Grainne Humphries Biog photo

Source: Screen File

Grainne Humphries

Grainne Humphreys, executive director of the Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF), is heading into the festival’s closing weekend delighted at this year’s level of audience engagement.

“We’re very happy, our audiences are up, our numbers are up,” she says. 

“I’m very conscious that some of these films won’t get screened again [in Ireland] – that’s what we’re here for, rather than the films that go out on a significant release in a couple of weeks.”

While exact box office figures have yet to be confirmed, Humphreys says the festival – which opened on February 19 – passed its box office target a day and a half earlier than last year.

Humphreys notes the programme comprises “ a way above average number of new Irish films and an above average number of world premieres”.

She points to Hungarian director György Pálfi’s Hen, Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan’s Resurrection, Grant Gee’s Ireland-UK co-production Everybody Digs Bill Evans and UK filmmakers Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth’s Broken English, as films that have engaged particularly well with Dublin cinemagoers. 

“A lot of that has been new audiences,” reveals Humphreys.

She adds the DIFF team has been working “really, really hard” to reach a younger demographic. “Five years ago, I realised the disconnect between 18- and 19-year-olds and cultural cinema exhibition,” she reflects. “We changed a lot of our approaches. We have a lot of younger screeners coming in who work on the festival. A lot of them are also doing the Q&As, working with us on parts of the programme.

”We brought in something called the DIFF Media Hub this year, so a group of emerging writers and bloggers and YouTubers who are doing interviews and creating a lot of material to bring in new audiences, outside the mainstream methods we would have used.”

The festival has enjoyed increased support this year from Arts Council and Screen Ireland. Humphreys has also observed more support from international embassies based in Ireland. “There’s definitely a shift in the cultural policies of some of the embassies.” 

“The Swiss, French, Italian, or Portuguese embassy….are quite small embassies in Ireland and have quite a reduced budget or resources. I’m seeing it as an endorsement of the festival’s reach and position now that they want to be part of it.”

These embassies, she says, help with doing some of the “heavy lifting” of connecting international films with their communities in Dublin. “You have a lot more engagement with some of the smaller [international] films than you would have had before.”

Challenges

A challenge for the festival is not being tied to a year-round venue, as per the Glasgow Film Festival with the Glasgow Film Theatre. “I’m always jealous of festivals that do. They can use it as a research science lab.”

This year’s industry venue, Haymarket House, is just a three-minute walk from the central cinema, The Lighthouse, which Humphreys says has created greater synergy between the festival and the industry programme. Industry speakers this year have included BFI’s director of audiences Ben Luxford, Swiss filmmaker Lionel Baier, Polish cinematographer Piotr Sobociński Jr and Sundance programme Ania Trzebiatowska.

Still to come are three of the festivals most high profile world premieres: Morgan Matthews’ 500 Miles starring Maisie Williams and Bill Nighy, Rachel Fleit’s documentary The Slightest Touch, which features Colin Farrell running a marathon alongside his lifelong friend Emma Fogarty who lives with a rare and painful skin condition, plus the closing night gala on March 1, the world premiere of Irish filmmaker John Carney’s Dublin-shot Power Ballad. Its US stars Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas are both attending, and for the first time, the closing night gala will be held at Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.

How did the festival land such a starry closing night premiere? “Stalking,” smiles Humphreys, who clarifies she has been regularly checking in on the film with its Irish producers and DIFF regulars, Rebecca O’Flanagan and Robert Walpole of Treasure Entertainment. “It’s been two or three years that we’ve been saying, is it ready? Where are you going?”

With a few days to go, there’s one particular image that will stick with Humphreys from this year’s festival. “Is there anything better than seeing the happy, but slightly guilty faces of people who have bunked off work to see a film at the festival? That’s the bullseye for a festival. Guilty, smug, afternoon viewers.”

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