Darklight: Reboot- festival of independent creativity

Darklight : Reboot, Dublin’s festival of independent creativity will be running the Smithfield district from April 24th -27th.

The festival pioneers independent creativity and it will transform Smithfield into a hub for forward-thinking film, digital storytelling, fun street games, hack jams, visual art and live music and more. These fun and artistic activities will take place across the square and in various venues including The Light House Cinema, BlockT, Generator Hostel and Third Space.

See below for a full run down of what’s happening and where to buy tickets.

TASTER OF DARKLIGHT’S 2014 PROGRAMME – FULL PROGRAMME TO BE ANNOUCED 27 MARCH
 
THURS 24 April:

Opening Gala and Irish Premier Screening of  ‘Last Hijack’
 
FRI 25 April:
Anna Higgs, Film4.0 Keynote Symposium
Digital Storytelling Roundtable Discussion
Storytelling Hack Jam with Mozilla & Popathon Workshop
Anatomy of a Film with Hugh Garry and Lenny Abrahamson Discussion
 
SAT 26 APRIL:
…Even that void: Screening followed by Q&A with 
Film4.0 Showcase:  Screening
The Act of Killing, Irish Premiere of Directors Cut:Screening followed by Q&A with Joshua Oppenheimer
The Late Night Work Club Animation: Screening
DATA Presents A New Media Nostalgia: Discussion
Future Shorts ­ Presented by Happenings & Le Cool Dublin: Screening
Goodfellas: Cinemobile Screening
‘Good Fridays’: Party – Hosted by BlockT, curated by Darklight & Beatyard
VFX & Audio: Workshop with Egg Post Production
Damn Fine Print: Workshops
Last Hijack Animation: Workshop with Tommy Pallotta & Gavin Kelly
New Irish Experimental Docs: Screening followed by Q&A 
‘What’s Up Doc’?: Roundtable Discussion
Forsyth & Pollard: A Retrospective and Q&A
A Spell To Ward Off The Darkness: Screening followed by Q&A 
Breathless (À bout de souffle), Jean Luc Godard: Screening
The Searchers: Screening
Wetlands (Feuchtgebiete): Screening
A Scanner Darkly: Screening
8.30pm | Cinemobile  | Ticket: €8
Darklight Party 2014
Journey To The End of Night: Interactive game of chasing through Dublin
 
SUN 27 APRIL:
 
Oculus Rift Bedamned! Make your own VR headset: Workshop
The Lawnmower Man: A Discussion on Virtual Reality 2.0
Sunday Brunch
Elecktro Moskva: Screening
Wizards Way: Screening, followed by Q&A with directors
Storytelling Hack Jam ­ Presentation
A Spell To Ward Off the Darkness. Live II: Symposium
Space Baby Awards

Pop over to entertainment.ie/darklightfestival to purchase your tickets or see below for ticket office details.

Ticket Information: 

Box Office: BlockT,1­6 Haymarket, Smithfield, Dublin 7 | Opening hours: 24 ­ 27 April, 10am ­ 7pm 

Tickets Online: entertainment.ie/darklightfestival | Booking enquiries: info@darklight.ie

Festival fans can avail of a 40% discount on an Early Bird Season Ticket as Darklight are currently running a Fund:It campaign offering funders the discounted rate. Darklight’s Fund:It campaign can be found at http://fundit.ie/project/darklight-festival.

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Film: Songs For Amy – The Music Lover’s Film!

Irish movie “Songs for Amy” is set for release in May of this year.

The film, which enjoyed reasonable success at international film festivals, has been dubbed “The Musicians’ Film” due to it’s vibrant portrayal of the Irish music scene.

This is a love story set in the West of Ireland starring the rather beautiful Sean Maguire who plays his namesake; a lovestruck musician who tries to make it up to his future wife, Amy (Lorna Anderson), after a stag do that gets out of hand. With their future hanging in the balance, he plans to right the perfect album, dedicated to her with his bandmates; who are both helpful and detrimental to the heartfelt project.

Written and produced by Fiona Graham, founder of Sonny and Skye Productions, this romantic, music-filled film looks like something that would get you right in the feels!

Personally, I love a good musically based love story, from “Moulin Rouge” to “Once”, I’m a sucker for them, so this is definitely one I will be going to see. Check out the trailer below.

The film is premiering in Dublin on the 1st of May and it will open in selected IMC cinemas from the 2nd of May.

The partnership will be releasing “Songs for Amy” theatrically by way of a crowd-funding campaign to support the promotion of the film. Launching on 20^th February, the Indiegogo campaign will help the film reach worldwide audiences with perks available for those who support the campaign ranging from t-shirts, location tours, meeting the cast and everything in-between. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/songs-for-amy-feature-film

Film: Music & Everything’s JDIFF picks.

The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is back, and this year it looks set to be as, if not more, impressive than ever. A hefty catalogue of films to choose from will be screened across ten days in Dublin City’s cinemas. As always, international and Irish films, both new and old will be available to watch, and it can be difficult to whittle the list down; particularly if you don’t hold a season pass and have a budget.

Fear not; here are the Music & Everything picks of the bunch; hopefully it will help you to make a decision.

 

Irish Films at JDIFF

This Film Festival is a great chance to catch some homegrown movies featuring some our most gifted actors and directors.

You should catch…

The Calvary – February 13th, The Savoy:

This year’s opening Gala is The Calvary starring some of Ireland’s best and most revered actors. The elusive Aidan Gillen, veteran actor Brendan Gleeson, the always fantastic Dylan Moran and man of the moment Chris O’Dowd all star in this comedy drama. Viewers will also get the chance to sit in the company of Gleeson himself.

Out of here – February 22nd, The Light House Cinema:

Perhaps you are looking for something a little more under the radar; typical muted and artsy Irish film Out of Here may offer just that. What Richard Did‘s Fionn Walton stars in this darkly humourous story about a college drop out who returns from travelling to a meek, recession addled Ireland. This is a relevant film which is likely to strike a chord with a lot of viewers.

Stay – February 15th, Cineworld:

Canadian/Irish film Stay looks like one of the overall picks of the bunch. Starring Aidan Quinn and Orange is the New Black’s Taylor Schilling this drama flits between rural and picturesque Galway to urban Canadian hub Montreal as their respective characters struggle to come to peace together, and with themselves.

International Films at JDIFF:

From Hollywood to Bollywood, London to France, there is a huge selection of international films to choose from, created in all corners of the globe. Whether you are local for a Golden Nominated film or a quirky drama, you’ll find what you’re looking for.

You should catch…

Afternoon Delight – February 20th, Cineworld:

There is something about the trailers for this film that remind me of Indie cult favourite Ghost World. Afternoon Delight seems to combine comedy and a quirky sense of sexuality in such a way that only an independent film can.

The story is based around the illicit relationship between Rachel, a disillusioned wife, and an erotic dancer, McKenna, with whom she becomes fixated. Starring the hideously underrated Kathryn Hahn and Juno Temple, the film also features exceptionally comedic performances from Jane Lynch, so why wouldn’t you want to see it? It’s the empowering and intelligent female lead comedy that Bridesmaids should have been.

The Book Thief – February 14th, Cineworld:

The much acclaimed novel of the same name is considered to be one of the best modern works. If the book’s reputation is anything to go by then the film is a must see. Starring world class actor Geoffery Rush, this film would have to be obscenely dreary to go wrong so it is certainly work.

That’s all I’ve got for now for you, but rest assured there are endless possibilities for film fans of all tastes. The festival kicks off on the 23th of February. See the full programme here.

 

Jameson Cult Film Club: Die Hard @ The Tivoli Theatre

Followers of the Blog will know that along with music and make up I have a penchant for a cult classic and a whiskey. Combine the two and you have my idea of heaven. Unfortunately “real life”, a concept I’m still not entirely familar with, got in the way for their double screening of Die Hard but I sent along the other half, other wise known as Dave,  to take some snaps and deliver an account of what went down. Here’s what he had to say: 

The Jameson Cult Film club is a totally unique event; offering film fanatics the chance to immerse themselves in the world of their favourite films. Whether it’s Intermission or Jaws, they pull out all the stops and it was no different with 1988 classic DIE HARD which was given the Jameson Cult Film treatment on the 17th and 18th of September in Dublin’s Tivoli Theatre.

The building was transformed into Nakatomi Plaza for the night and at every turn attendees where greeted by characters and scenes from the movie. As everyone queued outside they came across a barricaded entrace and LAPD’s Sergeant Powell who got the entertainment started interacting with the crowd.

Inside Nakatomi plaza Hans Gruber awaited in what was a fully transformed theatre which contained key scenes from the action film. Shards of glass fell around the feet of the film fans for one of the main shoot outs, Marco’s body made quite an impact on the police car as it dropped from above. There was even a Christmas tree to really set the tone. Fight scenes were being played out left, right and centre and it all concluded with a pyro-fest of a shoot out between Sergant Powell and Karl. It was jaw dropping stuff and of course, the Jameson was delicious.

It was also a chance to rub shoulders with some of Ireland’s finest celebs including Dermot Whelan and Aidan Power.

Visit Facebook for more snaps.

DB

Jameson Cult Film Club: Intermission

For those of you that aren’t familiar with Jameson Cult Film Club, every few months the good people of Jameson and Burrell PR screen a cult film classic in a unique location.

Attendees are submersed into the atmosphere of the film being screened and this time it was the turn of 2003’s Irish cult classic, ‘Intermission’. 

Happy film buffs scavenged the shelves for Monster Munch, Popcorn, Keogh’s Crisps and peanuts while actors portrayed scenes from the film around them.

 

A warehouse on Dublin’s Hanover quay was converted into Mega Mart; the supermarket in which our anti-hero, John works with Chef Sauce Tables and Sandwiches being passed around. Disappointingly there was no Tea and chef sauce, but I have a feeling I may alone in my disappointment there.

Although the product mid-film was mild by comparison to Jaws, which involved a water cannon, or Silence of Lambs, where patrons were attacked by moths, the pre-film entertainment was enjoyable (not just because of the ready available snacks). With security guards chasing thieves around, a Film crew following a bragging, macho guard around and, my personal favourite, a Bunny Racing track.

After attending several JCFC screenings the general atmosphere in 10-12 Hanover Quay was certainly among the best. Intermission being a light hearted film based in Dublin, the crowd were jovial and very responsive when the actors played out scenes throughout the screening. Adding to the cheerful atmosphere was the passing around of jars of sweets; something which could maybe become a regular occurence?…No?

The power of marketing prevailed on the evening as I have been having vicious cravings for Keogh’s Crisp Sambos with Brown Sauce all day.

As always a great evening (with complimentary Jameson and Ginger) was hosted by Jameson and Burrell PR. I highly recommend checking out future JCFC events.

Wondering how you can get tickets? Just head to http://www.jamesoncultfilmclub.ie and register your name; you might be lucky enough to be drawn for tickets to attend. It’s always a special night so keep an eye on Musicandeverything.com for future Jameson Cult Film Club announcements.

Film: Jameson Cult Film Club is back with added brown sauce.

Throughout the year the lovely people at Jameson host a film club night, screening a cult classic in totally unique surroundings.

On the 18th of June it will be no different as Intermission will be screened as part of the Jameson Cult Film Club in a secret location.

Past events including Reservoir Dogs and Silence of The lambs have submersed viewers into the world of the film, so it will be an interesting one to say the least.

So get the Chef Sauce at the ready. This is going to be delish.

Visit jamesoncultfilm.com to register for tickets. Tickets are limited and drawn at random.

Film: Jameson Dublin International Film Festival Opening Gala- Broken

Pardon the shoddy photography skills but above you see part of the team behind the film Broken which was screened at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (JDIFF) last night.

The event certainly felt incredibly special with Director Rufus Norris, Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy in attendance. Not only that but Murphy presented Roth with a Volta for his contribution to film.

The film itself? Expertly directed and edited, this is film will stay embedded in your memory, leaving you with a heavy heart.

The story of a small but troublesome cul de sac is delivered by moving performances from Roth, a busy but affectionate father, and newcomer Eloise Laurence, playing his curious and kind-hearted daughter.

It is a film rich in poignant moment and underlying social commentary showing the divide between Archie’s (Roth) well rounded yet somewhat broken family, the older Buckley family, and the troublesome Oswalds.

The show is most certainly stolen by Laurence who comes across as a natural performer in this film. She depicts the character of Skunk in such a way that manipulates viewers into becoming emotional invested in her story. Skunk is the fulcrum of all events that occur among the three main families, largely as a result of her friendly, good-natured yet hardy personality. She is as naive as any young girl is, however her lifelong diabetes condition and her mother’s abandonment of the family have instilled her a cynicism and wariness.

Broken will have you reeling with myriad emotions as the drama is often softened with humour. With an intense build up to a relieving climax, it was the perfect melodramatic beginning for what will surely be an entertaining and momentous festival in 2013.

Keep an eye on the blog for more posts about JDIFF over the next two weeks.