Event: 100th Anniversary of Dubliners and Bloomsday at the IFI

Joyce’s Dubliners was first published 100 years ago this month on June 15th 1914. It’s an accessible masterpiece that’s left an indelible mark on Irish and world literature so its centenary, coming as it does the day before Bloomsday 2014, is certainly cause for celebration. The IFI’s >From the Vaults strand are honouring the occasion with 35mm screenings of John Huston’s pitch-perfect 1987 adaptation of The Dead on June 15th (16.00) and 16th (18.30).

Adapted from the final story in the Dubliners collection, the film is set during the annual dinner party of the elderly Morkan sisters on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1904. The film lovingly recreates the middle-class characters of Joyce’s Dublin before reaching a powerful conclusion that reminds us that love is always intertwined with loss. John Huston’s subtle direction and Angelica Huston and Donal McCann’s delicately modulated performances perfectly capture the social atmosphere and emotional nuances of Joyce’s original text.

Celebrating Bloomsday throughout June, IFI’s FREE Archive at Lunchtime series includes Frank Stapleton’s A Second of June. This Ulyssean, richly-textured day in the life of two young people wandering through the streets of Dublin is set against a backdrop of street traders, amusement arcades and protests during the visit of President Ronald Reagan to Ireland in 1984.

Tickets are available now for screenings of The Dead on June 15th (16.00) and 16th (18.30) at normal IFI prices from the IFI Box Office (01 679 5744/www.ifi.ie).