Ten to see at Cork Film Festival
FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY
A rare privilege for the festival to open with a Cork film. Carmel Winters’ tale of a young Traveller girl who wants to be a boxer was largely filmed near her home in West Cork. It has already picked up a prestigious prize in Toronto, and the director herself will be present.
THE FAVOURITE
After their success on The Lobster and The Killing Of The Sacred Deer, Irish producer Ed Guiney and Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos have again teamed up for a tale of Queen Anne in 18th-century England. A star-studded cast includes Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Mark Gatiss.
THE OLD MAN & THE GUN
Robert Redford, 82, has announced that this will be his final film role. He plays the real-life criminal Forrest Tucker, famous for escaping from American prisons. Here we see his run from San Quentin and the string of heists that followed. Other familiar faces in the cast include Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, and Tom Waits.
SHOPLIFTERS (MANBIKI KAZOKU)
The Japanese title translates as ‘shoplifting family’, and its story of a group of people who break the law to survive their impoverished existence charmed all round en route to winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
CAPERNAUM
Another biggie at Cannes, this Jury Prize-winner will close the Cork festival. Directed by Lebanese actress/filmmaker Nadine Labaki, its moving tale revolves around a young boy in Beirut who rails against his miserable life.
THE DIG
Moe Dunford must be the busiest actor in Ireland at the moment, and in this film from Ryan and Andrew Tohill he plays a man who returns to his abandoned family farm having served 15 years for murder.
NOSFERATU
St Fin Barre’s Cathedral is the perfect setting for a screening of the classic silent horror from 1922. The eerie atmosphere will be turned up to 11 courtesy of a score from Cork composers Irene and Linda Buckley, played live on the night.
THE CURIOUS WORKS OF ROGER DOYLE
A homage to the ‘Godfather of Irish Electronica’, and the 70-year-old composer will also be in attendance for the screening in Triskel. A strong strand for the musically-inclined also includes Blue Note, about the ultimate jazz label; Rudeboy, the story of the Trojan label that brought great Jamaican music to this side of the Atlantic.
THE TOWER
Powerful animated film about an 11-year-old Palestinian refugee living with her family in Lebanon. She learns her history from her great-grandfather who recalls their family being expelled from their homeland during the creation of Israel in 1948. For children 10+. Other screenings for children include 1971 Disney film Bedkobs and Broomsticks; and Irish animation The Overcoat, which will have the filmmakers in attendance for a behind-the-scenes look at how it was made.
VERTIGO
The Hitchcock classic from 1958 which starred Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak is well worth a look on the big screen. We’ve also been hearing great things about The Green Fog, a modern ‘remake’ of Vertigo created from archive footage of film and TV. Other golden oldies at the festival include 9 to 5, starring Dolly Parton, and Being There, from 1979.
