When: Saturday, 24th of March, 6pm-9pm
Where: The Irish Film Institute
The Film: Trishna by Michael Winterbottom
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About: "Trishna is [Michael] Winterbottom's take on Tess of the d'Urbervilles, filmed previously by Roman Polanski in Tess, an epic, slow but hypnotic period movie. Winterbottom's version is shorter, set very much in the present, and diverts from Hardy's text in many ways, but is just as compelling.

The technical qualities are superb. India is more than just a backdrop, the camera captures a studious, almost documentary-style vision of the country, one that never segues into kitsch, post-Slumdog cultural tourism.

Jay (Riz Ahmed) is the wealthy son of a London hotelier on holiday in India with his mates. Jay's life doesn't add up to much; he earns just enough to do nothing. But then he catches sight of the beautiful Trishna (Freida Pinto). Trishna is a peasant girl, working to support her family after her father was crippled in a road accident, so, to tempt her away, Jay lands her a well-paid job at one of his father's hotels in Jaipur. But after their relationship turns physical, Trishna is racked with guilt and goes home.

Jay pursues her and convinces her to come with him to Mumbai, where they can live unnoticed and untainted by the rich-poor divide of rural Rajasthan. At first, Trishna enjoys her new freedom, taking dancing lessons and dreaming of Bollywood stardom. But Jay starts to neglect her, and loneliness sets in.

Like Polanski's Tess, Winterbottom's heroine is rather passive, a woman who lets things happen to her, and for many, the gorgeous but woefully reactive Trishna will be frustratingly meek. Likewise, Ahmed's Jay, a nice guy who transforms somewhere along the way into a boorish bully, will be a test of an audience's sympathy.

But for those prepared to take the journey, the film is a seductive, allegorical study of male-female relationships that says more about what its characters are than who they are." www.guardian.co.uk

When: Thursday, 15th of March, 6pm-9pm
Where: The Irish Film Institute
The Film: The Other Side of Sleep by Rebecca Daly, the first female Irish director to be featured at Cannes.
Facebook Event: RSVP http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/events/343898315652439/

About: "A withdrawn factory girl (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) who’s prone to bouts of sleepwalking awakens in a forest, lying beside the corpse of a young woman. She becomes obsessed with the girl’s murder – her mother had met a similar fate decades earlier – and finds herself drawn to the victim’s family as her grasp on reality begins to unravel. Whereas some filmmakers might exploit such a premise for its potential as a pulpy whodunnit, Rebecca Daly’s intriguing debut feature is far more concerned with its profound exploration of loss, coupled with an evocative portrait of small-town Irish ennui. Filmed in Offaly, The Other Side of Sleep is dominated by a largely wordless and deceptively complex performance from swiftly ascending star Campbell-Hughes, who says an awful lot by doing very little. Reminiscent at times of Sean Penn’s sorely underappreciated The Pledge, this deeply immersive mood piece is by turns haunting and hazy, reflecting its protagonist's somnambulant state. It’s a quiet triumph that gets under your skin. (Notes by Derek O'Connor.)

The March 15th screening of this film is a preview and will be attended by Director Rebecca Daly, Producers Morgan Bushe and Macdara Kelleher, and cast Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Sam Keeley, Cathy Belton, Anna Cahalin, Betty Brennan, Arlene Kelly and Vicky Joyce. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Rebecca Daly, Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Director of the Dublin Fringe Festival, Róise Goan." www.ifi.ie