It has been announced that Al Pacino will attend the upcoming 2012 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival for the Irish premiere of Wilde Salome, the actor's latest documentary.
Following on from Looking For Richard, Pacino's 1996 musing on Shakespeare's Richard III, the film investigates the history and meaning of Oscar Wilde's notorious 1891 tragedy Salome.
In a 2006 production of the play, excerpts of which appear in the film, Pacino plays Herod and Jessica Chastain, this year’s most ubiquitous actor, takes on the title role.
The director also transports his cast to the Mojave Desert and finds time to read sections of Wilde's De Profundis.
Gráinne Humphreys, the festival’s director, commented: "As a cinemagoer, I have long admired the intellectual curiosity and ambition of Al Pacino's career which has created such an indelible legacy on world cinema."
"A provocateur, an innovator and a consummate artist who has created some of the most iconic characters in movie history, he is also a film director driven by his personal passions. The festival is honoured to present the Irish premiere of Wilde Salome - a new film by one of the world's greatest screen actors."
In 2012, the festival, reconstituted in 2003 by Michael Dwyer, former Irish Times film correspondent, embarks on its 10th edition. Guests have included Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Daniel Day Lewis, Charlize Theron, Colin Firth and Quentin Tarantino.
The jamboree begins on February 16th and runs until February 26th. This year, the organisers plan to screen somewhere in the region of 130 feature films. A full programme will be unveiled in early February.
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