Details:
Pride
Details: The full line-up of films to be screened at the 2014 British & Irish Film Season is as below.
A number of Special Guests will be attending six of the screenings - see www.bifilmseason.lu..
A Dangerous Game (SC)
Director: Anthony Baxter
Starring: Anthony Baxter
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 98 mins
Synopsis: Following on from You’ve Been Trumped, the film reports on billionaire property developer Donald Trump’s incursions into Scotland (Aberdeen), as well as in Dubrovnik in Croatia, as well as the US and Doonbeg, Co Clare in Ireland. He interviews locals, environmentalists and politicians as well as the Trumps themselves, with the footage including strong debating. The film also address the issue of democracy.
A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide (SC)
Director: Graham Hughes
Starring: Graeme McGeagh, Annabel Logan, Paddy O’Brien
Genre: Black comedy
Duration: 85 mins
Synopsis: Tom wants to end his life but his efforts have consistently met with failure. He believes his efforts lack imagination and so starts a blog with the aim of planning a “spectacular suicide” while, at the same time, offering his experience as guidance to others. Through therapy he meets “buoyantly troubled” Eve, driving him to question his true motivation and consider those around him.
Addressing a taboo subject, this film steers clear of sentimentalism and draws on genuinely funny sarcasm to illustrate the redemptive power of unexpected relationships, allowing for poignancy.
An Bronntanas (The Gift) (IE) – in Irish Gaelic, sub-titles in EN
Director: Tom Collins
Starring: Dara Devaney, Owen McDonnell, Michelle Beamish
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 112 mins
Synopsis: A contemporary thriller set against the background of a local lifeboat crew working off the western Irish coast of Connemara. The crew answers a distress call and locates the fishing boat only to discover a dead woman and a cargo of drugs. They are challenged with a moral dilemma – bring the woman on shore and hand the drugs to the authorities, or leave the body, sell the drugs and save their struggling village. It’s a decision that will change their lives forever.
An Bronntanas has been selected as Ireland’s entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Calvary (IE) – sub-titles in FR, NL
Director: John Michael McDonagh
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Domhnall Gleeson, Pat Shortt
Genre: Black Comedy
Duration: 100 mins
Synopsis: After he is threatened during a confession, a good-natured priest in a coastal village in Ireland must battle the dark forces closing in around him. He is told in the confessional that one of his parishioners is going to kill him. The man had been abused by a priest for five years as a child; that priest has died, but killing the innocent Father James will be revenge for the other priest's abuse of an innocent boy.
The film expertly captures the atmosphere of the region as it swings between comedy and tragedy.
Castles in the Sky (SC)
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Starring: Eddie Izzard, David Hayman, Alex Jennings, Karl Davies
Genre: Historical drama
Duration: 89 mins
Synopsis: Set in the mid-1930s, this film charts the work of Robert Watson Watt and his hand-picked team of meteorologists as they struggle to turn the concept of Radar into a workable reality. Hamstrung by a tiny budget, seemingly insurmountable technical problems and even a spy in the camp, Watson Watt also has to deal with marital problems as he chases his dream. They develop the world's first Radar system along the south east coast of England that, in 1940, proved pivotal in winning the Battle of Britain.
Hector and the Search for Happiness (EN / DE / CA / SA) – sub-titles in FR, NL
Director: Peter Chelsom
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Simon Pegg, Stellan Skarsgård, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, Jean Reno
Genre: Comedy drama
Duration: 120 mins
Synopsis: Hector, a successful psychiatrist, seems to have the perfect life: a good job, an amazing girlfriend, an orderly life. Yet, something seems to be missing. He asks himself what makes one happy and cannot find the answer. So, he decides to travel the world in order to find out what happiness is. His journey takes him to Asia, Africa and the States in a whirlwind of experiences, not to mention new-found knowledge and wisdom. A feel-good film with poignant elements.
Locke (EN / US) – sub-titles in FR, NL
Director: Steven Knight
Starring: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott, Ruth Wilson
Genre: Drama
Duration: 85 mins
Synopsis: Ivan Locke, a dedicated family man and successful construction manager, receives a phone call on the eve of the biggest challenge of his career that sets in motion a series of events that threaten his careful cultivated existence. The film takes place as he is driving his car with the confined space exacerbating the drama and enabling character development in its purest form, without any car chases or dodging bullets to provide distraction.
Noble (EN)
Director: Stephen Bradley
Starring: Deirdre O’Kane, Brendan Coyle, Sarah Greene, Liam Cunningham
Genre: Biopic
Duration: 99 mins
Synopsis: Based on a true story, Christina Noble overcomes the harsh difficulties of her childhood in Ireland to discover her destiny on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. Born into poverty, she eventually survives to found a charity to support street children in Vietnam - youngsters with whom she can associate. Shifting between past and present, the film charts both her early life growing up in Dublin as well as later in Vietnam. It focuses on her strength of character as she uses music and humour to pursue an almost impossible dream. She has gone on to help over 700,000 street children the other side of the world. Truly inspirational.
Poison Pen (IE)
Director: Steven Benedict, Lorna Fitzsimons, Jennifer Shortall / Produced by Aine Coady and Sharon Cronin
Starring: Lochlann O’Mearain
Genre: Romantic comedy
Duration: 95 mins
Synopsis: When high-brow author PC Molloy is forced to write for April Devereaux's gossip magazine Poison Pen, he is not only caught up in a world of stars and their secrets, he is also in danger of becoming a celebrity himself. Soon the spotlight is turning on Molloy and he struggles to keep his own secrets off the front page. But when he finds himself falling for his boss will he be able to find the right words?
Written by Eoin Colfer (author of Artemis Fowl books) and Graham Cantwell (who attended BIFS 2013)
Pride (WA / EN) – sub-titles in FR, NL
Director: Matthew Warchus
Starring: Bill Nighy, Andrew Scott, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Paddy Considine
Genre: Comedy drama
Duration: 120 mins
Synopsis: UK gay and lesbian activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984.
The Light of Day (IE)
Director: Amy Carroll, Conor Dowling, Eoin O’Neill / Produced by Sophie Burke and Simon Conneally
Starring: Jack Hickey, Aidan Lawlor, Lorna Larkin, Dermot Magennis
Genre: Mockumentary
Duration: 85 mins
Synopsis: A hilarious mockumentary 'The Light of Day' follows a flailing film crew as they attempt to adapt the vampire graphic novel 'The Quench' as a low-budget horror film. Whatever can go wrong, does go wrong. Hindered by their tragically over-zealous director and inexperienced crew, there is more horror behind the scenes than in the film, particularly when the film’s investors pull out mid-way through shooting. It will take the two sane people on set, cinematographer Michael and writer Sarah, to save the film.
The Riot Club (EN) – sub-titles in FR, NL
Director: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Douglas Booth, Jessica Brown Findlay, Tom Hollander, Max Irons
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 107 mins
Synopsis: Two first-year students at Oxford University join the infamous Riot Club, where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a single evening.
The Trip to Italy (EN / WA / IT) – sub-titles in FR, NL
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon
Genre: Comedy drama
Duration: 108 mins
Synopsis: A sequel to the successful 2010 film The Trip in which Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon visit restaurants in the north of England. Here, the location is swapped for Italy. Two men, six meals in six different places on a road trip around Liguria, Tuscany, Rome, Amalfi and ending in Capri. The film is made by the two characters feeding off each other's comedic impressions in a succession of picturesque settings.
What If (IE / CA) – sub-titles in FR, NL
Director: Michael Dowse
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Megan Park
Genre: Romantic drama
Duration: 98 mins
Synopsis: The film tells the story of medical school dropout Wallace, who's been repeatedly burned by bad relationships. So while everyone around him, including his roommate Allan, seems to be finding the perfect partner, Wallace decides to put his love life on hold. It is then that he meets Chantry, an animator who lives with her longtime boyfriend Ben. Wallace and Chantry form an instant connection, striking up a close friendship. Still, there is no denying the chemistry between them, leading the pair to wonder, what if the love of your life is actually your best friend?
Short film: Solace in Wicca (IoM) – in Manx Gaelic, sub-titles in EN
Director: Andy North
Starring: Isla Callister, Stephen Craige, Wayne Kelsall
Genre: Drama
Duration: 9 mins
Synopsis: After local farmer Robert Quaine refused to donate an acre of his land to the Church of England, the Bishop makes accuses his wife Margaret Quaine of Witchcraft. After a tense trial, it is determined she must be put to death for her crimes against God. She faces her death with dignity as she is about to be burned at the stake. And things then take a turn for the worse...
Venue: Ciné Utopia, Limpertsberg
Organiser: G-Media sarl
Price: €8.80 via www.utopolis.lu or €25 Season Special Ticket (5 films) from www.bifilmseason.lu
Reservations: see above
URL: www.bifilmseason.lu
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