The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival returns for a 9th season

Get ready for the 9th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, which is running from February 17th to 27th in the nations capital. The premier event in the Irish cinematic calendar the festival usually boasts a great collection of Irish and international movies, shorts and features. The programme launch for the 2011 festival is set to take place Tuesday January 25th in Tripod on Harcourt Street, but the JDIFF guys have let slip some of the movies we can expect to see this year.

While the complete programme will consist of over 130 films and events, here are 3 to whet the appetite.

The Way, directed by Emilio Estevez, is a movie set along the thousand-year-old Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route.  It tells the story of Tom Avery, played by Martin Sheen, an American father who travels to France to reclaim the body of his estranged son.  Avery cremates his son’s remains, placing them in his backpack, and starts off on the journey his son never made to Santiago.

Good Cake, Bad Cake, is a documentary from Irish filmmaker Shimmy Marcus (Soulboy, Headrush), which follows a band called LiR, who following the success of U2 were anointed the next big thing. The film charts the bands highs and lows of the band’s musical odyssey. The JDIFF marks the world premier of the movie, and will be followed by a post-screening gig by the band in The Workman’s Club venue in Dublin.

The 2011 Special Music event in the National Concert Hall will be a screening of the The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The film that launched Rudolph Valentino’s career, brought Dublin-born Rex Ingram to prominence as a director and inspired an international Tango craze will be shown with an accompanying live score composed by Carl Davis, played by the acclaimed RTÉ Concert Orchestra, conducted by David Brophy.

That all sounds pretty darn good. Tickets for the festival will go on sale following the launch at midnight January 26th. Bookmark the website now and prepare to stay up late to avoid disappointment.