When hearing the word ‘underground’, one tends to imagine something dark and obscure, not to say obscene. But don’t be fooled. The Underground Cinema Film Festival is nothing but a big celebration of Irish film, with movie screenings that range from comedy and animation to horror and drama.

For three days in September, five different venues across the beautiful town of Dún Laoghaire will be hosting 70 short-length and 15 feature films, including an Irish-language and a kids’ programme. As for the passionate cinema-lovers, there will be Q+A sessions with renowned actors and directors and free workshops from the industry’s best. And to add a bit of glamour, it will all conclude with a spectacular award ceremony on September 17, which the festival director David Byrne describes as ‘a miniature version of the Oscars’.
First in the list of this year’s highlights is the Dublin premiere of Terry McMahon’s critically acclaimed work Charlie Casanova on Friday September 9. The controversial film features Hollyoaks’ rising star Emmett Scanlan, who received the best actor award for his role as Charlie Casanova in this year’s European Independent Film Festival in Paris. Closing the festival will be the multi award-winning Tin Can Man. “It is a great film that received critical acclaim all across the globe but was never really recognised in Ireland. We will now give it the recognition it deserves”, says Byrne. This year will also see the 20th anniversary of Irish classic The Commitments with a screening of the movie, preceded by an interview with writer and Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle, upon whose novel the film was based.

The festival does not cater for movie-geeks and wannabe-actors only. The workshops are open for everyone to participate in - and thanks to the huge variety of different movie genres, there is something to suit everyone’s taste. “People associate underground films with dark cinema but what we’re doing is the exact opposite”, says Byrne. “These films have been underground because the public hasn’t seen them. We’re trying to get these guys the exposure they deserve and the bulk of them would be films that everybody would enjoy. There are thrillers, comedies, horrors, films that’ll make you cry, films that will make you cheer in the end.”
Two years ago, the Underground Cinema started bringing short films to London and their initiative received great response. “When we first went over, the perception was the films would be very ‘Irishy’ if you know what I mean... a lot of rain and depressing things, priests and stuff, but it was quite the opposite! Those were very challenging and entertaining films.”
For all its glamour and fun, the Underground Cinema Film Festival offers above all a chance to young and emerging directors, actors and writers to showcase their work and their talent. Byrne is very proud of the new generation of film artists: “There are some who are diamonds in the rough, they have the potential to become huge globally. Our job is to chip away at those guys and give them the confidence to keep on doing what they’re doing. We’ll push them as much as we can so that they get the recognition they deserve.”