Cork Film Festival reveals new patron and eclectic programme for 2022
At the Kiln, Murphy's Brewery, Cork for the launch of the 67th Cork International Film Festival, were Anna Kopecká, Programme Director, Fiona Clark, Director and CEO and Barney Whelan, Chairman. Picture: Dan Linehan
British film producer David Puttnam has further cemented his ties with the Irish film world by taking on the role of patron of Cork International Film Festival.
Born in London, the 81-year-old has lived near Skibbereen with his wife Patsy since 1998, and announced in June that the couple had obtained Irish citizenship. In 2021, Puttnam had resigned his seat in the House of Lords in protest at actions taken by Boris Johnson’s government.
The announcement of his patronship was made on Tuesday evening at the launch of the programme for the 67th film festival (Nov 10-20) in Cork.
“Film can be a great force for good, and film festivals create a unique space for shared experience, to entertain and provoke, to inspire and delight, and to promote thought and action,” said Puttnam, producer of such movies as Chariots of Fire and The Mission.
“Cork International Film Festival plays a vital role in the cultural life of Cork, maximising participation for audiences and artists in a shared creative experience.”
This year’s programme also includes one of Puttnam’s films, the West-Cork made War of the Buttons, as part of its Wild Child Retrospective of movies focused on spirited younger people.
Other highlights of the programme unveiled at the Kiln in the Heineken Brewery in Cork included a screening of the new Roald Dahl adaptation, Matilda The Musical. The star of that big-budget offering is 14-year-old Irish actress Alisha Weir who will be in Cork to introduce a film that also features Emma Thompson and Ralph Fiennes.
The latter actor is also prominent in The Menu, the much-anticipated comedy-horror about a group of guests who get more than they bargained for when they attend a molecular gastronomy experience at a top restaurant.
Opening the festival will be Aisha, a tale of a refugee who’s come through the Direct Provision system in Ireland, from director Frank Berry, who impressed at the 2017 festival with Michael Inside, filmed in a Cork prison.
Local sibling composers Irene and Linda Buckley return for the Cine Concert at Triskel Christchurch, with a newly commissioned score for 1902 short film A Trip to the Moon. Meanwhile, the international programme allows Cork audiences a first viewing of films that have made waves at festivals such as Cannes, Berlin and Venice. Among them is All The Beauty and the Bloodshed, the Venice-winning documentary on photographer Nan Goldin, one of the leaders of the campaign against the Sackler family in the US, the pharma billionaires at the heart of the opiod scandal.
As well as contemporary films, there will be a 1922 commemorative screening of The Wind That Shakes the Barley, while the 50th anniversary of The Harder They Come, starring Jimmy Cliff, brings that Jamaican classic back to the big screen.
Overall, venues such as the Gate, Cork Opera House and the Everyman will screen more than 100 features, and dozens of short films, over the 11 days of the festival, along with numerous industry events.
For those who can’t make it live screenings, some of the films will also be available to view online from November 18-20.
- Cork International Film Festival runs November 10– 20. Bookings can be made now via corkfilmfest.org
