Films

What’s happening on stage and film

Some of Ireland’s most accomplished playwrights, actors and directors hail from Dublin. They have made names for themselves with award-winning performances and films. Academy Award winners Barry Fitzerald and Brenda Fricker. Other accomplished Dubliners who have appeared in film and television include Gabriel Bryne, Colin Farrell, Aiden Gillen and Sir Michael Gambon. Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Sean O’Casey, Samuel Beckett, William Butler Yeats, and other respected playwrights have also emerged from and flourished in Dublin.

Some of the most innovative film-making in Dublin in recent years has been in animation. Many of the country’s leading animation studios are based in the city, including Brown Bag Films and Boulder Media. Academy Award-nominated films Give Up Yer Aul Sins and Granny O’Grimm’s have been produced by Brown Bag Films. Cutting-edge films and television programmes have been created and produced in Dublin for several major national and international studios, including Disney, Nickelodeon, the Cartoon Network, RTE, and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Ireland’s premier film festival is held each year in Dublin. First organised in 2003, the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival showcases some 120 films from Ireland and abroad.

Venues across the city play host to the festival, including The Savoy, Screen, Cineworld, Light House Cinema, and the Irish Film Institute. For many, the film festival is the lone opportunity to see work by emerging directors. The festival also serves as the Irish premiere for many films and attracts some of the biggest names in Irish film.

Dublin is also at the heart of Irish theatre. Europe’s oldest specialised theatre festival is held in the city each year in September and October. The Dublin Theatre Festival champions the work of Irish artists as well as international playwrights. At the same time, plays are performed every day on stages in theatres throughout Dublin. Dublin’s Abbey Theatre remains at the centre of the city’s theatre scene. Since opening in 1904, it has seen the premiere of some of Ireland’s most famous plays. Works from past and current playwrights continue to be performed at the Abbey, Ireland’s national theatre. The theatre is also helping develop playwriting skills of new writers and directors through its New Playwrights Programme.