Above: A still from The Lure. A wierd ass flick about mermaids on a dingy club scene. Directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska.

It’s February so that means the biggest event of the year for Irish film fans, the Dublin International Film Festival.

The ten-day long festival is hosted in a number of venues across the city and will feature over eighty films from 27 different countries, as well as connected events and workshops.

The programme is pretty full on so here are some suggestions of what to catch this year.

After 16 Shorts.

First things first, it wouldn’t be an arts event in 2016 if it didn’t have some kind of homage to the Rising, if you haven’t already overdosed on 1916 nostalgia then catch the “After ’16 Shorts”, a series of short films to commemorate, celebrate and ruminate on 1916.

Light House Cinema, Sun Feb 21st 3:30pm

Mammal.

An Irish kitchen sink drama directed by Rebecca Daly, featuring Barry Keoghan (of Love/Hate cat-killing fame). If her 2006 short ‘Joyriders’ is anything to go by you can expect a tough but touching treat. Watch Joyriders here.

Light House Cinema, Wed Feb 24th 8:30pm

Green Room.

A battle between punks and neo-nazis (headed by Patrick Stewart) from the director of “Blue Ruin”, ‘nuff said.

Cineworld, Wed Feb 24th 6:15pm

High Rise.

Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s book of the same name. Glossy social commentary, naked Tom Hiddleston.

Light House Cinema, Mon Feb 22nd 8:15pm

Anomalisa

The latest film by Charlie Kaufmann (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich). Super slick stop motion film about a lonely self-help author. Guaranteed to be wonderful and bizarre.

Light House Cinema, Tue Feb 23rd 9:00pm.

The Lure

A musical-horror about two sister mermaids that join a family band to perform in a dingey Polish nightclub. One of the sisters falls for the bassist and faces the decision of whether to give up her tail for love, but that’s as far as similarities to My Little Mermaid go. Category: WTF.

Light House Cinema, Sat Feb 27th 6:00pm

Special mentions

John Carney’s Sing Steet and Paddy Breathnachs Viva both look amazing, however as “gala events” they are stupidly expensive, so skip them at the festival but catch them when they’re out in cinemas after!