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Once Upon a Time in a Cinema film image; man standing outside a movie theatre

Once Upon a Time in a Cinema

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East Limerick, Ireland, 1984. The Ormond Cinema is showing Breathless (the Richard Gere one). But this will not be like any other night in the theatre’s 40-year history. The pipes are fit to burst, the rats are running rampage, and the projectionist is drunk. In fact, the way things are going, there may not be another night…

Writer-director David Gleeson comes from a cinema-background himself, his family owned a theatre in his youth. So there’s an element of Cinema Paradiso-like nostalgia here. But being an Irish film, not Italian, this is a lot less romantic and considerably bigger on laughs… Unfolding in real-time, as Breathless plays out in the background, dare we say it’s a movie you should only experience in a cinema… ?

Touching, funny, and rings of authenticity.

Deadline Hollywood

A well-crafted, beautifully shot ode to film, cinema, and the idea that sometimes, the value of a building is much more than the sum of its parts.

Film Threat

Director

David Gleeson

Cast

Colin Morgan, Calam Lynch, Niamh Cusack, India Mullen, Stanley Townsend, Liam O’Brien

Credits
Country of Origin

Ireland

Year

2026

Language

English

19+
92 min

Book Tickets

Friday September 25

1:30 pm
First Look Fridays Hearing Assistance
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Sunday September 27

5:00 pm
Hearing Assistance
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

First Look Fridays: $12 Tickets

Enjoy $12 tickets at this film’s first Friday matinee screening.

Credits

Screenwriter

David Gleeson

Cinematography

Hyun De Grande

Editor

Bertrand Conard, John Murphy

Original Music

Perrine Virgile

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