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A bumper selection of exciting new Irish cinema and a move to West End venues
indicates big ambitions for the eleventh Irish Film Festival London (IFFL).
Wednesday 16th November – Sunday 20th November 2021
Vue Leicester Square, Vue Piccadilly, Riverside Studios, Garden Cinema and Bertha Dochouse
The UK’s largest celebration of Irish film is back with a bang, as the Irish Film Festival London announces the programme for its 11th edition, inviting audiences to join the festivities across West and Central London this November.
IFFL 2022 returns to Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios for many events this year, but also takes up residence
in some new, West End venues, bringing the festival closer to the heart of the city. With screenings taking place at Vue Cinemas in both Piccadilly and a glamorous opening night promised at Vue West End, in the heart of London’s Leicester Square.
Screenings will also take place at the brand new art-deco Garden Cinema in Covent Garden and Bloomsbury’s Bertha Dochouse, nestled in the Curzon Bloomsbury, while the festival’s mainstay awards ceremony will once again return to the Embassy of Ireland in Victoria.
This year’s festival will also be characterised by live performances which will take place across the festival period, and include live music, spoken word and even dramatic performances at Riverside Studios throughout the 5 day festival period.
Maintaining the model which has allowed the IFL team to reach global audiences since 2021, additional screenings will also take place online through a dedicated festival screening platform.
FEATURE FILM PROGRAMME
The festival opens on Wednesday 16th November with its opening gala event - a special preview of Frank Berry’s Aisha, starring Black Panther’s Leitita Wright and The Crown’s Josh O’Connor - Aisha is a social issue drama tackling the Irish phenomenon of hotel-based housing for refugees known as “direct provision”, which often results in individuals and families becoming stuck in limbo for months or years on end. Letitia Wright plays the titular Aisha in the film.
Director Frank Berry has previously delivered hard hitting dramas such as Michael Inside, dealing with teenage incarceration and documentary Ballymun Lullaby, set on the Republic of Ireland’s only high-rise housing estate. The festival are pleased to welcome the film’s director Frank Berry to a post screening Q&A at Vue Leicester Square on Wednesday 16th November.
The festival’s Closing Gala is the latest Irish-language film to be released in Irish cinemas, Róise & Frank.
Directing duo Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy bring us a shaggy dog story which follows grief stricken Róise (Bríd Ní Neachtain), who has distanced herself from the world around her, and those dearest to her.
Change is on the horizon for Róise when a stray dog follows her every move. Is it uncanny, the interest shown by the dog in Frank’s possessions, or is there a message behind it all?
The film’s directors will join the festival for a post-screening Q&A on Sunday 20th November at Riverside Studios.