Booking is now open for the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival's 132 screenings. Donald Clarkepicks his highlights

LAST SUMMER I sat down with representatives from three major film festivals – Mick Hannigan of the Cork Film Festival, Felim McDermott of the Galway Film Fleadh and Gráinne Humphreys of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival – to ponder what such events were for and how they could survive the onslaught from new media. The distinguished panel mentioned the importance of bringing celebrities to meet the people, the virtues of showing films in cinemas rather than on silly little laptops and the joys of indulging in a communal experience.

Sure enough, this year's Dublin International Film Festival will, once again, welcome film royalty to the capital and offer movie fans opportunities to mingle, booze and bicker. Chantal Akerman, Belgian director of the hugely important Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, will be on hand to discuss a short season of her work. The brilliant Armando Iannucci will attend a screening of his hotly anticipated In the Loop. The dreamy Colin Firth is also due in town for the launch of Michael Winterbottom's Genova.

Factor in the festival’s scheme, co-ordinated with Dublin City Public Libraries, to host a film quiz for buffs over 55 and a repeat of the hugely enjoyable Film Classifier for a Day jamboree, and it becomes clear that social types will find plenty of opportunities to rub up against one another. And, with the Light House cinema joining the action for the first year, they will have one more space (that venue’s attractive café bar) to ponder the highlights and lowlights.

But festivals stand or fall on the quality of the films.

“It’s a funny thing,” Humphreys said. “One thing I love about programming film festivals is also a thing that makes them very hard to define. Every year there is a whole raft of new films that are different from the previous year. Then you tend to meet people who say, ‘Oh, last year was great. Are you going to do the same this year?’”

The dilemma is well stated. Since its creation (or, if you prefer, revival) in 2003, the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival has forged an identity that nicely complements other well-loved events such as the Cork and Galway bashes. The Dublin festival has its fair share of red-carpet events, but also finds time to dig out obscure delights from Polynesian island states and hard-to-spell former Soviet republics.

This year's programme goes some way towards squaring that circle. Want a cute doggie film? Well, Marley and Meis screening on the final Sunday. Want a 30-year-old neo-realist feminist masterpiece? Then check out Jeanne Dielmanon the first Friday. Want to see the best horror film of the last decade? Let the Right One Inawaits you on the final Sunday. Enjoy.

Doubt

Thursday, February 12th, 8.30pm, Savoy 1

The festival opens with a gala screening of John Patrick Shanley's adaptation of his own play concerning a nun's suspicions that a popular priest may be abusing some of the pupils in his charge. Coming in early February, JDIFF always offers punters a chance to view some of the year's Oscar-nominated performances before the gongs are given out. Doubtcontains four such turns: Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams are all up for Oscars. Might one or more turn up to wave at the crowd?

In the Loop

Friday, February 13th 6pm, Cineworld

Though it never found a sizable mainstraim audience, Armando Iannucci's The Thick of It- a sort of neo-realist Yes, Minister- has established a place as one of the greatest British comedy series of the past decade. Now, Iannucci brings the team of Downing Street spin doctors to America and attempts to offer a dissection of that country's less intimate political cesspool. Will Iannucci's cynicism have traction in the post-Obama euphoria? Reports from Sundance are promising.

Bronson

Saturday, February 14th, 6.30pm, Screen

Could this be a Chopperfor 2009? The omens bode well. Nicolas Winding Refn, the talented Danish director of Pusher, has hired Tom Hardy, an actor with real presence, as Charles Bronson, the UK's most violent prisoner. Bronson (no, not him) has spent 28 of his 34 years of confinement in solitary and is, by all accounts, as charismatic as he is unhinged. Next up, Hardy, who is due to attend to the screening, will play Heathcliff in a TV version of Wuthering Heights. Compare and contrast.

The Class

Saturday, February 14th, 8.10pm, Cineworld

When Laurent Cantet's touching realist film won the Palm d'Or at last year's Cannes Film Festival, there was, at first, some scratching of heads. But those who had seen the film were justifiably convinced of its status as a subtle masterpiece. Calling up memories of the similarly moving documentary Être et Avoir, The Classuses nonprofessional actors to tell the story of a young teacher's attempts to educate students in an inner-city Paris school. François Bégaudeau, polyglot author of the source novel, takes the lead role.

Helen

Sunday, February 15th, 4pm, Screen

Winners of best short at the 2004 Edinburgh Film Festival, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, known collectively as Desperate Optimists, remain puzzlingly uncelebrated in Irish film circles. Helen, the team's feature debut, should change all that. Following a girl as she is asked to take place in a police reconstruction aimed at locating a missing woman, the picture highlights the team's spooky, elliptical approach to film-making. Long based in London, the Optimists' time has surely come.

Coraline 3D

Sunday, February, 15th, 8pm, Movies@Dundrum

Since its publication seven years ago, Neil Gaiman's Coraline– the weird tale of a girl who discovers an alternate version of reality – has taken on the status of a budding children's classic. Now Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, has turned the book into an animated feature and JDIFF will present the 3-D version at a gala screening. If the hurtling objects prove too scary, close your eyes and listen to the top-notch voice work by the likes of Dakota Fanning and Ian McShane.

Synecdoche, New York

Monday, February 16th, 8.30pm, Cineworld

The phrase "divided the critics" is often a euphemism for "stank the place up", but Charlie Kaufman's debut as director has, quite genuinely, received as many enraptured raves as it has voluble raspberries. As one might expect, the writer of Being John Malkovichand Adaptationhas come up with a barmy high concept: Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a playwright seeking to build a life-size replica of New York in a warehouse. Expect post-modern confusion and plenty of narrative chicanes.

Il Divo

Tuesday, February 17th, 8pm, Cineworld

Since his slick, strange thriller The Consequences of Lovewas released in 2004, Paolo Sorrentino has emerged as one the Italy's most fascinating young film-makers. Il Divo, a study of the controversial Italian politician Giulio Andreotti, is the Neapolitan director's most ambitious film to date. Examining the prime minister's involvement with the Mafia and the other less dramatic conflicts in his life, the picture picked up the Prix du Jury at the 2008 film festival. Sorrentino is expected to attend the festival.

Gran Torino

Sunday, February 15th, 11am, Savoy

If Clint Eastwood had managed a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars for Gran Torino, allegedly his swansong as an actor, then he would surely have surged forwards to become sentimental favourite. Sadly, the film's unexpected triumph at the US box-office came a little too late to capture voters' attention. Never mind. Telling the story of an old codger's conflict with his Asian neighbours, the film, also directed by Clint, offers us one more chance to savour the Zen master of thespian minimalism.

Is There Anybody There?

Wednesday, February 18th, 8pm, Cineworld

After his success with Intermission, John Crowley finally delivers another theatrical feature. ( Boy Awas officially for the telly.) The film finds a young boy making friends with an elderly magician, played with characteristic professionalism by Michael Caine. Something of a departure from his earlier pieces, Is There Anybody There?sets out to ask some troubling questions about mortality. Reliable performers such as Corrie's Thelma Barlow and the versatile Anne-Marie Duff offer stalwart support.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Thursday, February 19th, 8pm, Cineworld

In a particularly strong year for peculiar documentaries, Anvil!- who can resist a film with an exclamation point in its title? - stands out as the most delightfully eccentric of the bunch. The surprisingly touching film, which examines the discontents of an aging Canadian heavy metal band, offers so much odd humour that some pundits reckoned it might be a spoof. You can hardly blame them. After all, one of the band members is named Robb Reiner. Who was it who directed This Is Spinal Tap?

Encounters at the End of the World

Friday, February 20th, 6pm, Light House

While German contemporaries such as Wim Wenders and Volker Schlöndorff have drifted into the penumbra, the mighty Werner Herzog continues to surprise and befuddle. Though he had recent success with the drama Rescue Dawn, most of his energies are now devoted to documentaries. This Oscar-nominated cracker finds the great man investigating the waters beneath Antarctica and, as we have come to expect, it is as original as it is bewitching. Essential viewing.

Five Minutes of Heaven

Saturday, February 21st, 6.15pm, Savoy

Putting the misstep that was The Invasionbehind him, Oliver Hirschbiegel follows up on the promise of Downfallwith this drama starring Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt as two Northern Irishmen connected by a murder that occurred many years previously. From a script by Guy Hibbert, writer of Omagh, Five Minutes of Heavenpicked up two major prizes at Sundance last weekend. So the buzz couldn't be any fresher.

Surprise film

Sunday, February 22nd, 5.30pm, Savoy

It's the surprise film. It's a surprise. We don't know what it is. But in previous years we've enjoyed such diverse features as Driving Miss Daisy, The Usual Suspects, 300, Buffalo Soldiersand, last year, the underrated The Escapist. This event always sells out, so book early.

The Seasons

Saturday, February 21st, 7.30pm, Irish Film Institute

This is the sort of special event that justifies the existence of film festivals. Conceived with the good people of the Irish Film Archive, The Seasonswill unspool precious footage of life in Kilkelly, Co Mayo during the 1930s to the accompaniment of melodies by a formidable trio comprising Colm and Rossa O'Snodaigh and harpist Cormac de Barra. The IFI will throb with antique energy.

The Secret of Kells

Sunday, February 22nd, 8.30pm, Savoy

As is so often the case, the closing film turns out to be a domestic production, but this is the first time we have seen an animated feature in this prestigious slot. Seeking to construct a family-friendly narrative round the development of the Book of Kells, this ambitious production from Cartoon Saloon has provided employment for a host of Irish entertainment aristocracy. Brendan Gleeson and Mick Lally provide voice-work, and Kila, masters of the civilised hooley, write and perform the music.

The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival takes place in various venues from February 12th to 22nd

BOOKING: The festival box office is open from 10am to 6pm Monday-Saturday (and Sunday during festival) in Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, and from noon to 9pm every day in Cineworld, Parnell Street, Dublin 1. You can also book on www.jdiff.com and 01-6728861

PROGRAMME:The programme will be distributed free with next Friday's Ticket

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