Festival: Kenneth Branagh and Robert Sheehan in Dublin for JDIFF

With the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival into its first weekend another set of special guests are jetting into the capital to bring their films to Irish audiences.

Northern Irish actor – director Kenneth Branagh best known for his films Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Thor, My Week With Marilyn, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets brings his latest directorial work, Cinderella to The Savoy Cinema at 6.30pm on Saturday 21st March. Branagh will attend the screening and also participate in a post screening public interview. A live-action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale, Cinderella, the No.1 US and Global box office smash, brings to life the timeless images from Disney’s 1950 animated masterpiece as fully-realized characters in a visually-dazzling spectacle for a whole new generation. Cinderella stars Downton Abbey’s Lily James as the eponymous heroine alongside Games of Thrones star Richard Madden with Academy Award winning actress Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother and the. On the night Kenneth Branagh will be honoured with a Volta, the Festival Award created to celebrate individuals who have made a significant contribution to the world of film.

Irish actor Robert Sheehan, who has starred in television shows Love/Hate and Misfits, and Killing Bono will also attend the Festival screening of The Road Within in which he plays a young man with Tourettes syndrome. The film, directed by Gren Wells, also stars Dev Patel (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) and Zoe Kravitz (Divergent). In a light-hearted coming-of-age tale Sheehan’s character Vincent is shuttled off to an unconventional clinic after the death of his mother, where he meets an obsessive-compulsive man and an anorexic young woman who become his unlikely friends. The film will screen in Cineworld on Sunday 22nd March at 8.45pm, followed by a public interview with Robert Sheehan.

Other Festival highlight events and screenings over the next few days include:

Monday 23rd, The Teachers Club, at 3pm: ‘The Art of Manipulation’: Editing with Reka Lemhenyi, Festival guest award winning Hungarian editor Lemhenyi will discuss in-depth editing techniques and her illustrious career, including her work on Free Fall which has its festival screening later that day at 6.30pm in Light House Cinema.

Tuesday 24th, Screen Cinema at 6pm: Acclaimed Portuguese director Pedro Costa will attend for his new film Horse Money, a powerful indictment of injustice, another masterpiece from one of the world’s greatest film artists and a new pinnacle of his art.

Light House Cinema at 8pm: The stunningly beautiful documentary The Breach from director Mark Titus, who will attend, is a personal exploration of a breach in the contract between humans and wild salmon which has led to overfishing and decline in their numbers.

The 13th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is on now until March 29th. The full programme is available to view from the festival website jdiff.com  along with online booking. Tickets can also be booked in person at the Festival Box Office on 13 Lower Ormond Quay, or at Ticket Offices in Cineworld or the Light House from 14th March.

The Festival is supported by The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, The Irish Film Board, Jameson, The Irish Times, Entertainment.ie, RTE Radio One, Toyota, The Merrion Hotel, Wells Cargo, Cineworld, The Church and Windmill Lane.