UN whistleblower to attend Cork film fest

AN American policewoman who outed the UN for covering up a sex trafficking scandal will be guest of honour at the forthcoming Irish premiere of The Whistleblower.

Kathryn Bolkovac will attend the Corona Cork Film Festival in November for the screening of the film, in which her part is played by Rachel Weisz. Bolkova uncovered the sex-trafficking scandal while she was working with the UN in Bosnia.

Festival director Mick Hannigan said he was delighted the Nebraska-based policewoman will attend the screening at Cork Opera House on November 12.

Meanwhile, Mr Hannigan said about 2,400 entries were being cut down for the festival, which will be held between November 6 and 13.

“Of those entries, around 2,000 are short films and they will be whittled down to 80. There are 200 documentaries entered and we will show 21 of them. Around 200 feature films are under consideration — we will show 10,” he said.

He added that a film shot in Killarney in 1930 would also be featured: “It’s called The Dawn and was made by Tom Cooper, a garage owner and film enthusiast. It was a 35mm full-length feature on the War of Independence. It’s an extraordinary achievement as it was made by amateurs.”

Cooper’s grandchildren will attend the screening.

“There’s also an international angle to this year’s festival. Our special focus will be on Portuguese filmmaker Edgar Pera. We’ve been chasing him for years. He’s just completed a feature film called The Baron. It’s a vampire story and I think it will launch him on the international stage,” Mr Hannigan said.

Tickets will be available on corkfilmfest.org and at the festival box office in Merchant’s Quay. For more, telephone: [phone].