Stellan Skarsgård officially launches 10th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival

Acclaimed Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård officially launched the 10th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (JDIFF) last night at the recently reopened Light House Cinema in Smithfield.

Highlights of this year’s programme have been revealed, along with a list of special guests confirmed to attend the festival, including Al Pacino (Wilde Salomé), Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Mark Wahlberg (Contraband), Martin Sheen (Stella Days), Michael Madsen (Jameson Cult Film Club screening of Reservoir Dogs), Kenneth Lonergan (Margaret), Whit Stillman (Damsels in Distress), Marjane Satrapi (Chicken With Plums) and Agnieszka Holland (In Darkness).

Between February 16th and 25th, more than 130 films – including Irish and international features, documentaries and shorts – will screen in cinemas across Dublin. The festival will open with a gala presentation of Thom Fitzgerald’s hilarious Cloudburst, starring Brenda Fricker, and will close with Ian Fitzgibbon’s acclaimed and touching drama Death of a Superhero.

Earlier in the day, Skarsgård (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Melancholia, Good Will Hunting) was awarded a Volta, the festival’s Career Achievement Award, at a ceremony held at the Merrion Hotel. He was joined at last night's launch party by Irish actor Amy Huberman (Threesome, The Clinic, A Film With Me in It), who stars in the Irish feature films Stella Days and Death of a Superhero, in which she lends her voice to an animated character (both will screen in the festival).

The launch party celebrated JDIFF’s 10th anniversary with live music by Dublin band The Minutes and DJ Laura Lee Conboy, and a light installation by Dublin-based collective MIDASpaces, who transform regular spaces into digital playgrounds using projection and interactive design.

Established in 2003, JDIFF has become Ireland’s premiere feature film festival, and recently announced that it has renewed its contract with Jameson for another three years.

In addition to showcasing some of the very best in Irish and international film, the festival hosts several special events that allow the public to interact with filmmakers, including public interviews, panel discussions and Q&A sessions. Film screenings and events generally take place in all of Dublin’s city-centre cinemas, including Cineworld, the Savoy, Screen, the Irish Film Institute (IFI) and the Light House. The majority of films shown at the festival are Irish premieres. For some, this is the only public screening they will have in Ireland.

Tickets for the 10th annual Jameson Dublin International Film Festival are available online for purchase from midnight on Thursday, February 2nd. To book, visit www.jdiff.com, call the box office at +353 1 687 7974 or pop into Filmbase in Temple Bar. The box office and Filmbase open ticket sales February 3rd, and will be open daily from 10am to 7pm.