FILM-LOVERS WILL be excited to hear that the first announcements for the 2023 Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF) programme are arriving this side of Christmas.

The festival has also put ticket packages for sale on its website, in time for Christmas present shopping.

The 2023 event, which is set to take place from 23 February – 4 March 2023, will be a multi-platform event, meaning that audiences can watch the selected films both on the big screen and at home.

The short films line-up has been announced today, and features works from well-known names like Clare Dunne, Mia Mullarkey, Olwen Foueré, Emma Martin and Hugh O’Connor. The shorts are a great way to take the temperature of filmmaking in Ireland, with both newcomers and more established names like Dunne and Fouéré taking on the format. In all, 25 shorts from Ireland and across the world will be shown at DIFF 2023.

“The short film format has always been a vital part of the festival, acting as both a showcase for future talent and as an exciting and dynamic art form,” said Gráinne Humphreys, Director of Dublin International Film Festival.

Throughout the festival there will be five presentations of shorts, including a selection from Screen Ireland’s funding scheme recipients and the return of the Glasgow Film Festival highlights. These will join three DIFF presentations across the event.

It includes a curated programme from Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann’s Focus, Framework and Short Stories funding schemes, which provide funding and support for filmmakers. 

The three DIFF shorts presentations were selected from over 750 submissions by programmers Aisha Bolaji and Mohamed Tarek, and include films from Ireland as well as from China, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Lebanon, Norway, Iran and more.

Directorial debuts come in the form of Conor Bradley’s student short Sons of Roisin, Derek Ugochukwu You’re Not Home and Tania Notaro’s Glitterbug. In addition, the programme includes Irish language film Bean Feasa Winner of ‘Best Irish Short Film’ at Foyle Film Festival 2022 and the Irish premiere of award-winning directing duo Nathan Fagan and Luke Daly’s Mud Queen starring Clare Dunne, as well as Dunne’s own short One Good Conversation.

Also featured will be the Chinese film Will You Look At Me by Shuli Huang, winner of Queer Palm Award at Semaine de la Critique Cannes 2022; the Iranian film Deer by Hadi Babaeifar winner of Best Short Film at GENERATION — KPLUS at Berlinale 2022; and Warsha by Dania Bdeir winner of Best International Short Film: Fiction at Sundance Film Festival 2022.

Bolaji and Tarek said of their selections: “Through fiction, documentary, animation and experimental works we are brought to an array of experiences that delve into the fantastical with films showcasing folktales and mythology as well as a look into contemporary issues concerning gender, the LGBTQ+ community, women’s rights and more. We explore themes such as coming-of-age, alienation, grief, family and acceptance through genres such as comedy, horror, drama and fantasy.”

Sons of Roisin

Here’s the full line-up of shorts:

DIFF Shorts 1

• Dolorosa – Emma Martin/Hugh O’Connor, Ireland
• Will You Look At Me? – Shuli Huang, China
• Baths – Nell Hensey, Ireland
• Deer – Hadi Babaeifar, Iran
• The Small Makings of a Storm – Avery Angle, Ireland
• Everything At Once – Henrik Dyb Zwart, Norway
• Bean Feasa – Daniel Butler, Ireland
• One Good Conversation – Clare Dunne, Ireland
• Wednesday’s Child – Laura O’Shea, Ireland
• Sons of the Crezent – Brendan Canty, New Zealand

DIFF Shorts 2

• Mud Queen – Nathan Fagan/Luke Daly, Ireland
• You’re Not Home – Derek Ugochukwu, Ireland
• On Xerxex’s Throne – Evi Kalogiropoulou, Greece
• My Girlfriend – Kawthar Younis, Egypt
• Cracks Will Come – Daniel Mateo Vallejo, Colombia
• Sons of Roisin – Conor Bradley, Ireland
• Blind Spot – Lotfi Achour, Tunisia
• People of the Plaza – Paul Gleeson, Ireland

DIFF Shorts 3

• Rosemay A.D. (After Dad) – Ethan Barrett, USA
• Warsha – Dania Bdeir, France/Lebanon
• Full Moon – Alexander Wilson-Flynn, Ireland
• Tsutsué – Amartei Armar, France/Ghana
• Glitterbug – Tania Notaro, Ireland
• La Tumba – Natasha Waugh, Ireland
• Far Calls – Olwen Fouéré/Tristan Heanue, Ireland

Screen Ireland Shorts

• Safe as Houses – Mia Mullarkey, Ireland
• Regular Rabbit – Eoin Duffy, Ireland
• Shadow – Janna Kemperman, Ireland
• Bad Boy Buck – James Fitzgerald, Ireland
• Red Rabbit – Rory Kerr, Ireland
• Hermit – Sarah Benson, Ireland
• Lamb – Sinéad O’Loughlin, Ireland

Sons of the Crezent

Also announced for the festival on Saturday 4 March is a double bill of Four Seasons and La Nature by the Armenian director Artavazd Pelechian, with a Q&A hosted by Irish director Tadhg O’Sullivan (To The Moon).

In Four Seasons (1975), his last collaboration with cameraman Mikhail Vartanov, Pelechian captures a peasant community in its ongoing battle with the elements. On screen, they are accompanied by Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, as they perform feats of survival.

La Nature (2019) was released more than 25 years after his previous film and is made up of found footage sequences of humans versus nature, with much of the footage taken from the internet.

Pelechian has been described as one of the most visionary artists to have emerged from the Soviet Union, with his films “ahead of their time in blending the reality levels of documentary archive and poetic fiction”, said DIFF. Though known in cinephile circles, the festival will offer broader Irish audiences the chance to experience the 84-year-old’s work on the big screen.

Tickets are now on sale at www.diff.ie for the events announced so far. If you have a film fan you need to buy a present for, you can also buy a festival season ticket for €220, which will give access to cinema screenings including one gala or special event, as well as priority booking.  Cinema bundles are also available with five tickets for €45 and 10 tickets for €85 on www.diff.ie