Listen. We get it. You can barely decide what to watch on a normal day at the cinema when faced with the choice of watching Lily-Rose Depp defy gravity in Nosferatu and Cynthia Erivo holding space for it in Wicked– what hope do you have to do so at Ireland’s largest film festival with films showing from all over the world? Fear not, The University Times has you covered. Here are seven films not to miss this year’s DIFF.
Happyend (2024)
You are eighteen and about to graduate high school. An earthquake is forecast, and you and your best friend decide to play a prank on your headmaster and your lives are changed forever. From the son of Ryiuchi Sachamoto, Happyend is a beautiful meditation on the politics of control in Japan, the philosophy of protest and coming of age.
22 Feb 18:30 The Light House
Bob Trevino Likes it (2024)
In search of her dead-beat dad, Lily Trevino finds a man on Facebook with the exact same name. Based on a true story, the two like each other’s posts and soon meet to form an unlikely bond. Funny and sad, the film is a heart-warming diatribe on the ways the world lets us all down, at the same time that it always has more things to offer.
22 Feb 21:00 The Light House
My Sweet Land (2024)
“‘I don’t want my children to experience war,” eleven-year-old Vrej says. “I may experience it, but I don’t want that for my children.” In Sareen Hairabedian’s stunning breakout documentary, we follow little Vrej as he navigates life in the post-Soviet Caucasus mountains where war can break out at any moment. It is a poignant reflection on growing up in the shadow of national conflict that is probing, without ever losing hope.
23 Feb 15:45 The Light House
The Courageous (2024)
People always have something to say, and Jasmin Gordon’s feature debut is an answer to escaping just that. We follow an eccentric mother as she carves her own way for her children in the world. Baked in the Swiss summer sun, The Courageous is a touching incantation on what we gain when we break the rules.
24 Feb 17:45 The Light House
Afternoons of Solitude (2024)
Have you ever felt so lonely you could fight a bull? Andres Roca Rey has. In this striking documentary following the Peruvian star in this controversial Spanish sport, Albert Serra is interested in the delicate dance mortality. Filmed like a series of paintings, it contrasts pageantry with gore with unsettling beauty and its atmosphere is haunting. A winner of the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian film festival last year, this is not one to miss.
25 Feb 18:00 The Light House
On Falling (2024)
In our convenience economy, for everything to be available at the click of a button, someone must be paying a price. Laura Carreira’s striking debut feature explores this idea as we follow optionless warehouse worker Aurora undertake this job in zoo-like conditions. It is a quietly brilliant meditation on the dehumanisation of late-stage capitalism.
26 Feb 20:30 The Light House
Peacock (2024)
Need a date to your auntie’s wedding? A stand-in dad? X man has you covered. In this absurdist Austrian comedy, we follow Mathias in his job as a man who can be rented to impersonate anything. Snappy at the same time that it is harrowing, the film is a playful and easy on the eye exploration on the ways we try to fit in in society, and what we gain when we stand out.
28 Feb 18:00 The Light House
The Festival will run from February 20th to March 2nd in various venues across the city.
Originally published in print February 25th 2025.
