JAMESON DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival kicks off on the 17th of February with a host of stars and interesting movies visiting Ireland's capital city over the next month.

Established in 2003, The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (JDIFF) has fast become Ireland’s premiere feature film festival and takes place in Ireland’s capital city over the course of eleven days and nights each February.

JDIFF will show 120 films from the four corners of the globe to the Irish Audience. The festival is a citywide event that takes place in all of the Dublin City Centre Cinemas including Cineworld, The Savoy, Screen, Irish Film Institute and Light House Cinema in Smithfield. The majority of films shown at the film festival are Irish premieres, and for some of the films shown, the festival represents the only public screening that will take place in Ireland.

As I mentioned earlier there are 120 movies to be shown so while I can't really go through them all I'm going to pick out a few that have seduced my interest.

Highly rated directors Brendan Culleton and Irina Maldea - bring us An Irish Affair, a penetrating and poignant study of the Irish-led 1961 UN peacekeeping mission to Katanga, a province that wanted to break-away from the newly independent Congo and the two Irishmen who were key decision makers in the country during that time, Gen. Seán McKeown, commander of the UN military force and Irish diplomat, Conor Cruise O’Brien, the UN’s civil representative in Katanga.

Some big international films also make their debut in Dublin including The Adjustment Bureau starring Mat Damon and Emily Blunt. The film is both a knowing examination of contemporary American politics and a witty and stylish thriller. While The Way, starring Martin Sheen and directed by his son Emilio Estevez, is a touching film about the testy yet unbreakable bond between father and son, as well as the supportive, familial connections that can form among strangers.

Others films getting their first airing at the festival include the political thriller Fair Game, starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts and Channing Tatum's The Eagle, adapted from Rosemary Sutcliff’s classic novel The Eagle of the Ninth, a breathtaking historical drama, detailing the explosive clash of cultures in the Roman empire.

But the movies that I'm most looking forward to come from two of my favorite directors. Guillermo del Toro has an exceptional eye for new talent and his latest film as producer, Julia’s Eyes, directed by Spanish newcomer Guillem Morales, will terrify audiences, while Ken Loache's Route Irish, the story of the privitisation of the war in Iraq, will no doubt only enhance his excellent reputation for brilliant films.

Finally watch out for new Irish directing talent in Juanita Wilson. Her first feature, Inside I'm Dancing, starring James McEvoy, gave us a glimpse of what she was capable of. Her latest movie, As If I'm Not There, a hard hitting true story from the Bosnian war, based on Croatian journalist slavenka Drakulic’s book of the same name is causing some serious excitement.

Check out www.jdiff.com for details on when the show are taking place.