DIFF 2024 Preview | 10 Must-See Movies Coming to the Dublin International Film Festival
Since its inception in 2003, the Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF) has endeavoured to bring the best of international cinema to Irish audiences, and the 2024 slate is no exception. With films from some of the most exciting filmmakers around, this year’s selection offers plenty to ponder, revile, provoke and amaze.
This year’s festival takes place from 22nd February – 2nd March. Here are 10 films we recommend catching:
Baltimore
London-based Irish filmmakers Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy return with a retelling of the daring IRA art heist at Russborough House, Co. Wexford in 1974, told from the point of view of the woman who led it, English heiress-turned-rebel Rose Dugdale. Baltimore ultimately raises more questions than it answers, but is worth seeing for a committed lead performance from Imogen Poots as Dugdale, and a script that revels in its heroine’s ambiguities. Screening Fri 23 Feb.
Evil Does Not Exist
After the resounding success of Drive My Car, writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi returns with a meditative clash of old and new. Local residents of a forested area near Tokyo object to proposals to build a ‘glamping’ site nearby, but objections and barriers come in all sorts of ways, some of them unexpected. Like his previous Oscar-winning opus, Evil Does Not Exist sees Hamaguchi take a slow-burn look at modern malaise, and dares the viewer to slow down and consider where they stand. The snow-covered locations and hypnotising score keep you riveted. Screening Sat 24 Feb.
High & Low: John Galliano
Rebellious designer John Galliano scaled the heights of the fashion world by creating treasures from trash. Several excesses and one racist outburst later, he came back down to earth with a thud. Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, Touching The Void) charts the one-time wunderkind’s incredible career, with a sober and remorseful Galliano telling the story in as open and honest a way as possible, leaving judgement or forgiveness entirely up to the viewer. Screening Sun 25 Feb.
The Beast
Bertrand Bonello’s (Nocturama, Zombi Child) befuddling sci-fi sees Léa Seydoux and George Mackay as star-crossed lovers meeting over numerous timelines. This blend of Michel Gondry inventiveness with David Lynch mystery is by turns frustrating, fascinating and unbearably tense, but Bonello melds it all together in a blisteringly confident vision of love corrupted across space and time. Go into it with an open mind, and the captivating leads will see you through this stylish and scary provocation. Screening Tue 27 Feb.
Four Daughters
When Olfa’s two eldest daughters run away from home to join an Islamic fundamentalist group, she and her two remaining daughters are left to pick up the pieces of their lives. By inviting director Kaouther Ben Hanna and a cast of actresses to reconstruct the events that led to their family splitting up, these remarkable women find catharsis and clarity. Four Daughters is a confident and heartfelt advertisement for the healing power of art, and the unshakeable bonds of family. Screening Fri 1 Mar.
About Dry Grasses
Nuri Bilge Ceylan cements his place as Turkey’s finest filmmaker with one of his best films yet. When a young teacher funds himself trapped at his rural teaching job by a false accusation from a student, the resulting existential crisis just might help him find love and meaning. Winning performances (Merve Dizdar won Best Actress at Cannes for her turn here) keep the audience grounded while Ceylan upends expectations with his most ambitious film yet. Among the typically-gorgeous landscapes, you’ll find shots, camera moves and narrative detours that are simply astonishing. One of the best films of the year. Screening Thu 29 Feb.
Green Border
Director Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa, The Secret Garden) tells a none-more-timely story of dehumanisation, focusing on a group of Middle Eastern refugees as they get bumped between Poland and Belarus in a frustratingly uncaring game of national one-upmanship, while locals are frustrated by bureaucracy and heavy-handed policing in their efforts to help the displaced. Green Border is a harrowing but brilliantly-made portrait of lives forced on the run. Screening Fri 1 Mar.
The Green Fog
DIFF welcomes Canadian auteur Guy Maddin (My Winnipeg, The Forbidden Room) as a special guest, and this screening of his 2017 tribute to Hitchcock is a must-see for fans. He and co-director Evan Johnson honour Vertigo and San Francisco with this montage of the city, crafted from practically any film you care to name that’s set there. The Green Fog is a fun exercise in (re)creation and filmmaking technique, and a certified treat for cinephiles. Screening Mon 26 Feb.
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
After his Berlin prizewinner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Romanian provocateur Radu Jude returns with a film that’s definitely longer, possibly more provocative, and arguably his best yet. Following Angela (Ilinca Manolache, brilliant) around Bucharest, we watch her fill her time as a driver for a film production, an Andrew Tate-spoofing content creator, and an unwilling whistleblower. Jude takes aim as virtually everything that could make a person angry about modern living, from the gig economy to porn addiction. Jude proves himself modern cinema’s most confident anarchist with this dazzling assault on good taste. Screening Wed 28 Feb.
That They May Face The Rising Sun
Pat Collins returns to feature filmmaking (following the masterful Song of Granite) with this beautiful and elegant adaptation of John McGahern’s novel. Joe (Barry Ward) and Kate (Anna Bederke) have returned to rural Ireland from London, but as life plays out in the rituals and habits of the colourful locals, they have to wonder if they really belong there. Every sound and sight is a wonder under Collins’ direction, and the film’s patient pace lets the viewer drink in the sights while mulling over the characters’ various dilemmas and discussions. A treat from one of the best Irish filmmakers working today. Screening Sat 2 Mar.
The Dublin International Film Festival 2024 takes place from 22nd February – 2nd March.
