Polish star showcased at Dublin film fest - and workshops available for aspiring filmmakers

Are you involved in filmmaking or a fan of the craft? Are you interested in learning something new about the different stages involved in making a film?

If so, you may benefit from this year’s Audi Dublin International Film Festival (Adiff) workshops and talks programme, which starts this month.

Activities include Zombie Prosthetics Workshop with Julie-Ann Ryan on Saturday 10 February at The Ark.

The special effects makeup artist on productions such as The Tudors and new Irish horror film The Cured will demonstrate how she uses prosthetics to create realistic characters.

Also featuring in The Ark from 13–16 February is the Lego animation workshop, where participants can make their own stop-motion movie in a practical workshop with Brick Flicks. 

Those interested should bring their own favourite Lego character to cast as the star of their film.

“With plenty of hands-on learning and simple demonstrations, you will work in small groups to create a set, storyboard and plan for your movie, which you will then film, edit, and record using iPads,” says Adiff.

On Friday 2 March, a writers’ masterclass will focus on the career of French screenwriter and director Laurence Coriat, including her work on Wonderland, Me Without You, Genova and McMafa. This will be followed by an audience panel with Ben Luxford, head of UK audiences at the British Film Institute.

Adiff is also hosting a conference and exhibition bringing experts in the fields of virtual and augmented reality to the Round Room at Dublin’s Mansion House on 24-25 February.

The film selection for the main festival itself is packed with titles drawn from countries and cultures the world over, and reflects an exceptional year of new French-language titles in particular, including Xavier Beauvois’ The Guardians, Laurent Cantet’s The Workshop, Xavier Giannoli’s Apparition and Coralie Fargaet’s Revenge.

Other countries represented include Japan with The Third Murder and others, Australia  with Sweet Country, Indonesia with Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts, Israel with Foxtrot, Ecuador with Yasuni Man, Germany with Casting and In the Fade, Romania with Ana, Mon Amour, Norway with What Will People Say, Argentina with Zama, and Iran with Israfil.

International stars expected at the festival include actress Anna Krotoska, who will attend the screening of Polish character-driven psychological thriller Tower: A Bright Day. There will also be an opportunity to see Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s 1977 award-winning Death of the President in celebration of a centenary of Polish independence.

- Elsewhere in Dublin, Around the Table is a new photographic exhibition by artist Jeanette Lowe on display at the Central Library in the Ilac Centre until the end of June.

Produced over a five-month period, the Dublin Culture Connects project saw Lowe work collaboratively with communities, artists and the National Library of Ireland in tracing the path of food through the city, from the docks to the markets and from the city streets to our tables.

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