15 movies to see at Cork International Film Festival (Nov 9-26)
Some of the highlights of Cork International Film Festival, clockwise from left: Chris Eubank in One Night in Millstreet, Emma Stone in Poor Things, Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott in All of Us Strangers
The highly anticipated new movie from Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite) - produced by Ireland’s Element Pictures - has its Irish premiere on the opening night of CIFF. Starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo, the story centres on a young woman brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist. Awards-season buzz is strong.
Momentum is also gathering for filmmaker Andrew Haigh’s drama, co-starring our own Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott. The two play London neighbours who strike up an acquaintance which promises to become something more intimate. Meanwhile, one of them becomes mysteriously drawn back to his family home.
Top Irish filmmaker Paul Duane makes his first move into the folk horror genre. The movie tells the story of a young couple who collect rare folk ballads. On discovering an ancient folk ballad in a forgotten dialect, they decide to record it, with terrifying consequences. Lankum’s Ian Lynch features on the soundtrack.
Making its world premiere at CIFF, Alan Gilsenan’s latest documentary feature is a meditation on trauma, offering hope and insight. Following a busy run of films on documentary subjects including Paul Muldoon and Noel Browne, Gilsenan’s film focuses on longtime collaborator, Tomás Hardiman.
Actor Barry Ward is among the cast in filmmaker and playwright Paul Mercier’s new movie, which uses a ‘film-within-a-film’ device. Featuring a satirical screenplay which blurs the lines between real life and fiction, the story revolves around a group of protestors aiming to save an old house from demolition by filming a period reenactment there.
Irish documentary filmmaker Ken Wardrop - who previously documented the lives of dozens of women of all ages in the charming His & Hers - trains his lens on the biggest holiday of the year. Through the stories and experiences of real people in a small Irish village, he and his subjects reflect on the challenges Christmas brings to some people, and their difficult relationships with the festive season.
A cast of colourful characters including Steve Collins, Chris Eubanks, Noel C Duggan and Tony Quinn contribute to filmmaker Andrew Gallimore’s funny and insightful documentary about one of the most memorable nights in Irish boxing history. It recalls in detail how Collins took up the challenge to fight hot-favourite Eubank in Millstreet’s Green Glens Arena on St Patrick’s Weekend, 1995. The film will have its world premiere in the county where the drama first unfolded.
In collaboration with the Irish Film Institute’s Irish Film Archive and Maynooth University, this special presentation looks at Cork life onscreen in the 1950s and 1960s. It does so through the eyes of filmmaker Flora Kerrigan, an active member of the Cork Cine Club, who made numerous short films on her Super8 camera. Ranging from documentary through to animation, Kerrigan’s films won awards internationally. Often darkly comedic in tone, her stories take on themes including death and desire.
CIFF’s family programme includes this critically acclaimed new animated feature. The world of top Spanish filmmaker Pablo Berger, the story is set in 1980s Manhattan and focuses on a lonely dog who decides to build himself a robot companion. Robot and dog become the closest of friends - so when life separates them, they are determined to be reunited.
This year’s documentary gala tells the story of Ella Glendining, who was born without hip joints and with shortened femurs - an exceptionally rare combination. The documentary tracks her experiences as she sets out to find somebody she can physically relate to. Glendining will attend the screening and will be a keynote speaker at CIFF’s industry event, Doc Day.
Long-established filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki’s Finnish-German comedy-drama won the prestigious Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival this year. The critically acclaimed film is set in contemporary Helsinki and focuses on two lonely people who meet by chance in a karaoke bar. But their path to true love does not run smoothly.
Jojo Rabbit’s Thomasin McKenzie stars alongside Anne Hathaway in this US psychological thriller adapted from the novel of the same name. It tells the story of a young prison worker who is captivated by the arrival of a glamorous new counsellor to her workplace. The thriller from filmmaker William Oldroyd (Lady Macbeth) sees the two women grow close, only for their relationship to be upended when one of them reveals a dark secret.
A starry cast including Jodie Comer and Austin Butler head the latest crime drama from Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter). Set around a group of motorbike enthusiasts in 1960s America, the two leads are part of the Vandals, a wayward biker gang of outsiders under the direction of their leader (Tom Hardy). The ante is upped when more sinister elements threaten to become involved in the club.
Sideways director Alexander Payne is reunited with Paul Giamatti - his leading man from that classic - in a movie set in the US in 1970. Giamatti is an instructor at a New England school tasked with spending Christmas on campus with a group of students who have nowhere else to go.
French filmmakers serve up a feast in this drama-romance set in the world of gastronomic cuisine. Cook Eugenie (Juliette Binoche) and her boss have been serving up culinary marvels for years and grown close in the process. But when she shows a reluctance to marry, he aims to do something he hasn’t before - cook for her. The screening will be accompanied by the option of a special event dinner at Cork’s L’Atitude 51.
- Cork International Film Festival runs from November 9-26. See https://corkfilmfest.org/
- CIFF has teamed up with six Cork city and county-wide venues for ‘Super Cine Saturday’ on November 25. The Reel Picture Ballincollig and Blackpool, Cinemax Bantry, Gate Cinemas Midleton and Mallow, and Regal Cinema Youghal will all show a ‘Taste of CIFF’ with three feature films from the 68th Festival programme, including Fallen Leaves, One Night In Millstreet, and Robot Dreams.
The Killer (cinemas, Netflix from November 10th) Michael Fassbender plays an assassin in a mystery thriller from David Fincher.
Fingernails (Apple TV and cinemas from November 3rd) Killarney’s Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed join forces in a sci-fi romance.
How to Have Sex (cinemas from November 3rd) Three British teenagers go on a rites-of-passage holiday in this much-hyped tale of young adult experiences.
Bottoms (cinemas from November 3rd) A raunchy comedy set in a US high school.
Stop Making Sense (Triskel from November 5th) The much-loved Talking Heads concert movie returns for a 40th-anniversary run.
