David Gleeson’s latest feature Once Upon a Time in a Cinema has been selected as the opening film of the 37th Dinard British & Irish Film Festival in France.

The film will receive its French premiere at the festival’s official opening on Thursday, 8 October, with this year’s edition running from 7–11 October in Dinard.

Written and directed by Gleeson, whose previous credits include Cowboys & Angels, The Front Line, Don’t Go and Tolkien, the film stars Colin Morgan as Earl Clancy, the operator of a small-town cinema attempting to navigate a disastrous Friday night screening of Breathless.

Morgan leads a cast that also includes Calam Lynch, Stanley Townsend, Clara Crichton, Niamh Cusack, India Mullen, Elaine O’Dwyer and Daniel Woodage.

The Dinard screening comes as the Irish feature continues its international rollout. Following its nationwide Irish release through Break Out Pictures on 1 May, the film opened theatrically in the US and Canada on 31 July. Ahead of the film’s Irish theatrical release earlier this year, Gleeson spoke to IFTN about bringing Once Upon a Time in a Cinema to the screen and the inspiration behind the film. Read our interview with David Gleeson here.

Further theatrical releases are planned across the UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Croatia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Myriad Pictures is handling international sales.

Speaking about the film’s selection to open Dinard, Gleeson said: “To open the 37th Edition of the Dinard Film Festival is a great honour for all of us who worked on this film and a fitting showcase for a story that celebrates not just the cinema experience but cinema audiences too. I very much look forward to presenting ‘Once Upon a Time in a Cinema’ in France, the birthplace of the cinéaste.”

Founded in 1989, the Dinard British & Irish Film Festival has previously recognised films including Shallow Grave, Billy Elliot, Bloody Sunday and Girl with a Pearl Earring. The festival is supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland.

The 37th Dinard British & Irish Film Festival takes place from 7–11 October 2026.