My Dream Internship Abroad at the Dublin International Film Festival in Dublin, Ireland

The highlight of my study abroad experience in Dublin has by far been my internship at the Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF). I started working at the DIFF office in January and have had the opportunity to assist in every department during the last few months, a true dream come true for my film buff heart. The 2026 festival took place over eleven days, from February 19-March 1. Over 160 films showed over those eleven days in addition to over 50 film-related events. All these events took place across three theaters and one main event space. Now that I’m nearing the end of my internship, I’d love to share a timeline of the festival process from my perspective as an intern. 

Prep Week 

I definitely felt the energy shift in the office during the week before the festival started. The energy and chaos had steadily increased from my first couple of months as I was tasked with an array of necessary last-minute responsibilities. One of those tasks included helping the events team prepare graphics to display during each of the fest panels/masterclasses. Although graphic design is definitely not my passion, it ended up being a really interesting task! I learned a lot about how to make information clear and about the process of scheduling and organizing 50+ events into eleven days. Prep week also included DIFF’s First Frame event, a student film initiative where groups from further education institutions around Ireland come to view a selection of student works. I was able to help organize tickets for the event, so I now know the names and abbreviations for significantly more Irish colleges and universities than I did before. Who knew!  

The red carpet all set up for opening night.

Opening Weekend 

For opening weekend, I was placed at the Light House Cinema, the main cinema space for DIFF. I had been to the Lighthouse to see a couple of movies on my own time, but getting to explore the cinema as an intern was insanely cool! DIFF had lots of red carpets and backdrops set up, plus two roped-off lounges for higher-profile guests and celebrities. I worked on crowd control, volunteer coordination, and , monitored my emails for last-minute requests, which helped prevent a wristband-related emergency! I also got the opportunity to tour the projection room and see the Lighthouse’s 35mm film reels. It was incredible and surprisingly emotional. I love cinema! 

 35mm film reels of Lord of the Rings (top), Poor Things (middle), and Kinds of Kindness (bottom). 

Festival Weekdays 

During the week, I was asked to join the hospitality team as their assistant. It felt very glamorous! I worked out of a hotel room with fancy decor and amenities and enjoyed pretending like I was actually staying there. A girl can dream! After a couple days of various errands, I was given some more guest-facing work, including attending nightly dinners with festival guests. I know, awful, right? I met lots of interesting people and celebrities and got some free four-course meals, a very welcome change to my normal dinner: chicken nuggets at my kitchen table while I watch Sex and the City.  

Side quest during festival week to be a stagehand at the awards ceremony. 

Closing Weekend 

Closing weekend was definitely the most exciting part of the festival for me. I helped the DIFF press team on two red carpets! My job was to walk down the carpet with the name signs so that all the photographers knew who was about to come through. This meant that I got to stand ON the red carpet next to Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, and all their castmates. I know, y’all. At some point during the Colin Farrell carpet I just started giggling at nothing.  

Closing night took place at Dublin’s gorgeous Bord Gáis Energy Theater. The closing night film was the world premiere of John Carney’s Power Ballad starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas—in theaters in June in the United States. I was able to watch the film, my first ever world premiere! The crowd was so alive and so excited during the scenes that took place in Dublin. After the screening, Paul Rudd accepted DIFF’s iconic Volta award, which has also been given to people like Al Pacino, Julie Andrews, and Daniel Day-Lewis in the past. My coworkers and I went out after the screening ended to celebrate a completed festival! 

Paul Rudd five in from the right, Nick Jonas to his left!

Cleanup 

My post-closing work has been slightly less glamorous but also infinitely less stressful than fest week. I’ve answered tons of emails, worked on packing and sending out merch, and started the massive organizing process for items that need to go into storage. The team has shrunk down to about five people as all the contract workers have left, so it’s a lot quieter in the office. 

A final view of the Light House Cinema after hours.

I’ll end my internship at DIFF in about two weeks and will be truly sad to leave. It feels like I worked my way into a rare, magical, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with this internship abroad. I would tell anyone who’s considering an internship abroad to GO FOR IT! Beyond the exciting work, I’ve learned so much about myself and so many new skills. I am a better, more confident, self-assured person for having done this. My future feels clearer and I have a better idea of what feels fulfilling to me. Cheers to internships abroad (and to Colin Farrell’s little earring)!