Cork Film Festival programme launched as event confirmed to take place next month
Nika McGuigan and Nora-Jane Noone in Wildfire, one of the Irish films
It may have hit pension age in a difficult year, but Cork International Film Festival is definitely going ahead next month. At the programme launch on Thursday, it was confirmed that the 65th year of the event will be a 'blended' festival, with both live and online screenings. Even if Covid restrictions escalate to prevent live screenings, the virtual side of the festival will continue as planned.
And while many may gripe about the current measures around coronavirus, one of the major events at the festival will remind of even more tumultuous times in Cork, when the city had curfews instead of lockdowns, and daily tragedies were the new normal amidst the struggle for independence. A 1920 Commemoration Gala will include a screening of 1926 film Irish Destiny, about an IRA man's part in the fight against the British, as well as newsreel footage of events such as the burning of Cork, and the funeral of Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney.
Those screenings take place at Cork City Hall – the films will be available online - with the Gate and Triskel also showing live screenings. Organisers say the venues will have reduced capacities to cater for social distancing. When a seat is booked, all surrounding seats will be automatically blocked off to allow for the required 2m distance.
“Our priority is to connect audiences and filmmakers in a safe and enjoyable way,” said Barney Whelan, chairman of the festival board.
The live films will run from November 4 to 8, with online screenings continuing until the 15th, an innovation that will allow audiences from outside of Cork to also view the movies.
As well as the 1920 material, other highlights include the opening film Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand, which recently won the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Among the nine new Irish features on the programme is the much-anticipated Wildfire, a drama set in a Northern Ireland border town starring Nika McGuigan, the daughter of Barry McGuigan who passed away last year at the age of 33.
Documentaries include Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan, a celebration of The Pogues' frontman from renowned British music flim-maker Julien Temple.
As ever, the festival has a particularly strong shorts programme, with three of the winners in Cork automatically included in the longlist for the Academy Awards.
Away from the screenings, other festival attractions include a costume trail at various venues across the city, where film costumes on display will include the waistcoat and shirt that Cillian Murphy wore in The Wind That Shakes the Barley, as well as original costumes from such films as Little Women and Breakfast on Pluto.
- Cork International Film Festival, Nov 4-15. For a full list of films, and to reserve tickets, see https://corkfilmfest.org
