Cork International Film Festival screens first of 200 films at opening gala

Cork International Film Festival (CIFF) officially kicked off its programme tonight November 9th with the sold-out Irish premiere of Yorgos Lanthimos’ award-winning Poor Things at the Cork Opera House.

The expanded 2023 Festival will screen the best in Irish and international film over 18 days across Cork city and county, running until Sunday November 26th and including several high profile World and Irish Premieres.

Officially opening the Festival, Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy said: “This year Cork International Film Festival continues to take its viewers on a viewing journey of some of the world's greatest films, newest releases and art house masterpieces.

“The Festival creates an enormous heartfelt and soul-filled experience by bringing people together - it captures people's imagination and emotions of viewing a great film.

“For nearly seven decades, the film Festival has filled the City and region with everything that is good about the City - culture, arts, heritage, sense of pride, sense of place and a sense of togetherness.”

Festival Patron Lord David Puttnam welcomed the audience, saying: “Film festivals matter - their purpose is to introduce new and unexpected work to each successive generation of filmgoers.

“Every 15 to 20 years cinema needs to find ‘new voices’, ones that speak to and illuminate the experience of a new generation of cinemagoers, and that voice needs not just to be discovered but encouraged and supported.

“Congratulations to the entire Cork International Film Festival team, of which I am proud to be considered a member.” 

Highlights in the packed 2023 programme, featuring over 200 films across the Festival, include two World Premieres this weekend.

So This Is Christmas, from award-winning Irish filmmaker Ken Wardrop will be screening on Friday night at The Everyman, and Irish Gala One Night In Millstreet from director Andrew Gallimore on Saturday 11th November.

The Parallax Emerging Film Artist Exhibition, ‘Another Country’, opens in the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion tomorrow until the final day of the Festival, with free admission.

It is a solo exhibition by Myfanwy Frost-Jones, the inaugural recipient of the Parallax Emerging Film Artist Bursary, established by CIFF, National Sculpture Factory, and Sample-Studios in 2022, and the recipient of the 2024 Bursary will be announced during the Festival.

On Saturday 11th, the Festival will also welcome director Damian Harris, and actors Jared and Jamie Harris, sons of Richard Harris, who will attend the international premiere of feature film Brave The Dark in The Everyman, and participate in a post-screening Q&A.

Headlining the Festival’s film and mental health strand, will be the Irish Premiere of The Eternal Memory, by Chilean director Maite Alberdi, followed by a panel discussion in the Triskel on Saturday afternoon.

Cork International Film Festival has established itself as a platform for the best in short filmmaking to be showcased, and this year is no exception.

Three of the Festival shorts awards – the Grand Prix Irish Short, the Grand Prix International Short and the Grand Prix Documentary Short – are Academy Award®-qualifying, ensuring that the winners in Cork will be automatically longlisted for the Oscars®.

On Sunday 12th November, in Triskel, CIFF presents IFI Cork On Camera: A Focus on Flora Kerrigan. Made in 1960s Cork and preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive, these amateur films by Flora Kerrigan tackle existential subjects through experimental animation and live-action filmmaking.

The Festival will also showcase premieres from acclaimed Irish filmmakers Paul Duane (All You Need Is Death), Alan Gilsenan (The Days Of Trees) and Paul Mercier (Prospect House), all of which are in competition for the CIFF Best New Irish Feature award.

The Green Screen feature for 2023 is a food sustainability documentary focused on Peruvian superstar chef, Virgilio, with a panel discussion in partnership with University College Cork (UCC).

The Culinary Cinema strand will also feature blending screenings of three food-themed films and Cork food experiences, including a pop-up supper at The Farmgate Café, English Market; Italian treats at NeighbourFood Apple Market; and French dining and wine-pairing at L'Atitude 51.

As the Festival approaches its landmark 70th edition in 2025, this year’s Cork Film Trail invites guests to take a wander through the streets of Cork City.

They are encouraged to explore CIFF’s rich heritage and deep connection to this vibrant and changing city over the past seven decades, drawing on the CIFF Digital Archive with accompanying walking tours, two of which will be led by the Lord Mayor, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy.

CIFF Director & CEO Fiona Clark said at the official launch: “Along with the sense of occasion we all feel tonight, I’m more aware than ever of the responsibility we carry as custodian of this significant and long-cherished Grande Dame of film festivals.

“Seven decades on, we continue to champion the power of film to tell important stories that transform how we see the world.” 

All tickets are on sale now at corkfilmfest.org and the MyCIFF app.