In Profile: Aurélie Godet, Cork Film Festival director of programming
Aurélie Godet is director of programming at Cork International Film Festival. Picture: François Berthier
Aurélie Godet is Cork International Film Festival’s new director of programming.
Originally from Paris, movies have taken her all over the world – from programming in festivals such as the Berlinale and Locarno Film Festival, to promoting French films in New York, to launching a film festival in Sri Lanka.
She’s married to an English man, and lives in Cork city centre, where her six-year-old son, Orson, attends school.
I saw Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal – with its scary monsters – too young, probably at the age of 4. The discovery of film is really a sense of wonder.
It's fantasy. This whole other world that has nothing to do with your daily life. I wanted to enter that world and stay in it.
Éric Rohmer’s Le Rayon Vert (1986) builds up to a moment of pure grace, but not in a way that tells you, “I'm doing this. Look. It's coming up.” It takes you by surprise.
It’s delightful, with moments that leave a print in you, emotionally and spiritually. The kind of film that lives on with you.
I'm going to be labelled a fantasy nerd! Alien is another film I shouldn't have seen so young. An all-time great film. I heard adults talk about it at a dinner, describing the most famous scene, John Hurt's death.
I imagined it. I built up the film in my head. I only saw it years later. So expectation was part of the experience. Of course, the film didn’t disappoint.
I met Sigourney Weaver in Berlin, a great day for me. We opened Berlinale with the film My Salinger Year in 2020. She plays JD Salinger’s literary agent. I did the press conference for the film with her. It was beautiful. I really enjoyed meeting her. She's classy.
Tilda Swinton keeps surprising me. I keep discovering her range. Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria is one of Tilda’s very subtle performances, the opposite of Smowpiercer.
In Joshua Oppenheimer’s post-apocalyptic musical The End, a film at the festival, actors sing with their true voice. Her singing completely broke my heart.
Cork is the first city I flew in my life to, aged 12. My parents hadn't flown yet either. We had a southern Ireland holiday between Cork and Killarney. It's a happy memory.
I enjoyed the accents, the friendliness. I was chased by a cow at a Bed & Breakfast. I guess I was at the wrong side of the wire!
How easy it is to engage in conversation with people you don't know. We have a coffee shop around the corner. We've become very quickly close with this family.
One is going to the festival; one is now going to be my kid's babysitter. This is extraordinary. I really like that.
What’s missing here is a modern arthouse cinema/community centre, with a capacity between 200 and 300 seats.
Equipped for remote Q&As between audience and authors, and other artforms such as children’s dance or music shows. A welcoming place for people, where you’d want to “hang out”.
When the Light Breaks is an Icelandic film by Rúnar Rúnarsson. It's about a group of young people who lose one of their close friends. It's gorgeously shot.
If you like actors' performances, this is one for you. The emotional truth they managed to reach is so rare. It's beautiful, a little miracle.
Half of the film September Says takes place in Ireland. It's about a single mom and her two teenage daughters. The daughters get in trouble in the UK, so they take shelter in Ireland.
It's difficult to classify – part of the film becomes quite eerie, sort of a category breaker. It has interesting characters and an original voice.
The Stimming Pool is a very original proposition by experienced British director, Steven Eastwood. It’s about a collective of autistic adults who film their vision of the world. It's diverse in all meanings of the term.
We have a live-action Bambi. I saw it with my kid. Given my child's intense reaction to these animal interactions, I think it's gonna be a very lively screening with nice lessons on the cycle of life.
- The Cork International Film Festival opens Thursday, and runs until Sunday November 17. See: www.corkfilmfest.org
