The Dublin Film Festival opens after an absence of two years with movies from thirty countries.
The relaunched Dublin Film Festival has a different organisation and staff and no connection with the previous festival, which ran into financial difficulties. The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival has a new €100,000 sponsorship deal with the whiskey producer. This commercial arrangement is one of the largest sponsorships in the arts.
One of the festival founders, Michael Dwyer, says the event this year offers a huge mix of Irish and international films. The programme will show 66 films from 30 countries at three venues in the city over eight days.
After the demise of the previous Dublin Film Festival, it remains to be seen whether the new one can carve itself a niche in the social calendar of the city.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 6 March 2003. The reporter is Colm Connolly.
