A real Dublin welcome

WELCOME to Dublin The American director, Todd Haynes, in the capital last week for the Dublin Film Festival, had to curtail his trip abruptly when he was attacked on South Great George's Street on Friday night. Haynes, who had been partying with festival staff in a Dame Court nightclub, left on his own to get a taxi back to his hotel and was attacked by a man who broke his nose in two places. Haynes cancelled the rest of his weekend plans and flew back home to the comparative safety of New York.

Meanwhile, the festival's final figures show that it reached an audience of over 31,000 people, with total membership up by six per cent and overall receipts up by eight per cent. The Surprise Film on, the festival's closing day was Mike Nichols's sparkling remake, of La Cage Aux Folles - The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane and Dianne Wiest. And it was preceded by a surprise appearance by Barry Norman, who flew in specially for the event.

WHEREAS the stars will be out in force for the Oscars on Monday night, none of the nominees is expected to show his or her face at the annual Razzie (aka Raspberry) awards, which mark some of the worst achievements in cinema last year and will be announced in Hollywood on Sunday.

Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls, which is banned in Ireland, leads the field with 13 nominations, including worst picture, worst screenplay (Joe Esztheras) and worst director. The other nominees for worst film are Congo, It's Pat, The Scarlet Letter and Waterworld. For her acting debut in Fair Game, Cindy Crawford is up against Amy the talking gorilla from Congo for worst actress.

The close race for worst actor features Sylvester Stallone (Judge Dredd), Kyle MacLachlan (Showgirls) and Kevin Costner (Waterworld).

BRYAN SINGER is set to follow his superb The Usual Suspects with Apt Pupil a psychological drama based on a novella by Stephen King. Ian McKellen will play a Nazi war criminal hiding out in a quiet suburban community ... Ewan McGregor, Nick Nolte and Patricia Arquette have been signed to star in Ole Bornedal's US remake of his own slick Danish horror movie, Nightwatch . . . After the success of La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz will direct an English language futuristic action movie in Russia. The film, which does not yet have a title, will star Jodie Foster, who will produce the film through her Egg Pictures company, Kate Winslet, an Oscar nominee for Sense and Sensibility has been signed to the leading role in Titanic James Cameron's drama of a doomed love story set aboard the eponymous luxury liner.