Cork to dominate big screen at Indie festival

A unique filmic portrait of Cork will be premiered at Ireland’s newest film festival for independent film makers next week.

IndieCork, set up as a rival to the Cork Film Festival, will screen the feature-length film, Cork, Like, during its inaugural festival from Oct 16-20.

The film is a collage of shorts by Cork-based filmmakers painting a filmic portrait of the city.

The project, which was initiated by Cork Film Centre under a ‘Composer In Residence’ scheme, was a massive collaborative effort with nine filmmakers and extended casts and crew of over 50 people.

The film styles cover documentary, animation, drama and experimental.

“We’re proud to be associated with a film showing the wonderful filmmaking talent that’s in the Cork region,” said Chris Hurley of the Cork Film Centre.

IndieCork co-founder Mick Hannigan said he was delighted the festival will launch the Cork, Like project. “This film reflects the diversity of Cork city, showing familiar cityscapes and waterscapes in a fresh light. The film is a great showcase for a culturally vibrant Cork,” he said.

The project coordinator for Cork, Like was composer Athos Tsiopani, whose score for the film was performed by the Cork New Music Ensemble.

“The film will really showcase the artistic range of talents that Cork has to offer. Like the film, the score is an eclectic blend of genres that serves to capture the identity and feel of the city,” Athos said.

The festival will host the European Lux Prize, with three superb films. Groundbreaking Factory 25 founder Matt Grady, who helps produce conceptually provocative narratives and documentaries, and New York-based filmmaker Ronnie Bronstein, will be in the city for the event.

The Hamburg Film Festival and Short Film Agency will screen special shows and a free filmic walk around Cork, called A Wall Is A Screen, will debut.

The festival will feature a Film Feast night, with nine food-focused shorts celebrating food in film, with some of Cork’s top food producers providing samples at the event.

Fellini’s, one of Cork’s most elegant cafés, which has a long association with cinema — the cafe space was originally part of the Pavilion cinema with the original plaster-work still visible on the ceiling — will host film screenings over three nights where film lovers will have an opportunity of meeting three great shorts directors in the cafe and view their films.

The festival’s films will also be screened in the Triskel, the Gate Cinema, the Camden Palace Hotel, and in new venues, including the Bodega, and the Crane Lane.

* www.indiecork.com.