Up to 200 stars and executives from the Irish film industry will be flying to the south of France this week for the Cannes Film Festival, which begins on Wednesday.
The festival is one of the most important film festivals and markets in the world and representatives from Ireland will be there to promote new Irish cinema.
Every year an estimated 50 per cent of the world's film business takes place at Cannes.
New Irish films on display during the festival include
The Daisy Chainstarring Samantha Morton and directed by Aisling Walsh, who previously directed
Song for a Raggy Boy.
Also featuring will be
The Escapiststarring Liam Cunningham which was previously selected to screen at the Sundance Film Festival.
A Film With Me In Itwith comic actor Dylan Moran will also be promoted along with
Edenby Offaly-born writer Eugene O'Brien which recently won the award for the Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Elsewhere,
Hunger, a potentially controversial film on IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands will have its world premiere at Cannes.
The film concentrates on the last six weeks in the life of Sands, who was 27 when he died in the Maze Prison in May 1981, shortly after being elected an MP.
The screenplay for
Hungeris by Irish playwright Enda Walsh, whose critically acclaimed plays have included
Disco Pigs, Bedboundand
The Walworth Farce.
The Irish Pavilion, which is a joint marketing initiative between the Irish Film Board and The Northern Ireland Film & Television Commission, will be the focal point for the Irish film industry during the festival.
Additional reporting: PA