Festival team

It’s the experience, commitment and passion of our staff team that enables the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival to thrive in challenging times, bringing you the best of Irish and international cinema, together with an outstanding programme of talks and events, year after year.

Gráinne Humphreys – Festival Director

Gráinne Humphreys has worked in film programming for over 20 years; she started her career working with young audiences with the Junior Dublin Film Festival in 1994. In 1995 she joined the IFI as Education Officer and expanded her role to include programming seasons on Andy Warhol, Agnès Varda and Harold Pinter.

She became Assistant Director in 2001 and programmed both the Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Festival and the Dublin French Film Festival from 2002 to 2007. Among other projects, she co-edited Ireland into Film, a series of publications on a number of key Irish films. She has served as a jury member on several international film festivals and has coordinated numerous Irish film seasons at international events. She is a Board Member of the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris and has been Festival Director of the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival since 2007.

Helen Hutton – Managing Director

Helen Hutton joined Element Pictures in 2013 as General Manager of Light House Cinema, a specialist art house cinema in Dublin, and the anchor venue for Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival. The Light House has grown its audience substantially over the years and delivers an high standard of customer experience. Helen began her career in the arts at The Ark Cultural Centre for Children in the heart of Dublin's Temple Bar. She has worked in many key Dublin cultural centres including The Helix and, more recently, the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire.

Kate Cunningham – Head of Development & Marketing

Kate joined the team in October 2018.

Johan Hallstrom – Projects Officer & Shorts Programmer