In case you’d forgotten, what with all the social activity about these days, tomorrow is Open Day at the Irish Film Institute which means it’s free – FREE! – in to every film all day. The open day screenings kick off with Ponyo, an animated story of a fish-girl by Hayao Miyazaki, he of Spirited Away fame. Also on offer is the much-touted Crazy Heart, which has already earned its two stars, Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Oscar nominations this year, and Tom Ford’s film debut A Single Man. The open day film finale is a screening of The Lives of Others, which topped the IFI’s online poll for the People’s Choice Awards, in which eighteen hit films – one from each year the IFI has been open – competed. Full, recession-busting schedule below, while tickets are allocated on the day for those who show up from 11 a.m. onwards.

Open Day screenings: full schedule

12.30 Ponyo – fish-girl animation, along the lines of a de-Disneyfied Little Mermaid
12.50  Ballroom of Romance – Brenda Fricker and Mick Lally star in this big screen version of a William Trevor story
1.15    IFI Irish Film Archive Screening 1: Colm O Laoghaire Shorts
2.15    Ghost World   (+ optional Teen Animation Workshop) – graphic-novel inspired film with a young Scarlett Johansson.
2.30    2001: A Space Odyssey – Stanley Kubrick on the big screen.
3.00     Eamon - debut feature film from Irish director Margaret Corkery
4.30     My Night with Maud – Éric Rohmer classic from 1969
5.00    IFI Irish Film Archive Screening 2: Welcome to the Emerald Isle: A Selection of Travel Films
5.10     Bringing Up Baby – 1930s screwball comedy with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant
6.30     Make Way for Tomorrow (16mm)
6.50     Grizzly Man – 2005 Herzog documentary about the life and death of a bear enthusiast
7.10     Crazy Heart
8.50     A Single Man
9.20     The Lives of Others