Ralph Fiennes will be presented with the Volta Award, the most prestigious award at the 2019 Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, by Irish actor John Kavanagh who Fiennes directed in The Invisible Woman after a screening of The White Crow. The film tells the story of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev’s defection to the West and which Fiennes both directed and stars in. Alongside Carlos Acosta’s Yuli it is one of two ballet themed films at this year’s festival.

Fiennes will be joined by writer of The White Crow, the BAFTA winning Sir David Hare for a Q&A with arts journalist Helen Meany. Sir David Hare was awarded the Volta Award in 2016, he is best known for his acclaimed screenplays of The Hours and The Reader.

Actor, producer and director Fiennes first achieved success at the Royal National Theatre. He is known for roles in Schindler’s List and The English Patient, both of which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Previous recipients of a Volta include Al Pacino, Julie Andrews, Kenneth Branagh, Angela Lansbury and Danny DeVito.

Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival also announces that sailors Jo Gooding and Angela Heath will attend the premiere of Maiden. This critically acclaimed sailing documentary centers on the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989. At its core is a fascinating subject, Tracy Edwards, a young cook on charter boats who gets to skipper the team as they attempt to break new ground and make history. At great personal sacrifice, Edwards and her team set out to defy convention and sexism and smash a glass ceiling. Jo and Angela, who sails out of Dun Laoghaire, were members of the inspirational 1989 crew.