain the demon. A visiting Gendarmerie thinks it’s all nonsense. His belief is that somebody is profiting off the fear of the villagers. He might be right. He might be wrong.
Set in 1978, shortly before the Iranian revolution the film embeds cultural folklore within modern horror devices. It’s a story of the complexities of belief as much as it is a traditional tale of possession. Director Arsalan Amiri’s visual sense, along with a surprising streak of dark humour, keeps it humming from first frame to last.
Girl Picture
Tytöt Tytöt Tytöt
Alli Haapasalo • Finland • 2022 • 100 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 11, An Díseart, 4pm • 111
Nov/Samhain 12, An Díseart, 2pm • 233
Best friends Mimmi and Rönkkö have each other’s backs, always. They want to live adventurous lives, loaded with experiences and passion. Emma, on the contrary, has given her whole life to figure skating. Nothing gets between her and success. But when the girls meet, life opens new paths, and they all rocket in new directions. While Mimmi and Emma experience the earth moving effects of first love, Rönkkö is on a quest to find pleasure. Three Fridays is all it takes to turn their worlds upside down.
Alli Haapasalo is a Finnish director and screenwriter. She studied at New York University’s famed film school Tisch School of the Arts. She has won several awards in the United States and was nominated for Prix Europa in 2012.
The Emigrants
Utvandrarna
Erik Poppe • Sweden • 2021 • 148 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 13, An Díseart, 10pm • 315
The Emigrants is the story of Kristina Nilsson, a mother who leaves a poverty-stricken Sweden with her family in the 1850s and sets out on a long, dangerous journey, hoping to find a better life for herself and her children in America. The film is based on Vilhelm Moberg’s much loved suite of novels The Emigrants, and the story is now being told on film for the first time from Kristina’s perspective.
Not unlike the situation in Ireland during the years of famine, Swedish immigrants set sail in hopes for a better life on the other side.
Cool Abdoul
Jonas Baeckeland • Belgium • 2021 • 100 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 11, An Díseart, 4pm • 131
Ismail Abdoul is a talented young boxer on the rise, ready to make it to the top. For now however he is making a decent living as a bouncer. But when the opportunity for more money and power arises, he seizes it. In no time, he and his men control all the club doors in the city, including the drug traffic behind them. Abdoul becomes a living legend, both in the ring and out of it.
An astonishing first film by director Jonas Baeckeland.
Somewhere Over the Chemtrails
Kdyby radši hořelo
Adam Koloman Rybanský • Czech Republic 2022 • 85 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 12, An Díseart, 10pm • 225
Nov/Samhain 13, An Díseart, 6pm • 343
Standa and Bronya are volunteer firefighters in a small village. While the clumsy Standa is looking forward to the birth of his son, his older friend Bronya is no longer enjoying life because his wife has recently passed away. Things begin to change when a van crashes into a crowd of people during the Easter Fair. Before anyone notices, the driver slips away from the crash site. People believe it is a terrorist attack and the festive mood is replaced by an atmosphere of fear.
Bronya, who is convinced it is terrorism, is trying to do something to improve the situation. The sense of danger pumps new blood into his veins, and the fire brigade becomes a militia.
An homage to the Czechoslovakian new film cinema and in particular to the works by Jiri Menzel and the early Milos Forman.
Tarrac
Declan Recks • Ireland • 2022 • 96 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 11, Blasket Centre, 3pm • 151
Shot partially in Dingle you could say this is the ultimate film to be screened at the festival.
The festival are proud to present Tarrac, an intimate character drama set in the Kerry Gaeltacht. Aoife Ní Bhraoin returns home to help her father, Breandán ‘The Bear’ Ó Braoin, recover from a heart attack. Day to day they get along just fine. As we dig a little deeper we find that there is so much that has been left unsaid about the loss of Aoife’s mother. Directed by Declan Recks, written by Eugene O’Brien and produced by Clíona Ní Bhuachalla. Cast includes Kelly Gough, Lorcan Cranitch, Kate Nic Chonaonaigh, Kate Finegan, Rachel Feeney & Cillian Ó Gairbhí.
Brian & Charles
Jim Archer • UK • 2022 • 90 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 12, An Díseart, 4pm • 213
After a particularly harsh winter Brian goes into a deep depression; completely isolated and with no one to talk to, Brian does what any sane person would do when faced with such a melancholic situation. He builds a robot.
Brian and Charles will definitely end up as one of the most endearing, funniest, feel-good stories of the whole year. The filmmakers take the original screenplay and use the extraordinary and amusing performances of the actors to bring to life a narrative about true friendship and authentic human connections.
Out of Competition
An Cailín Ciúin
The Quiet Girl
Colin Bairead • Ireland • 2021 • 94 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 12, Blasket Centre, 3pm • 251
Even before its release, Colm Bairéad’s debut feature has (quite rightly) become one of the most lauded and garlanded Irish films of recent years. Adapted from Foster, a short story by Claire Keegan, it centres on nine-year-old Cáit, a shy and withdrawn child who receives scant attention or affection from a family ruled by an uncaring patriarch. When she is sent to spend the summer with her aunt Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley) and her husband Seán (Andrew Bennett), she comes out of her shell, blossoming in their care, especially when Seán’s initial aloofness fades. At the end of the summer, difficult decisions and realities must be faced.
This is a work of small moments and details, anchored by Catherine Clinch’s remarkable performance as the titular quiet girl, that make for a film of pure artistry, as uplifting as it is heartbreaking.
Foscadh
Shelter
Seán Bán Breathnach • Ireland • 2021 • 93 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 13, An Díseart, 6pm • 313
When his over-cosseting parents pass away, John Cunliffe, a gormless recluse, is suddenly propelled into manhood at the ripe old age of twenty-six. After inheriting mountain land that obstructs a lucrative wind-farm development, John is forced to navigate the choppy waters of courtship, trust and vengeance for the first time.
See How They Run
Tom George • USA/UK • 2022 • 98 mins
Nov/Samhain 12, An Díseart, 8pm • 215
London, 1953, and the body of American director, Kopernick, is found on the set of The Mousetrap, a play he’d watched just recently and intended to make into a film. Beloved by none of the cast or principle crew of a stage production, the loss of Kopernick is not mourned, yet his murderer must be caught. Enter Scotland Yard officers Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), personally tasked by Commissioner Scott to uncover the murderer so that the play may continue. The further into the investigation the pair go, the more everyone seems like a suspect, raising frustrations (and tension) with each passing moment. Quickly, the question shifts from whether they can catch the killer to can they do it before another body drops?
A lovely, mentally uplifting comedy with solid acting recreating early post war London in every detail.
Róise and Frank
Rachael Moriarty & Peter Murphy • Ireland • 2022 • 90 mins
Nov/Samhain 12, An Díseart, 10pm • 236
It’s been two years since Róise lost her husband Frank. Isolated in grief she has cut herself off from family and community. Then one day the arrival of a mysterious dog, who seems intent on connecting with Róise, heralds a huge change, but is it for the better? The dog loves hurling and steaks, has a favourite armchair and an aversion to their neighbour, Donncha. Róise quickly comes to the conclusion that this dog is her beloved Frank, reincarnated. While her son worries that his mother has lost her mind, the local community seem to embrace the idea of Frank’s return, especially as he coaches a shy local kid to become a star player and ensure success for the school team. Róise is happy once more but is there a real future for her with a dog-husband?
Poet
Akyn
Darezhan Omirbayev • Kazakhstan • 2022 • 105 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 12, An Díseart, 6pm • 243
Didar works for a newspaper and dreams of the old times, especially about his favourite Kazakh poet. His meeting with an old friend however is the first of a long range of happenings brining him closer to his ideal. At least that’s what it seems like to Didar when he heads for a small town to recite his works.
The laconic protagonist is the filmmaker’s obvious alter ego, whose ironic projections of the future – such as the introduction of English as Kazakhstan’s official language – caricature the standardisation trend of the international film market. Smug jokes, accompanied by sincere concerns about a language culture that threatens to trickle away between Soviet relics and Westernisation, outline the insipid image of
the time.
Freaks Out
Gabriele Mainetti • Italy • 2021 • 141 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 11, An Díseart, 10pm • 114
Nov/Samhain 12, An Díseart, 4pm • 234
The story of four friends – Matilde, Cencio, Fulvio and Mario – who are as tight as brothers. It’s 1943: Rome is being bombarded, both by the Nazis and the Allies. The four characters work in a circus managed by Israel. He is the boss; however, he looks more like a father figure to them all. While looking for an escape route to get as far away from the conflict, Israel mysteriously disappears, leaving the four friends by themselves, with no perspective. Matilde, Cencio, Fulvio and Maria are suddenly left alone, the circus being the only thing they’d had which reminded them of safety and family. With Israel and the circus tent gone, they are but freaks, devoid of any life goal and stuck in an Eternal City falling under the bomb blows.
It feels like as if Guillermo del Toro and Dario Argento made a fantasy horror film together. A visual feast for the eye. A film about super heroes that will make super hero movies blush.
Fathers
Pedaran
Salem Salavati • Iran • 2021 • 81 mins
With English subtitles
Nov/Samhain 13, An Díseart, 8pm • 334
Mani and Sina 19-year-olds have been friends for a long time. Sina has low self-esteem and is mentally dependent on Mani. In a car accident, Mani is killed and Sina is severely injured. At first, everyone thinks that Mani was behind the wheel because Sina has no license. This incident provides the ground for the fathers of these two young men to take a step towards proving their claim, learning more about their children and realising their own negligence.
Grandmother
Juniper
Matthew J. Saville • New Zealand • 2022 • 94 mins
Nov/Samhain 13, An Díseart, 8pm • 314
The movie is set in New Zealand. We meet troubled teenager Sam (George Ferrier). Sam has returned from boarding school and is struggling to accept the sudden presence of his English alcoholic grandmother, Ruth (Charlotte Rampling) in his home. The pair get off to a rough start, however, as time goes on he realises they have more in common than he first believed.
This is a story about life, family and love. Talented newcomer, Sam Ferrier, and screen icon, Charlotte Rampling work impressively together to create a credible bond. This is a very touching movie and focusses on the hardships of life and the lessons we can learn no matter what age.
