Friday Plans?

We round up the movie to see and the festivals to be seen at for our #FridayFive…

Taste

The foodie event of the year begins today in the Iveagh Gardens AKA Dublin’s hidden garden. Until Sunday some of the capital’s best restaurants will be out in delicious force while visiting celebrity chefs shall be cooking up demonstration-storms – We even chatted to one of the biggest ?headliners?, Michel Roux Jr., a few weeks ago. For details, and to learn what a ?florin? is, go here.

#IFIOpenDay

A day of free movies in the Irish Film Institute – what’s the catch? Queuing. We’re veterans of this annual film love-in, where the IFI on Eustace Street opens its doors to the cinephiles of the city, and have a few words of advice for prospective attendees. Get there early. Don’t be afraid of engaging in small talk in the queue. And be brave when it comes to nabbing free tickets! You get four per person so if you’re being the considerate other half that’s actually just two movies. Some of the movies on offer tomorrow include Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 and Harold and Maude. We’re going to try and catch the preview screening of Ben Whishaw’s latest performance in Lilting. The Brit actor plays a man whose lover dies and then tries to reach out to that man’s non-English speaking mother. If that’s not the recipe for a rake of Baftas?

However, if you’re more in the mood for some Sunday matin?e hijinks might we suggest some musicals in the Lighthouse cinema?

Belle

We’ve been awaiting this costume drama all year. The story of Dido Elizabeth Belle is one that has only come to light in recent years and looks set to fascinate. Born illegitimately to a British admiral and a former slave, Belle is taken to 1770s England and raised with his family. There she lives like a lady of the house in private, but in public is treated little better than an upper-servant. As Belle comes to age she encounters yet more prejudice and a possible romance. We’re big bonnets and big house drama fans and sense that Belle is going to shake up the genre. Most the wealth among the so-called Austen class of the 18^th century derived from slavery but it is only now audiences are seeing beyond the comedy of manners to the dark underbelly underneath this seemingly genteel society.

NCAD Graduate Show

The National College of Art and Design is a reservoir of future names you’re going to read about endlessly so it’s always good to get on the bandwagon before other people do. The college is launching their graduate show tonight across NCAD’s campus – doors open at six – and with the theme this year ?See The Future? expect some thought-provoking. With one of the stand out pieces being a slide that sets out to deconstruct playground settings get ready for some modern art times. Admission is free. For details about opening hours check out www.ncad.ie

Or?

You could just stay in and watch Keira Knightley and Samuel L Jackson on Graham Norton tonight?

Jeanne Sutton @jeannedesutun