65th Cork International Film Festival

65th Cork International Film Festival announces full line-up for hybrid festival

Cork International Film Festival (CIFF) has unveiled a sensational Festival programme for their 65th year. This year’s Festival is a blended 12 day physical-virtual event 4-15 November, featuring sought-after Irish and world premieres in addition to six show-stopping Galas, an extensive shorts programme, and special events.

The 2020 programme features 20 international fiction films, 17 inspiring documentaries and nine new Irish features, including four in world premiere. In total, 59 features and documentaries from 38 countries will be presented alongside six Gala screenings, 14 programmes of shorts, and special events with National Sculpture Factory, Irish Film Institute, aemi and UCC.

The CIFF2020 programme features luminaries of the screen and award-winning stars including Frances McDormand in her celebrated leading role in award-winner and Opening Night Gala Nomadland, ( People’s Choice Award, Toronto International Film Festival; Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival), Willem Defoe in Siberia, Viggo Mortensen in Falling and Paul Mescal in Drifting in addition to four world premieres of Irish work including Irish Gala feature The Bright Side, Documentary Gala Castro’s Spies, debut feature The Edge of Chaos, and documentary Home is a Sacrifice Zone .

Straddling the blended event and launching the Digital Festival is the 65th Anniversary Gala, new Irish feature The Racer, a fascinating sport-drama which will transport audiences instantly back in time to the Tour de France as it passed through Ireland, including Cork in 1998,

Other highlights include Family Gala, Disney•Pixar’s highly-anticipated, stunning animated film by Academy Award winner Pete Docter (Inside Out, Up), co-director Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami) Soul (cinema exclusive), which headlines a packed Family programme of three further features and Family Friendly shorts. This year’s Illuminate film and mental health title is the touching family drama, Into Dad’s Woods, and three films for schools are available online for students. International features by established auteurs such as Philippe Garrel (The Salt of Tears), Ai Weiwei (Vivos), veteran documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman (City Hall), and maverick Julien Temple’s Crock of Gold, are joined by strong female voices including Zeina Durra (Luxor), Talya Lavie (Honeymood), Jane Magnusson (Maddy the Model) andCaru Alves de Souza (My Name is Baghdad) . Irish talent is further celebrated with new features Wildfire, and The Castle, alongside documentaries, The 8th and The Sheriff.

For 65 years, CIFF has celebrated excellence in filmmaking and in 2020 the theme of solidarity is evident throughout, including the Classic strand, which showcases films premiered in Cork throughout its 65 years and commemorates the events of 1920. The Festival’s acclaimed film sector training days First Take and Doc Day will be accessible online for free, and CIFF is thrilled to welcome filmmaker, activist and philanthropist Abigail Disney as its Doc Day keynote guest.

Shorts Programme

Cork International Film Festival is the only film festival in Ireland, and one of only a handful internationally, which has 3 Oscar®-qualifying Awards – of the 10 Awards the Festival presents, the winners of our Grand Prix Irish Short Award, Grand Prix International Short Award and, newly in 2019, the Grand Prix Documentary Short Award will qualify for the Oscars® longlist. See them first at Cork International Film Festival.

Over 3130 short film submissions were received by the Cork International Film Festival this year, with just 81 chosen for inclusion, including Irish shorts Drifting by Robert Higgins, Patrick McGivney, starring Paul Mescal (Normal People) and Dafhyd Flynn (Michael Inside). How to Fall in Love in a Pandemic by Michael-David McKernan, Arena by Helen Warner, an Irish premiere from our 2018 Grand Prix Irish short winner, Dúirt Tú (You Said) by Shaun Dunne and Zoe Ní Riordáin, Iarscoláire (Past Pupil) by Shaun Dunne, Fallow Table by Jessica & Megan Kennedy, Luca Truffarelli, Afterlife by Daniel Butler. 

International Shorts includes a series of exciting new international voices, as well as films that have played at such top tier festivals as Berlin, Cannes, Toronto and Venice. David by Zach Woods was selected for Cannes and stars Will Ferrell,  29 Hour Long Birthday by Mark Jenkin, 3 Logical Exits by Mahdi Fleifel and French stop-motion felt animation Melting Heart Cake by Benoît Chieux.

Special 2020 Festival events include the launch of the Digital Archive with University College Cork, our Cork Costume Trail featuring select pieces worn by leading actors including Cillian Murphy and Angela Lansbury in addition to our 65th anniversary / 1920 Commemoration events in partnership with Cork City Council which includes a 1920 Commemoration Gala, presented by CIFF and the Irish Film Institute (IFI), which will see the Cork premiere of  ‘Irish Destiny’ directed by George Dewhurst, 84 years after it was first screened in 1926.

The Festival will present a full, high-quality digital programme which will deliver the cinematic experience directly to your home, from 9-15 November. Many films will include Q&As with filmmakers enabling audiences to Meet the Makers online and participate in voting for the sought-after Audience Award, from any location in the Republic of Ireland.

Full Festival programme and tickets to all digital events available now at CorkFilmFestival.org  Registration for in-cinema events is also available at corkfilmfest.org.