GUEST OF HONOUR: TERENCE DAVIES
Darklight, in partnership with the IFI, is delighted to welcome Terence Davies to present a selection of his work. Davies began his career as part of a generation of British Film Institute-sponsored nascent directors that included Peter Greenaway and Sally Potter; however, while his contemporaries have largely lapsed into self-indulgence, Davies is regularly fêted as Britain’s greatest living filmmaker. He first established himself with three celebrated shorts, known collectively as The Terence Davies Trilogy (1984), followed by debut feature, Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), and The Long Day Closes (1992). At this stage of his career, Davies’ work was highly autobiographical, focusing on his childhood in Liverpool, and drew acclaim for its meticulous attention to detail, as well as its sensitive yet often harrowing portrayal of emotional hardship and endurance. Literary adaptations followed, with John Kennedy Toole’s The Neon Bible (1995), and Edith Wharton’s The House Of Mirth (2000), Davies’ biggest commercial success to date. Returning to autobiography with Of Time And The City (2008), a documentary about his beloved Liverpool, Davies’ most recent film is an adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea (2011). He has created a body of work of great beauty, one to which we can only hope that he will continue to add.

DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES (1988, UK)
FRI 24 AUG 20.00 *Screening in The Factory
BIOGRAPHY / DRAMA

Drawn from his own family memories, DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES is a strikingly intimate portrait of working class life in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool. Focusing on the real-life experiences of his mother, sisters and brother whose lives are thwarted by their brutal, sadistic father, the film shows us the beauty and terror in equal measure.

Screening with FOXES by Lorcan Finnegan.
BOOK TICKETS NOW VIA ENTERTAINMENT.IE/DARKLIGHT

OF TIME AND THE CITY (2008, UK)
SAT 25 AUG 18.30 *Screening in The Factory
DOCUMENTARY / AUTOBIOGRAPHY / HISTORY

OF TIME AND THE CITY is both a love song and a eulogy to Liverpool. It is also a response to memory, reflection and the experience of losing a sense of place as the skyline changes and time takes its toll.
Terence Davies returns to his native Liverpool and to his film making roots to capture a sense of the City today and its influences on him growing up in the late 40’s and early 50’s.
Liverpool’s phoenix-like rise is portrayed like it’s never been seen before; how a city can change itself and the people under its influence…

Screening with IRISH FOLK FURNITURE by Tony Donohue

++THIS SCREENING IS FOLLOWED BY A PUBLIC CONVERSATION WITH TERENCE DAVIES AND DONALD CLARKE++
More info here 
BOOK TICKETS NOW VIA ENTERTAINMENT.IE/DARKLIGHT

Watch Trailer here:

THE DEEP BLUE SEA (2011, USA/UK)
FRI 24 AUG 18.30 *Screening At The IFI
ROMANCE / DRAMA / PERIOD

Set in post-Second World War London, Davies’ adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s play is a lyrical study of fidelity and loneliness, featuring an outstanding central performance from Rachel Weisz as Hester, trapped in a passionless marriage to an older man, who experiences a sexual awakening after taking a younger lover, dashing R.A.F. pilot Freddie (Tom Hiddleston). Quickly leaving her husband for him, Hester is ostracised by her former friends, and Freddie soon proves to be more interested in drunken carousing with his friends than he is in her, leaving Hester in a social and emotional no man’s land. Shot through with Davies’ trademark eye for detail, it’s a film that’s simply beautiful to watch, with a long tracking shot in the Underground accompanied by a lone voice singing Molly Malone proving particularly memorable.
This screening includes a Q&A with the director.

For Tickets go to IFI website
Watch trailer here:

THE LONG DAY CLOSES (1992, UK)
SAT 25 AUG *Screening At The IFI
BIOGRAPHY / DRAMA / FAMILY

The Long Day Closes is the story of eleven-year-old Bud.  A sad and lonely boy, Bud struggles through his days. With cinema as his main source of solace, he haunts the local movie-house. All the while, his family looms large in our peripheral vision, as do the menacing bullies of his school, but Bud is the center of attention both from the camera’s angle and for his doting family. With a gray background, the film fuses clips and audio from classic movies into Bud’s dreary childhood and brings it to life with an elegance Bach would bring to your home movies. The overall effect is a montage of memory which seems to ignite flashes of recognition in the viewer.

For tickets go to IFI website

THE HOUSE OF MIRTH (2000, UK/FR/DE)
SAT 25 AUG 16.00 *Screening At The IFI
ROMANCE / DRAMA

In the performance of her career, Gillian Anderson stars in this stunning adaptation of Edith Wharton’s moving and tragic novel, a love story set against a background of wealth and social hypocrisy in turn-of-the-20th-century New York. Lily Bart is a ravishing socialite at the height of her success who quickly discovers the precariousness of her position when her beauty and charm start attracting unwelcome interest and jealousy. Torn between her heart and her head, Lily always seems to do the right thing at the wrong time. Conforming to social expectations she begins to seek a wealthy husband, but her quest comes to a scandalous end when she is falsely accused of having an affair with a married man and is rejected by society and her friends.

For Tickets go to IFI website
Watch the trailer:

OTHER EVENTS WITH TERENCE DAVIES AT DARKLIGHT

Following the screening OF TIME & THE CITY, Terence Davies will take part in an in-depth discussion about his work and life as a filmmaker. One of Britain’s most iconic – but all too often overlooked – Directors, it is with great pleasure to present this very special and rare public interview with Terence.
This discussion will be hosted by Donald Clarke, celebrated film critic and renowned Irish Times journalist.

MORE INFO HERE