Cork Film Festival gets (down) under way

Apart from the unsettled weather, there was a distinct Down Under feel to the first night of the 59th Cork Film Festival at Cork Opera House.

Australian ambassador to Ireland, Dr Ruth Adler, was among those in the audience for Charlies’ Country — an opening film set in an Aboriginal community.

Festival director James Mullighan is also Australian, and as he entered his second year at the helm of Ireland’s oldest film festival, he emphasised that the programme of 180 screenings had been selected to appeal to cinema buffs and mainstream audiences alike.