SPECIAL EVENTS
IFI Talks: Scoring Black Memory
OCTOBER 2025 AT THE IFI
IFI ARCHIVE PLAYER
Flora Kerrigan: Dream Maker
IFI FESTIVALS
IFI Horrorthon 2025
URCHIN
HARRIS DICKINSON
OCTOBER AT THE IFI
BOOKING FEES
Online and telephone bookings are subject to a booking fee of €1.00 per transaction. There are no booking fees on any ticket purchase made in person at the IFI Box Office.
POINTS
Members and Loyalty Card holders accrue points which can be exchanged for complimentary tickets.
CONTENTS
IFI SPECIAL EVENTS
SCAN THE QR CODE TO VIEW OUR PROGRAMME ONLINE!
IFI NEW RELEASES, DOCS &
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PAGE 15 IFI
ADMISSION PRICES* Standard Price (Concession Price)
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Preview Screening Pricing: Non-Member: €16.00 (€14.00) / IFI Member: €14.00 (€12.50)
*regular IFI screenings, excluding special events ** plus €1.50 Daily Membership Fee
Child Ticket Prices Family Ticket Prices (1 Adult, 3 Kids/2 Adults, 2 Kids)
17.00 – 22.00
Child and Family ticket prices are available for titles with G, PG, 12A and 15A IFCO classification. These prices are separate to the special prices available for IFI Family screenings.
Open Captioned - see pg. 3 for programmed screenings.
Audio Described screenings available on selected titles, ask at Box Office for details.
For bookings and film information, please see our website, www.ifi.ie, or contact the IFI Box Office on 01-6793477 (open 12.30 to 21.00 daily) or at 6 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.
Find us on social media! Search Irish Film Institute
Eligible for 25 & Under card pricing, offering €5.00 to people aged 16-25 (excludes free-list suspended events such as festivals/70mm). Full details at ifi.ie/25under.
The F-rating is a classification reserved for any film which is directed and/or written by a woman.
Films not classified by IFCO, including festival, one-off, and special screenings, are exhibited under Club rules and are restricted to persons 18 years and over. If you are not an IFI member, a daily membership (€1.50) is required for unclassified films, and this will be added to your transaction.
The exclusivity of films is correct at the time of print. All films exclusive to the IFI are kindly supported by the Arts Council.
KEY DATES AT A GLANCE
WED 1ST
OC SCREENING: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (DIGITAL)
THUR 2ND
IFI TALKS: SCORING BLACK MEMORY: NOLLYWOOD SOUNDTRACK AND THE CELEBRATION OF BLACK HERITAGE
HALF OF A YELLOW SUN + INTRO
3RD
OPENING: THE SMASHING MACHINE
OPENING: URCHIN
SAT 4TH
OC SCREENING: THE SMASHING MACHINE
TUE 7TH OC SCREENING: THE SMASHING MACHINE
18.30 THUR 9TH
IRISH FOCUS: IFI & AATE: TEMPTATION OF INFLUENCE
18.30 FRI 10TH
OPENING: A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE
OPENING: I SWEAR
14TH OC SCREENING: I SWEAR
16.00 EAFFI DISCOVERIES: LOVE ON TRIAL + INTRO
BROOM
WED 29TH
31ST
SAT, NOVEMBER 1ST OC SCREENING: PALESTINE 36
MON, NOVEMBER 3RD
SCREENING: BUGONIA
WED, NOVEMBER 5TH
CREATING CLASSIC CHARACTERS FOR THE SCREEN
COURSE SESSIONS: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7THTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH (18.30 - 20.30)
PRICE: €190.00 – NON-MEMBERS / €175.00 – IFI MEMBERS & CONCESSION
In this programme, writer Mary Kate O'Flanagan will examine classic characters from film and television. Participants will learn how to:
Communicate the essence of a character economically
Put characters in dramatic predicaments
Find a character’s primary source of motivation
Find a character’s inner conflict and how it resonates with the theme Show when a character’s actions are in violation of their beliefs about themselves
Think about secondary characters and how they interact with the main characters
Put characters in open conflict and hidden conflict with each other.
This material will be valuable to people with an interest in writing, directing, story development or producing and is open to people of all levels of experience.
Places strictly limited. Course fee includes a ticket to Notorious.
There will be a welcome screening of Notorious (1946, Dir. Alfred Hitchcock) on Tuesday, October 7th - see pg. 5 for more info!
Mary Kate O'Flanagan is an award-winning writer working in the film and television industry as story consultant, co-writer and an uncredited script doctor. You can see more about her work at www.adramaticimprovement.com
Notorious (1946, Dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME
RADHARC IN DUBLIN
Join us for FREE lunchtime screenings of films on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from the IFI Irish Film Archive. Simply collect your tickets online (with a small booking fee) or at IFI Box Office.
PROGRAMME ONE
MEN’S SODALITY
The story of a large inner city parish in Dublin where efforts are made to increase numbers in the local men’s religious sodality, told through interviews with locals and a wealth of street footage of Summerhill, East Wall, Sheriff Street and surrounds.
17 mins, Ireland, 1962, Digital, Black & White
PROGRAMME TWO DOWN AND OUT IN DUBLIN
The Radharc team reveals the humanity within the marginalised community of vagrants in Dublin. Directed by Father Joe Dunn, who warns that “while viewers may not like this evening's programme, it will make them 'more thankful for some of the ordinary things of life - things like a home, a good education, a job, the ability to do that job, a little money in the bank or post office… you know, ordinary things, and yet not everybody has them.'
26 mins, Ireland, 1964, Digital, Black & White
Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn
ALFRED HITCHCOCK
TUES 7TH (18.30)
Notorious, Alfred Hitchcock’s second collaboration with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, is notable in the Master of Suspense’s already excellent repertoire of gripping thrillers as it also includes a complex romance.
When Alicia Huberman (Bergman), daughter of a convicted Nazi, is recruited by T.R Devlin (Grant), an FBI agent, the pair attempt to infiltrate a nest of Nazi sympathisers in post-war Rio. Although Alicia and Devlin have fallen in love, the mission requires her to become romantically involved with the group’s leader (Claude Rains). A film constantly referenced as a favourite by filmmakers (including François Truffaut), the film is truly stands out for its expert technique including the famous crane shot.
102 mins, USA, 1946, Digital, Black & White Notes by Holly Furlong
SCORING BLACK MEMORY: NOLLYWOOD SOUNDTRACK AND THE CELEBRATION OF BLACK HERITAGE
THUR 2ND (18.30)
As a cultural force, cinema continues to both mirror and question the frameworks of empire and colonial power. This presentation examines the essence of Black History Month by presenting the Biafran struggle - which parallels the civil rights demonstrations in America – as an African civil rights issue. It analyses how Nollywood film scores assert postcolonial identity, commemorate social struggles, and actively perform Black memory. The presentation underscores the continued relevance of cinema in negotiating Africa’s colonial and postcolonial legacies, cultural, and cinematic insights.
The discussion will be led by Obumneke Anyanwu, whose doctoral research examines the representation of heritage in Nollywood film music. More broadly, her scholarship is situated at the nexus of African cinema, cultural and heritage studies, and the dynamic mediations of music in new media ecologies. With a particular focus on African screen cultures, she foregrounds Nollywood as a central site of inquiry. She is the founder of Sound and Screen Africa (SSA), a pan-African initiative that explores the role of music, sound, and storytelling in African cinema and media, through which she successfully organized its inaugural conference. Her passion for music and film music pedagogy guides her future career in teaching the art.
Notes by Obumneke Anyanwu
HALF OF A YELLOW SUN
BIYI BANDELE
THUR 2ND (20.20)
Based on the Orange prize-winning novel of the same name, Bandele’s adaptation insightfully portrays the Nigerian civil war by exploring its abiding impact on his characters’ lives.
Focusing on sisters Olanna (Thandiwe Newton) and the sardonic Kainene (Anika Noni Rose), the film charts their experiences, from optimistic beginnings upon Nigeria’s independence from Britain in 1960, to the uneasy adjustment to a new order, and the bloody conflict that ensues. Attention rests primarily on erudite Olanna who moves to Nsukka to join her lover, Odenigbo (12 Years a Slave’s superb Chiwetel Ejiofor), an impassioned but carousing sceptic. Ideas of lecturing and starting a family are quickly thwarted when the scale of ethnic tensions develops and Odenigbo commits an act of betrayal that may be impossible for Olanna to forgive.
Conflating the personal with the political to skilful effect, this is a moving account of a significant, turbulent time.
With introduction by Obumneke Anyanwu.
111 mins, Nigeria-UK, 2013, Digital
IRISH FOCUS: IFI & AATE
THUR 9TH (18.30)
This filmic essay explores how architectural ideas are passed down, reinterpreted and inevitably misread across generations. It begins in the Dublin study of architect Shane de Blacam, where Palladio’s Four Books line the walls beside sketches by Shane's teacher and friend Louis Kahn. From this intimate setting, the film journeys across Ireland, the Veneto and the east coast of the United States, tracing the fragile mechanics of architectural inheritance through buildings, landscapes and conversations.
Contributors include Kenneth Frampton, Níall McLaughlin, Sheila O’Donnell, Mary Laheen, and Peter Carroll.
Followed by a Q&A with director Marko Milovanovic hosted by Peter Carroll (A2 Architects/ SAUL).
Presented in association with Architecture at the Edge, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of architecture as culture www.architectureattheedge.com.
Supported by the British Council.
44 mins, Ireland-Italy-USA-UK, 2025, Digital Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn
KŌJI FUKADA
TUES 14TH (18.00)
This intriguing new film by gifted Japanese writerdirector Kōji Fukada (Harmonium; Love Life; festival guest 2023) follows Mai, a rising J-Pop idol in girl band Happyfanfare, and her journey from fantasy to harsh reality. When Mai’s romantic relationship with former classmate Kei goes public, her career collapses, entangled in a public trial for violating the so-called ‘no dating’ clause in her management contract. Inspired by real lawsuits, the film exposes a controlling, exploitative industry where a glittering world of young female idols are marketed as a fantasy of ‘purity and virginity’. With former idol Kyoko Saito in the lead role, the film has an authenticity and emotional resonance that offers powerful commentary on the complexities of idol culture and personal freedom, both in Japanese society, and more globally.
The screening will be introduced by Dr Kim-Marie Spence (School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen’s University Belfast).
124 mins, Japan, 2025, Digital, Subtitled Notes by
Marie-Pierre Richard
MARKO MILOVANOVIC
(RENAI SAIBAN)
IFI CAREERS IN ANIMATION 2025
MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON & NIGHTSHIFT
WED 15TH (9.45 – 13.00)
Join us on Wednesday, October 15th for our special half-day event for teenagers aged 15-19 exploring Careers in Animation!
Meet animators from five-time Academy Award® nominated studio Cartoon Saloon and see their latest short film on the big screen. Hear about the myriad roles in animation and with the National Talent Academy for Animation find out how you can take your first steps towards working in the industry. If you are curious about college and thinking about a career in animation, this is the event for you.
Find out more at ifi.ie/learn/ifi-careers-in-screen/
Suitable for ages 15-19.
WED 15TH (18.30)
Shot over five nights at the Portobello Hotel where Robina Rose worked, Nightshift is an underseen jewel from the 1980s British avant-garde made by a filmmaker that Derek Jarman cited as sorely deserving of wider recognition. A proponent of a personal cinema shaped by direct experience, Nightshift exemplifies Rose’s eye for identifying key collaborators, enlisting American independent filmmaker Jon Jost as cinematographer and Simon Jeffes of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra as composer.
Screening with an introduction by pioneering filmmaker Pat Murphy. Pat was a founding member of feminist film distributor Circles alongside Robina Rose (Director of Nightshift). Pat has selected Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon to accompany this special screening.
Nightshift was restored on behalf of Lightbox Film Center with The British Film Institute & Cinenova. Funding provided by Ron and Suzanne Naples and supervised by Ross Lipman, Corpus Fluxus.
aemi is funded by the Arts Council. For more details visit www.aemi.ie
Notes by Ciarda Tobin
15 mins, USA, 1943, Digital / 68 mins, UK, 1981, Digital
MAYA DEREN / ROBINA ROSE
IFI, MOLI & OSCARIANA
DE PROFUNDIS
BENEDICT SCHLEPPER-CONNOLLY, NÉSTOR ROMERO CLEMENTE
THUR 16TH (18.30)
One of the greatest love letters ever written, Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis, addressed to Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie), was the only work that the Irish writer completed during his two-year imprisonment in Reading Gaol for ‘gross indecency’. Now, 125 years after Wilde’s death, this new film, produced by the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), revisits this moving and richly layered text – perhaps the most raw and honest version of Wilde available to us, at times deeply philosophical, at times white with rage, at times heartbreakingly tender.
Alongside images of key locations, passages are read by a host of LGBTQ+ writers, artists and activists. They include Paul D’Alton, Jane Clarke, Naoise Dolan, Seán Hewitt, Adiba Jaigirdar, Sonya Kelly, Bulelani Mfaco, Una Mullally, Sonya Mulligan, Katherine O’Donnell, Declan Toohey, and Tonie Walsh.
Presented by IFI, MoLI & Oscariana: A Wilde Dublin Festival. Produced with the support of Ebow Digital.
Followed by a conversation with writer Katherine O’Donnell and MoLI’s Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, hosted by Margaret Kelleher (UCD).
MYSTERY MATINEE
SUN 19TH (13.00)
Join us for this month’s screening at 13.00 on Sunday, October 19th. The film chosen could be anything from throughout the history of cinema, from a silent classic to a preview of a hotly anticipated upcoming release.
Whether it’s a title that one might expect to see at the IFI, or a film more at home in the multiplexes, the secret, closely guarded even from IFI staff, will be kept until the title appears onscreen. Expect the unexpected and take a chance, with tickets costing just €6.50 for IFI Members, and €7.00 for non-members.
A full list of previous screenings is available from www.ifi.ie/mystery-matinee-archive
60 mins, Ireland, 2025, Digital Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn
SOULEYMANE’S STORY
(L’HISTOIRE DE SOULEYMANE)
BORIS LOJKINE
MON 20TH (18.00)
Love film and aged 16-25? Want to learn more about film programming? Join for a special Youth Panel screening of new release Souleymane’s Story. Souleymane’s Story concerns a Guinean immigrant applying for asylum in France, who must balance the pressures of working every hour possible of his precarious bike delivery job while preparing his story for the upcoming residency interview.
The IFI Youth Panel is formed from 25 & Under cardholders, who meet twice a month to programme a monthly screening at the IFI. The panel will be open to new members in October 2025. This screening will be hosted by current and outgoing members of the IFI Youth Panel, who will lead a post-screening informal discussion for those interested to learn more about the group.
IFI 25 & Under membership offers €5.00 tickets and is free to join, see more at ifi.ie/25under
Notes by Holly Furlong
MITSKI: THE LAND
GRANT JAMES
WED 22ND (18.45)
Mitski: The Land converts the magic and majesty of witnessing Mitski live onto screen. Filmed over three nights at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre in 2024, this is a thrilling portrayal of what kept hundreds of thousands of fans rapt at venues across the globe.
A phenomenal live performer, Mitski brought her acclaimed seventh album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, to the world’s stages in theatrical and daring fashion, presenting as much a spectacle as an expansive live show. Alongside a seven-piece band and with choreography by Monica Mirabile, Mitski uses every inch of the stage to her advantage, weaving in and out of the spotlight and shadows.
Directed by Grant James and mixed by her longstanding producer Patrick Hyland, Mitski: The Land preserves the rich, raw aura of having experienced these shows first-hand, whilst offering fans the opportunity to remember together or witness Mitski’s magic for the very first time.
78 mins, USA, 2024, Digital
Our annual feast of frights and dark delights returns to take place over the October Bank Holiday weekend, Thursday 23rd – Monday 27th.
As audiences familiar with the event have come to expect, the festival will include the best of new national and international horror, as well as an array of classic screenings, a number of which haven’t been seen on Irish cinema screens for many years, if ever. Following an auspicious debut last year in which it proved to be one of the weekend’s highlights, the horror-themed table quiz will return, and Saturday night will once again see the venue taken over for a number of bespoke events.
Full details of this year’s programme will be announced in coming weeks, so stay tuned.
Notes by Kevin Coyne
MAGIC LIGHT DOUBLE BILL: TIDDLER & ROOM ON THE BROOM
ANDY MARTIN, ALEX BAIN / MAX LANG, JAN LACHAUER
TUES 28TH (11.00)
This Halloween join us for a Magic Light Special featuring a new animation and an old, witchy favourite.
Tiddler just can’t seem to get to school on time, and when he does finally arrive, he always has a wildly imaginative story for his pal, Johnny Dory, or the teacher. Whether it’s riding on seahorses or swimming around a wreck, his adventure stories have spread across the ocean! So when one time he actually does get lost, the fame from his stories may help to get him back home.
A kindly witch enjoys nothing more than flying around on her broom. Despite the concerns of her old friend Cat, the witch invites more and more animal friends to join her, ‘til they find themselves unsteady, and at risk from the fierce dragon whose favourite food is Witch and Chips.
After the show, join us in the IFI Foyer for some spooky witchy craft and colouring!
50 mins approx, UK, 2024/2012, Digital Notes by
THE ECLIPSE
(RESTORATION)
CONOR MCPHERSON
WED 29TH (18.20)
Michael (Ciarán Hinds), a widower with two children and a dying father-in-law (Jim Norton), is a volunteer at a literary festival in a picturesque seaside town (Cobh, Co Cork). While chauffeuring festival guests, he meets gothic novelist Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle), and Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn), a bad-tempered, best-selling author in hot pursuit. The awkward love-triangle that emerges between them, however, is interrupted by the dead and dying, with spectral presences continually stalking Michael.
Director Conor McPherson, co-author of the screenplay with playwright Billy Roche, delivers a mature and enigmatic love story tinged with the supernatural in this tightly crafted picture of loss and haunting.
This digital restoration from original 35mm elements has been created by the IFI Irish Film Archive for IFI’s Digital Restoration Project funded by Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann.
88 mins, Ireland, 2009, Digital
Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn
Alicia McGivern
WILD STRAWBERRIES
THE GOOD LIAR
FIVE EASY PIECES
BILL CONDON
WED 29TH & FRI 31ST (11.00)
Helen Mirren’s recent ‘significant’ birthday prompted several reviews of her illustrious stage and screen career, and in this thrilling crime caper, she shows just why, as an actor, she has endured. Playing opposite equally venerable actor Ian McKellan, the two are on top form as the wealthy widow, Betty, being lured by veteran conman, Roy. Set in 2009, the pair meet online and their relationship takes off with ease, though Betty’s grandson, Steven is instantly suspicious. The fabulous, easy sparring of the two leads lifts the tale from predictability, and what should have been a straightforward swindle becomes something of a labyrinthine plot, unspooling around the pair.
The screening on Wednesday 29th will be Open Captioned.
BOB RAFELSON
THUR 30TH (18.20)
In one of the first roles to define his onscreen persona in the eyes of audiences, Jack Nicholson plays Bobby Duprea, blue-collar worker on an oil field who spends most of his spare time with waitress girlfriend Rayette (Karen Black). On hearing that his father is seriously ill, Bobby goes to see him, Rayette in tow. Unbeknownst to her, Bobby comes from a privileged background and as a child was a prodigious pianist, all of which he turned his back on for the life he currently lives. Bobby’s past and present collide, leaving him with an uncertain future. Director Bob Rafelson’s study of alienation became a cornerstone of the New Hollywood era. The screening will be introduced by music & arts journalist and broadcaster Zara Hedderman.
109 mins, USA-UK, 2019, Digital Notes by Alicia McGivern
98 mins, USA, 1970, 4K Digital Notes by Kevin Coyne
THE SMASHING MACHINE URCHIN
FROM FRI 3RD
The life of former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson) is vividly captured in Benny Safdie’s solo directorial debut. Set between 1997 and 2000, the film depicts how the charismatic Kerr helped popularise the sport, and how taking, and delivering, brutal beatings night after night eventually took its toll, fracturing his relationship with partner Dawn (Emily Blunt), and precipitating a dangerous painkiller addiction. A biopic of rare authenticity and psychological depth, Safdie’s visceral portrait of Kerr benefits immensely from the nuanced and empathetic performances from its leads; Johnson is especially impressive, inhabiting a character whose imposing physical bulk belies a vulnerability and unexpected emotional selfawareness. Upending the conventions of sports movie, The Smashing Machine is about a fighter who must learn how to lose.
There will be Open Captioned screenings at 15.20 on Saturday 4th, and 18.10 on Tuesday 7th.
FROM FRI 3RD
Mike (Frank Dillane) has been sleeping rough on the mean streets of north London for five years. He attempts to turn his life around following a short prison sentence for robbery, securing a room in a hostel, and a job in a restaurant as a commis chef. But old habits die hard, and repressed urges soon reassert themselves. Harris Dickinson’s confident, raw, and thoroughly engaging directorial debut offers an authentic, sympathetic portrait of a homeless drug addict, brilliantly portrayed by Frank Dillane. Urchin raises challenging questions about systemic barriers and individual accountability without offering easy resolutions. Dickinson balances his unvarnished depiction of life on the margins of society with some boldly creative visual flourishes that elevate the potentially sombre material into something entirely unexpected.
123 mins, USA-Japan-Canada, 2025, Digital Notes by David O’Mahony
99 mins, UK, 2025, Digital Notes by David O’Mahony
BENNY SAFDIE
HARRIS DICKINSON
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE
KATHRYN BIGELOW
FROM FRI 10TH
A single unattributed nuclear missile has been launched from somewhere in the Pacific; a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond. Initially dismissed by White House experts as of limited threat, it becomes clear after the failure of two US interceptor missiles that the bomb is on a direct trajectory for the city of Chicago and will hit its target in a mere 19 minutes. This frenetic period is replayed, Rashomon-style, as the countdown hits zero, from multiple perspectives, including a US missile base in Alaska, the White House Situation Room, and assorted other Washington DC strategic locations. With nerve-shredding tension, Bigelow masterfully weaves a complex web of interlocking characters and incidents, mounting a terrifying and all-too-plausible scenario of how a third world war might begin.
There will be Open Captioned screenings at 16.00 on Friday 10th, and 20.40 on Thursday 16th.
A WANT IN HER
MYRID CARTEN
FROM FRI 10TH
When her mother goes missing somewhere in Ireland, artist Myrid Carten returns from London to find her and risks losing herself. Her search takes her into a feuding family, a contested house; and a history that threatens to take everyone down, including herself.
An immersive, first person account of the practical and emotional complexities of a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship, this profoundly raw and unsettling, story is told with immense craft, interweaving Carten's home movies, phone calls, gallery work, reenactments and harrowing present-day footage of her mother’s struggles with alcoholism.
Are you an IFI Friend? Join us for our next IFI Cinema Club discussion after the screening at 18.30 on Tuesday 14th.
112 mins, USA, 2025, Digital Notes by David O’Mahony
82 mins, Ireland, 2024, Digital, Subtitled Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn
I SWEAR BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER
KIRK JONES
EDWARD BERGER
FROM FRI 17TH FROM FRI 10TH
I Swear tells the extraordinary true story of John Davidson, who was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome at age 15, during a time when the condition was largely misunderstood. Ostracised and bullied for much of his youth, John finds refuge. As an adult, Davidson (Robert Aramayo) emerged as a tireless campaigner for awareness and acceptance of the condition, working as a community caretaker and founding a support network for individuals and families affected by Tourette’s, advocacy work for which he received an MBE in 2019. With a supporting cast that includes Peter Mullen, Shirely Henderson, and Maxine Peake, I Swear explores Davidson’s journey from isolation to empowerment, illustrating how he embraced his identity and inspired a new, compassionate understanding of Tourette’s Syndrome.
There will be Open Captioned screenings at 18.15 on Monday 13th, and 16.00 on Tuesday 14th.
Set against the surreal neon haze of Macau’s imposing casino hotels, Edward Berger’s ( All Quiet on the Western Front , Conclave) Ballad of a Small Player is a seductive character study of an obsessive gambler sinking further into a quagmire of his own making. Adapted from Lawrence Osborne’s acclaimed novel, the film follows Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell), a disgraced British solicitor who has fled scandal in England and reinvented himself as a high-stakes gambler in Asia. Haunted by guilt and fuelled by a reckless hunger for oblivion, he drifts through the baccarat tables, wagering fortunes he does not truly own. When his luck falters, Doyle meets Dao-Ming (Fala Chen), a mysterious woman whose presence seems to both anchor and unsettle him. But does the mysterious Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton) know who Doyle really is, and what he’s running from?
There will be Open Captioned screenings at 15.45 on Friday 17th, and 18.15 on Thursday 23rd.
120 mins, UK, 2025, Digital Notes by David O’Mahony
101 mins, Germany-UK, 2025, Digital Notes by David O’Mahony
GERRY ADAMS: A BALLYMURPHY MAN
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST 4K
FROM FRI 17TH
Gerry Adams first met Englishwoman Trisha Ziff, a community activist and founder of the “Camerawork Derry” workshop, at the height of the Northern Ireland conflict in 1981, remaining in contact for over 40 years. This film weaves together interviews recorded over five years with layers of photographs and moving images, many not seen before. Hear Adams’ uncensored perspectives on the conflict, a life spanning war and transition to peace, and an ongoing campaign towards Irish unity.
There will be screenings with English subtitles at 15.40 on Sunday 19th, and 18.00 on Wednesday 22nd.
FROM FRI 17TH
Jack Nicholson gives what is perhaps his most indelible performance as Randle Patrick McMurphy in Miloš Forman’s masterpiece, one of just three films to win all five major Academy Awards. The film sees recidivist criminal McMurphy being moved from prison to a mental institution where he hopes to serve out his sentence in peace. However, he immediately locks horns with Nurse Ratched, a harsh disciplinarian memorably played by Louise Fletcher; RP’s attempts to undermine her authority are the source of the film’s irreverent humour, yet Forman’s larger concerns about oppression and the place of the individual in society are evident in the emotive last act which culminates in an iconic act of defiance.
There will be Open Captioned screenings at 15.30 on Saturday 18th, and 18.00 on Tuesday 21st.
133 mins, USA, 1975, 4K Digital Notes by David O’Mahony
117 mins, Ireland-Mexico, 2025, Digital Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn
TRISHA ZIFF
MILOŠ FORMAN
SOULEYMANE’S STORY SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE
(L’HISTOIRE DE SOULEYMANE)
BORIS LOJKINE
CINEMAS: FROM FRI 17TH
IFI@HOME: COMING JANUARY 2026
The precarious life of an undocumented Guinean migrant is vividly brought to life in Boris Lojkine clear-eyed, compassionate, and quietly devastating film. Souleymane (Abou Sangare), a bike courier navigating deliveries through the frenetic Paris traffic, is two days away from the interview that will determine whether his asylum application will be approved. Part of an underground economy of bike couriers who rent verified accounts, Souleymane must somehow complete his punishing workload between the strict opening hours of the homeless shelter he stays at with other immigrants. Tutored by a fellow Guinean, Souleymane anxiously rehearses the spiel he’s been given to relate to the interviewer, while trying to figure out how to find the money to pay for the necessary documents that go with the interview.
SCOTT COOPER
FROM FRI 24TH
Following the success of his tour for The River, Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) retreats to his New Jersey home studio with long-time manager Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong). He wrestles with the ghosts of his past as he labours over the songs that will become Nebraska, a stark, paredback, and deeply personal set of largely acoustic tracks, at the same time that he was recording demos for the more bombastic Born in the USA , which would catapult him to global superstardom. The film traces the tension between the demands of fame and the need for authenticity, showing how Springsteen stripped his music down to its rawest essence. With Cooper’s unflinching direction and White’s vulnerable performance, the story captures both the burden and redemption of artistic creation, revealing the fragile humanity behind one of rock’s most enduring icons.
There will be Open Captioned screenings at 12.00 on Friday 24th, and 20.30 on Wednesday 29th.
93 mins, France, 2024, Digital, Subtitled Notes by David O Mahony
117 mins, USA, 2025, Digital Notes by David O’Mahony
BUGONIA THE MASTERMIND
FROM FRI 24TH
In 1970, Massachusetts, unemployed carpenter J.B. (Josh O’Connor) lives with his wife Terri (Alana Haim) and their two young sons. In an ill-conceived bid to turn around his ailing fortunes, J.B. plans to rob a local modern art gallery, and while he escapes with a cache of Arthur Dove paintings, events quickly conspire against him, and he is forced to go on the run. Reichardt’s idiosyncratic approach to storytelling is a surprisingly good fit for this gorgeously autumnal, melancholic heist movie which swiftly dispenses with the crime to focus on its aftermath. A character study of a man whose failure as a thief is matched by poor decision making in his private life, J.B. is redolent of the unconventional antiheroes that populated the New Hollywood on the ‘70s, an era towards which Reichardt’s elegiac film nods.
There will be Open Captioned screenings at 18.15 on Monday 27th, and 15.50 on Thursday 30th.
FROM FRI 31ST (PREVIEWS FROM WED 29TH)
Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) are preparing to kidnap Michelle (Emma Stone), the CEO of a local pharmaceutical company, for which Teddy works as a box packer, an audacious ploy that if successful will save both Teddy’s terminally ill mother and potentially all of humanity, too. Because despite appearances, Michelle is in fact an alien from Andromeda, cunningly disguised as a human, coordinating devious experiments on cancer patients as she awaits the arrival of her mothership. At least that’s what the terminally online Teddy believes. With their quarry imprisoned in Teddy’s family home, a battle of wits ensues between the resourceful CEO and her delusional captors. A remake of the South Korean film, Save the Green Planet (2003), Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest is an uproarious satire of conspiracy theories and fake news.
There will be preview screenings from Wednesday 29th. There will be digital Open Captioned screenings at 13.00 on Friday 31st, and 18.10 on Monday, November 3rd.
YORGOS LANTHIMOS
KELLY REICHARDT
120 mins,
2025,
Notes by David O’Mahony
110 mins, USA, 2025, Digital Notes by David O’Mahony
KONTINENTAL ‘25 PALESTINE 36
ANNMARIE JACIR
FROM FRI 31ST CINEMAS: FROM FRI 31ST IFI@HOME: FROM FRI, DECEMBER 5TH
Orsolya (Eszter Tompa) is a bailiff in Cluj, Transylvania, who evicts a homeless man from a building’s basement, only for tragedy to strike shortly afterward. Stricken with guilt, Orsolya spirals into a moral crisis, desperately seeking absolution from whoever will provide it: a friend, her mother, a priest, and even a former student turned delivery cyclist. Despite their reassurances, she remains consumed by an unresolved sense of guilt and confusion. The latest from Radu Jude sees the prolific Romanian provocateur take the moral temperature of his country and find it wanting. Kontinental ‘25 is of a piece with his recent Do Not Expect Too Much from The End of The World, and Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn. Brainy, bawdy, funny, and wholly unpredictable, the film offers further evidence that Jude is one of Europe’s most exciting filmmakers.
109 mins, Romania-Switzerland-Luxembourg-Brazil-UK, 2025, Digital, Subtitled Notes by David O’Mahony
Annmarie Jacir’s ambitious historical drama focuses on the turbulent year of 1936, when Palestinian resistance to British colonial rule and the pressures of mass displacement exploded into revolution. The film follows Yusuf, a young man torn between his rural home and the streets of Jerusalem, drawn unwillingly into the uprising against British rule. As Jewish refugees fleeing growing fascism in Europe arrive in increasing numbers, Yusuf watches loyalties shift, relationships strain, and the very land around him become a battleground of identity and power. Jeremy Irons plays High Commissioner Wauchope, a colonial official tasked with maintaining order amidst escalating protests and mounting pressure from all sides. Annemarie Jacir weaves sweeping historical scope with intimate human stories to illuminate a pivotal moment whose reverberations echo into the present.
There will be Open Captioned screenings at 16.00 on Saturday, November 1st, and 18.15 on Wednesday, November 5th.
115 mins, Occupied Palestinian Territory-France-Qatar-Saudi Arabia-UK-Denmark-Jordan, 2025, Digital Notes by David O’Mahony
RADU JUDE
FLORA KERRIGAN: DREAM MAKER
AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE FOR FREE ON THE IFI ARCHIVE PLAYER FROM OCT 27TH!
Amateur filmmaker Flora Kerrigan was a keen member of the Cork Cine Society in the late 1950s and 1960s. Over eight years, she crafted remarkable animation and live-action shorts on 8mm film, earning international accolades and an airing on RTÉ. The surreal playfulness of her animations belies the painstaking meticulousness of their production, while her live-action films, featuring friends and family, are absurd, comedic, haunting and, most strikingly, explore female sexuality and desire. Following her relocation to the UK in the late 1960s, Kerrigan’s work faded into obscurity until it was recently rediscovered through a collaboration between the IFI Irish Film Archive and Maynooth University.
The films in this collection include a newly commissioned score by avant-garde freeimprovisational pianist Paul G. Smyth and double bass virtuoso John Edwards. The collection is free-to-view and available anywhere in the world.
An intimate and first-hand perspective on life under siege in Gaza, captured over a year through video diaries between an Iranian filmmaker and Palestinian photojournalist.
YOUNG MOTHERS
FROM FRI 3RD
Underprivileged teenagers grapple with the challenges of parenting a newborn whilst managing complex family dynamics in this new offering by the Palme d'Or-winning Dardenne brothers.
PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK THE COURAGEOUS
LUC DARDENNE & JEAN-PIERRE DARDENNE
JASMIN GORDON
FROM MON 6TH
Jule battles the invisible weight of poverty and societal judgment to prove that, despite a criminal past, she is still a good mother.
DEAF
EVA LIBERTAD STREAMING NOW!
FROM FRI 17TH
The arrival of a baby puts a strain on Ángela, who is deaf, and her hearing partner Héctor, as they both gain a deeper understanding of how the other experiences the world and ultimately how their daughter will.
DISTINCTIVE AND EXCITING” THE GUARDIAN