One of the more intriguing titles playing the 2017 Audi Dublin International Film Festival is Pickups, the third collaboration of Aidan Gillen and James Thraves, which plays on Saturday, February 18th.
Irish actor Gillen teams up with British director Thraves for this semi-autobiographical tale. Aidan’s been having trouble sleeping. His marriage has broken down and he’s spending less time with his kid. He’s addicted to his job, but he’s nervous about turning down work. He also has a serious back problem, the pain is nightmarish and the drugs aren’t working. At least there are the fans, popping up when he least expects it. He kind of likes the attention, although Aidan is slightly concerned one of them might be stalking him. If only he could get some sleep.
Gillen starred in Thraves’ debut feature, The Low Down, in 2000, before working with him again on 2011’s Treacle Jr. The former has been described as one of the “neglected masterpieces” of film history by The Observer in its rundown of 50 Lost Movie Classics, while the latter went down a storm at the 54th BFI London Film Festival. Thraves has also directed many shorts and music videos for bands like Radiohead, Blur, and Coldplay.
Jamie Thraves and Aidan Gillen continue their cinematic pilgrimage with this self-reflexive puzzle about an actor’s life.
Gráinne Humphreys, Festival Director
Jamie Thraves and Aidan Gillen will attend the ADIFF screening of Pickups at 8:15pm on Saturday, February 18th. Tickets are available now.