As much as the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is a melting-pot of worldwide cinema, with movies from pretty much every continent on the planet being represented this year, it is also a fantastic platform for homegrown talent to show off their latest projects. Below are the Irish movies that will be playing through the JDIFF this February, so if you feel like supporting your fellow natives, make sure you pop along and see the fantastic films (weeks and sometimes months before their actual cinema release) that are being made right on your doorstep!*

*Note: probably not RIGHT on your doorstep, but you know what we meant.

A VISION – Wednesday 19th February, IFI, 18.30
Described as a 'film-poem' by its own makers, A Vision is a piece of highly experimental cinema that attempts to bring the watcher into the mind of none other than national treasure W.B. Yeats. Not quite a straight-forward biography, instead trying to tell the story of Yeats by visually immersing the viewer in his imagination, this will probably be quite unlike anything else you'll see this year.

CALVARY – Thursday 13th February, Savoy, 19.30
The opening gala of this year's JDIFF, this is director John Michael McDonagh's follow up to The Guard, reuniting him with Brendan Gleeson, who plays a priest who gets told during a confession that he's about to be murdered. Receiving rave reviews from Sundance earlier this year, McDonagh, Gleeson and some of the rest of the all-star cast will be in attendance at the screening to answer a few questions, should you be interested!

 COME INTO THE GARDENS – Saturday 15th February, Light House, 19.00
A documentary on the famed St Teresa's Gardens in Dublin, a complex of flats that were promised a refurbishment that never arrived. Instead, the film-makers present artistic portraits of the people who still lived there, and are members of a very close community that are about to be removed from their homes and from each other's lives.

THE DEVIL'S POOL –Tuesday 18th February, IFI, 18.15
Interviewing artists and academics, this is a documentary that looks into the notion that insanity and creativity are two traits that often go hand in hand. Detailing the investigations into this theory, and juxtaposing some artist's works with a description of different types of mental issues, this is probably not going to be easy-watching, but definitely one of the more thought-provoking features on show.

THE FOOD GUIDE TO LOVE – Monday 17th February, Cineworld, 20.00
Looking for something a little less taxing? Then this is the one for you. A rom-com set in Dublin, dealing with an egotistical celebrity chef and his tumultuous relationships with women – specifically one fiery Spanish woman – The Food Guide To Love makes the capital look absolutely beautiful, a place everyone in the world will want to live in!

GOLD – Saturday 22nd February, Savoy, 18.30
Irish legend David Wilmot plays a bit of a bum who wants to reunite with his estranged daughter so she can meet her grandfather before he dies, but he discovers that his ex/her mother have moved in with his former PE teacher, which brings forth a lot of childhood memories and childish behaviour from Wilmot. Also features Kerry Condon (The Walking Dead) and James Nesbitt (The Hobbit).

THE INQUIRY – Saturday 22nd February, Light House, 12.30
It's 1913, and we've got Jim Larkin on one side of the table, and William Martin Murphy on the other. The Lockout has been in effect for several weeks, and these two men are meeting face to face for the first time in an attempt to bring an end to it. This documentary goes into the lives of Larkin and Murphy, to discover the intentions and tensions to both sides of the dispute.

JDIFF SHORTS – Friday 14th February, Light House, 18.30
A collection of shorts from Irish directors, writers and actors, ranging from all over the genre spectrum – from drama to comedy, biography to animation – there's bound to be something in here for everyone to enjoy, plus this is usually where all the up-and-coming hot new Irish talent get their first leg up. Future Academy Award winners, you seen them here first!

THE LAST DAYS ON MARS – Monday 17th February, Cineworld, 21.00
Oscar nominated Irish director Ruairi Robinson (who was THIS close to directing the live-action version of Akira) brings his feature length debut to the fest. A sci-fi horror set on, you guessed it, Mars, it features a boat-load of recognisable names and faces trying to escape the planet when a contagion begins killing them off one-by-one.

 LIVING IN A CODED LAND – Wednesday 19th February, Light House, 18.30
It's not easy to attempt to cover a nation's entire backstory, but director Pat Collins (who will be attendance) gives it a good whack with this artistic documentary that combines archive footage with modern interviews to interesting effect, all the while describing our nation's troubled past, present and future.

LOVE ETERNAL –Tuesday 18th February, Cineworld, 20.30
Robert De Hoog plays a young man who is obsessed with the notion of death, and goes to some extreme lengths to get as close to it as he possibly can. The second feature by director Brendan Muldowney after 2009's super-dark Savage, and featuring Pollyanna McIntosh (who helped launch the Festival), both Muldowney and McIntosh will be in attendance to talk about this bold film.

NO LIMBS NO LIMITS – Saturday 15th February, Odeon @ The Point, 11.00
Joanne O'Riordan was born with an extremely rare syndrome known as 'Total Amelia', which means she was born without limbs. This documentary, directed by her brother Steven (who, along with Joanne, will be in attendance at the movie) is a touching, warm insight into her life, and how she has not allowed this disability to stop her from living her life to the fullest.

OUT OF HERE – Saturday 22nd February, Light House, 20.30
There is a very real issue facing today's Irish youth, with the economic decline and attraction of foreign lands, people and wonders, What Is The Point In Staying? Fionn Walton plays Ciaran, a college drop-out who has returned home to Ireland after a year of travelling, and finds that his former life has moved on without him. A darkly funny but powerfully insightful look into a problematic hot topic.

RUN & JUMP – Saturday 22nd February, Cineworld, 18.15
We were lucky enough to catch a very early screening of this movie last July in Galway were it went on to win Best Irish Feature, Run & Jump stars 30 Rock and Nebraska star Will Forte and one to watch Maxine Peake, this is usually the part where we tell you what the movie is about. But, perhaps, this is one of those occasions when going in blind is for the best, and just let this lovely, warm, heartfelt movie wash over you.

 

THE STAG – Sunday 23rd February, Savoy, 19.30
The Closing Gala of the festival features an all star cast – including Andrew “Moriarty From Sherlock” Scott, Hugh O' Conor and Amy Huberman – in an all out comedy about a group of lads on a stag weekend. Far from just An Irish Hangover, these leads trek to the Wicklow countryside, and find themselves tested by nature and each other.

STAY – Saturday 15th February, Cineworld, 20.00
Aidan Quinn plays Dermot, an emotionally troubled man whose partner, Abby (Taylor Schilling from Orange Is The New Black), leaves him when he confesses he has no interest in having a family with her. She returns to her home in Montreal, and the film splits its time between Dermot and Abby, and their lives apart from each other, and whether or not they've both made the right decisions in this relationship.

To buy tickets for these, or any other films in the festival, make sure to head to JDIFF.com