More than 220 films, including world and Irish premieres, screened at Cork film festival

The 69th annual Cork International Film Festival concluded on Sunday night after 11 days, during which the festival brought more than 220 Irish and international films to Cork — including multiple world and Irish premieres.

More than 17,000 people attended this year’s festival and, to mark its 70th edition in 2025, the festival has announced that it has been selected for the presentation of the prestigious Audentia Award in partnership with the Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund.

Meaning “courage” and “bravery” in Latin, the Audentia Award was created by Eurimages to promote greater gender equality in the European film industry.

Prize

The award includes a prize of €30,000 for a female filmmaker to invest in her next feature, and the festival will announce the winner during its 70th edition in November 2025.

Meanwhile, the festival announced its Audience Awards 2024 for features and shorts.

The award for features was presented to Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story, directed by Sinéad O’Shea.

The award for shorts went to Setanta and Jim Cullen, directed by Jack Desmond and Cian Desmond.

Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story also won Best New Irish Feature Award, which is supported by the Irish Examiner.

The festival’s jury said at its gala awards night last weekend that its choice had been unanimous.