Rufus Norris’s debut feature Broken, starring Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy, opened the eleventh year of the festival in Dublin. Roth and Murphy both attended the screening along with the director Norris.

All stars were eager to talk about how much festivals like this mean to filmmakers and how happy they were to attend the opening night. Broken has already picked up the Best International Film at the Zurich Film Festival. Norris commented: “It means a lot to people like me, independent filmmakers. A lot of this script was actually written on the other side of this river, so it has a special significance to be here tonight.”

Cillian Murphy was delighted to be back at home for the festival but told us that he hadn’t been invited to the IFTA’s: “Well I could have been! I was working so I’m not sure if I got an invitation.” The actor was particularly looking forward to presenting the Volta, the lifetime achievement award to Tim Roth for his contribution to film: “I’m so happy to presenting it here. He’s a great guy.”

Broken revolves around the story of a young girl in North London who lives with her father, her elder-brother and her au-pair. Roth plays the father, a part he originally had not been lined up for: “I was sent the script by the producer who is a friend of mine. Originally I thought I would be reading for another role, but I was really happy to play the father. It was a character I really wanted to explore.”

The actor lit up when asked about Murphy: “Ah Cillian, such a great guy. I was so excited when I found out I was going to be working with him. He is such a great actor.”

Other celebrities who turned up for the night included Jim Sheridan who hadn’t seen the film, but who said he was “really looking forward to it.” Killian Scott of Love/Hate fame also attended the screening. 

The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival continues throughout Dublin until the 24^th of February.

Broken is released in cinemas on the 8^th of March.