Dinard Festival of British & Irish Film: A Preview of the Competition Lineup and Special Screenings
The upcoming Dinard Festival of British & Irish Film will feature five films in competition, including Akinola Davies’ My Father’s Shadow and Dylan Southern’s The Thing With Feathers. My Father’s Shadow, a semi-autobiographical tale set in Lagos during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis, will be released by Mubi and Le Pacte. The Thing With Feathers, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, is an adaptation of Max Porter’s book and will be released by Vue Lumière. Other films in competition include Marc Evans’ Mr Burton, Thordur Palsson’s The Damned, and Paul Andrew Williams’s Dragonfly.
While there are no female filmmakers in competition this year, the festival features a better representation of women in other sections. Kristin Scott Thomas’s My Mother’s Wedding, starring Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, and Emily Beecham, will open the festival. The jury includes UK actors and comedians Rupert Everett, Jennifer Saunders, and Ruby Wax, as well as French actors Rachida Brakni and Reda Kateb, and French journalist Claire Chazal. Other films playing in non-competitive sections include Harris Dickinson’s Urchin, James McAvoy’s California Schemin’, and Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Dreamers.
The competition lineup includes My Father’s Shadow, Mr Burton, The Damned, The Thing With Feathers, and Dragonfly. In the Talent of Tomorrow section, films like Brides, Christy, Lollipop, and Spilt Milk will be showcased. The festival will open with My Mother’s Wedding and close with The Penguin Lessons. The Gala section will feature Urchin directed by Harris Dickinson.