Movie buff? Put Cork Film Festival in the frame this autumn
Ireland’s most exciting and ambitious film festival returns to Cork this November showcasing the best films from around the world.
Cork Film Festival
Now in its 69th year, Cork International Film Festival (CIFF) (7–17 November) is Ireland’s oldest and largest film festival with a mission to create a shared cultural experience connecting audiences and artists.
The festival presents a far-reaching programme of over 200 films across multiple strands and aims to introduce new voices that entertain, provoke, inspire and delight.
Each year CIFF presents 12 awards, including the CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award, Gradam Spiorad na Féile/Spirit of the Festival Award, Gradam na Féile do Scannáin Faisnéise/Award for Cinematic Documentary, and two Audience Awards one for features and the other for shorts.
It is also one of just a handful of film festivals in Ireland to host three awards with Oscar® accreditation. The Grand Prix Irish Short, Grand Prix International Short and Grand Prix Documentary Short Award are Academy Award® qualifying, ensuring that the winners in Cork automatically join the Oscars’® long-list.
River Lee, Cork City
The awards are essential to promoting emerging talent in the Irish cinema community and championing filmmakers at all stages of their careers.
The festival programme includes feature fiction films, documentaries, short films, experimental, artist moving image works as well as all hybrid approaches that blur the distinctions between documentary and fiction and push against the constraints of genre. The organisers pay attention to all diverse voices, opening the doors for those underrepresented and overlooked by the majority.
CIFF prides itself on being accessible and inclusive for all. As well as screenings in Cork venues such as the Triskel Arts Centre, the Everyman Theatre and Cork Opera House, they are also available online via the Festival Digital Platform.
Cork Opera House Theatre, Cork City
In between enjoying the film screenings, visitors can get to know Cork city which is famous for its world-class market, historic fort and jail and neo-gothic cathedral. County Cork is also known as the food capital of Ireland and boasts excellent artisan produce, award-winning restaurants and a thriving craft beer scene.