Irish talent in spotlight at film festival launch

THE 49th Cork Film Festival opened last night at the city’s Opera House with the screening of a new feature, Inside I’m Dancing, by Irish director Damien O’Donnell.

Cork is the oldest running film festival in the country and is considered one of the best, specialising in the short film format, with a highly coveted annual award for the best Irish short film.

Launching the festival, Cork Film Festival director Mick Hannigan said it was a pleasure to be able to open the festival with an Irish-made film.

“The film is very moving, very charming, a brave film and an audience pleaser,” Hannigan said.

Inside I’m Dancing won the audience award at the recent Edinburgh Film Festival.

Damien O’Donnell, who was in Cork for the festival launch, indicated it was ironic that his first short film, 35 Aside, had been first screened in competition in Cork, but had failed to net any prizes.

“I went away empty-handed from Cork, but went on to win awards all around the world,” O’Donnell joked.

Inside I’m Dancing went down well with the audience last night, telling the tale of two wheelchair-bound friends, who decide to flee home to live independently. O’Donnell, whose biggest previous feature was East is East, describes his latest feature as “a love story - a story about friendship”.

It goes on general release in Britain and Ireland on October 15, and will get a limited release in the US next spring.

O’Donnell’s film kicked off the week-long festival, which features documentaries, Irish and international short films, and a whole host of feature films - for tastes both popular and specialised.

A remake of The Manchurian Candidate, starring Denzel Washington, Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Depp, and French film Look at Me, which won the best screenplay award at Cannes, are just some of the highlights of this year’s festival.

Other highlights include the new Woody Allen, Melinda and Melinda, which went down well at the recent San Sebastian Film Festival, and the Chinese film Hero, a martial arts movie in the style of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Mr Hannigan said it was the biggest Cork Film Festival to date.

“It grows each year and becomes broader and broader in its scope,” he said.

“This year we’ve a dance event, we’ve an installation, we’ve a whole digital programme, and we’ve an expanded education and talks programme. I suppose we become a bit more ambitious every year.”

See www.corkfilmfest.org for information and call 021 4272263 for booking.