Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

12-22 Feb 2009. Harcourt Street's Odeon Bar was the venue for the programme launch of the seventh Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, with actor Liam Cunningham, who recieved deserved praise for his role in Hunger, among the VIPs in attendance.

The festival will feature 130 feature films and is Ireland's most important film event. It promises to lift the flagging spirit of a depressed nation by hosting the glamour associated with Hollywood celebrities such as Colin Firth.

Festival director Grainne Humphreys is confident that the 11 day event will attract even larger audience figures than last year, despite the recession, saying "The festival's primary remit is to screen the best of cinema from across the world from the last year." Irish premieres include Aisling Walsh's The Daisy Chain, Margaret Corkery's Eamon and Ivan Kavanagh's Our Wonderful Home.

The Irish Film Institute will also be screening footage from their extensive archives of Irish life from a bygone era, accompanied by live traditional music from Colm and Rossa O' Snodaigh and harpist Cormac de Barra. Beginning in O'Connell Street's Savoy Cinema with a gala viewing of John Patrick Shanley's movie Doubt, the festival ends with the premiere of The Secret of Kells, an animated film from the Kilkenny based Cartoon Salon, which features the voice-over of none other than Dublin's own Brendan Gleeson, who, it is hoped, will walk down the red carpet in person.