Michael Dwyer remembered as annual Dublin filmfest gets under way

THE JAMESON Dublin International Film Festival kicked off last night at the Savoy cinema with a screening of Neil Jordan's new film, Ondine.

The picture stars Colin Farrell as a Cork fisherman who finds a strange woman in his net and comes to suspect that she might be a mythical sea creature known as a selkie. Farrell was on hand to pump hands along the red carpet. Alicja Bachleda, the Polish actor who takes the female lead, and young Alison Barry, who plays Farrell’s daughter, also braved the cold air on O’Connell Street.

Inside the Savoy, the mood of celebration was, understandably, tempered by respectful acknowledgment of Michael Dwyer’s recent passing.

Mr Dwyer, this newspaper’s film correspondent until his death on New Year’s Day, founded the Dublin Film Festival in 1985 and, following its later dissolution, went on to reconstitute the event in its current form seven years ago.

Before the film began, Arthur Lappin, the distinguished producer who succeeded Mr Dwyer as chairman of the event, offered a moving tribute.

“Although Michael Dwyer is sadly no longer with us, he will continue to be a benign and reassuring presence in this festival for many years to come,” Mr Lappin said. We are especially pleased to welcome here tonight Michael’s partner, Brian Jennings, and his sisters and nephew, and I hope it will be a matter of comfort and pride to them to know that the 2010 Jameson International Film Festival is formally dedicated to Michael’s memory.”

The tributes to Mr Dwyer include screenings of several films he particularly championed and the presentation of the first Michael Dwyer Discovery Award by the Dublin Film Critics Circle.

Gráinne Humphreys, now embarking on her third festival as director, welcomed Jordan and his cast on stage to celebrate another impressively busy event. Other Irish films at the festival include Ken Wardop's already highly praised documentary His Hers – a recent winner at the Sundance Festival – and Conor Horgan's surprisingly intimate post-apocalyptic drama One Hundred Mornings. This weekend, the Irish Film Board launches a selection of short musicals from up-and-coming film-makers. Mark O'Connor's Between the Canals, a tough, low-budget drama of Dublin life, will also receive a deserved unveiling before a keen festival audience.

And, of course, there will be shiny celebrity guests. Kristin Scott Thomas, an actor whose stature grows every year, flies in to enjoy a short season of her most admired films. Towering Scottish actor Tilda Swinton, now at home in both Narniaand no-budget art flicks, will, on February 28th, be on hand to close the event with her luscious new film, I Am Love. Kenneth Anger, a key figure in the American underground, arrives to spread transgressive, avant garde shocks about the place.

If that sounds too severe, fear not. The festival will also be hosting early screenings of upcoming commercial releases. Both Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderlandare to receive their Irish premieres at the event. And there is the much anticipated surprise film, its identity a more closely guarded secret than the site of the D-Day landings.

The festival runs until Sunday, February 28th. More details from www.jdiff.com or (01) 687 7974.