A LITTLE PIECE of Hollywood is coming to Dublin this weekend as the capital plays host to a new cinema festival.

Movie Fest, which takes place this Saturday and Sunday, will bring a number of film premieres to town as well as previews of films which are still in production. Organisers say it aims to be Ireland’s answer to long-running gatherings of film fans such as Comic Con in San Diego, California, and Empire’s Big Screen in London – which also takes place this weekend.

“Audiences in America get advance footage from a lot of movies, but we have been neglected over here,” organiser Vincent Donnelly told TheJournal.ie. “It’s difficult to get to San Diego, so I thought I’d bring it over here. I started out with a lot of footage that hasn’t made it online – and from there it grew into a large film festival.”

The event will feature previews from upcoming blockbusters including Spider Man 4 and the new Total Recall starring Colin Farrell, as well as behind-the-scenes clips. The full premieres include vampire movie Fright Night – also starring Farrell – 30 Minutes Or Less from Social Network director Jesse Eisenberg, and sci-fi Western Cowboys and Aliens, starring Daniel Craig.

Donnelly, who has run website Movies.ie for several years, said he has also secured ‘greetings’ – especially recorded clips – for Irish fans from Hollywood heavyweights including Steven Spielberg and Guillermo Del Toro. “It helps that a lot of the directors are big fanboys themselves,” he said. “They were happy to give it a push.”

Donnelly said Movie Fest has been 18 months in planning, but he believes it will be worth it. “It brings an air of excitement that isn’t normally there with cinema,” he said. “This is a chance to see films in development, to go behind the scenes in some cases. I’m really excited. I think it’s going to be great.”

Movie Fest takes place this Saturday and Sunday at Cineworld on Parnell Street, Dublin. Tickets are available here.