Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard was among many other celebrities who joined to launch the programme of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. 

The actor, who has appeared in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Good Will Hunting and Mamma Mia has recently received a Volta Award, and told the Irish Times he was pleased to be launching a film festival that isn’t totally business orientated.

He continued that the more intimate film festivals, such as Dublin or Gothenburg, are better to attend than the media-hyped Cannes festival, as they activate the whole population.

The 2012 film festival is running for the tenth year, and runs for ten days starting on February 16th. It will feature 147 screenings, and the event will welcome film professionals such as: Martin Sheen, Glenn Close, Michael Madsen and Mark Wahlberg, who are all expected to attend.

The most prominent star set to attend in Al Pacino, who will present his eccentric documentary Wilde Salomé.