Great buzz around IndieCork film festival as it fondly remembers Loafers

The IndieCork Festival opens today and is celebrating not just its 11 years as one of Ireland’s leading independent film festivals but also marks the grand opening of the Arc Cinema on North Main Street. Formerly the Gate, the Arc is newly renovated and continues the Gate’s long-running collaboration with IndieCork.

This year’s festival has a mix of international award-winning films and eagerly awaited Irish films, including Ireland’s entry to the Academy Awards, In the Shadow of Beirut.

The festival is co-directed by Mick Hannigan and Una Feely, with Hannigan overseeing the Irish films in the programme while Feely takes care of the international films.

According to Feely, this year’s festival gives audiences a real flavour of the world through the lens of filmmaking.

“What we try to do with the international features is to give a real panorama view of independent filmmaking from different corners of the world. We have films from Chile, Japan, China, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Syria. We thought it would be wonderful to give people this opportunity, the week before Christmas, to experience something different. They can go in at 11 on Tuesday morning and see an amazing film from Kazakhstan or pop in the next day and catch one from Japan.”

The Kazakhstani film, Mountain Onion, is a vibrant comedy that sees an 11-year-old attempt to salvage his parents’ marriage by unusual means.

“We have a real balance of genres,” Feely says. “ Mountain Onion is very funny, but then we have Joseph’s Journey from Syria, a much more serious film about immigration. Everybody Wants to Be Loved, from Germany, is our big Thursday night film. It’s a beautiful comedy, very much based on family. We also have The Settlers. It’s a Chilean film, heavy-hitting and beautifully acted.”

Other international films include Till Love Do Us Part, a modern-day love story set in China, and The Trouble with Jessica, a black comedy set at a dinner party starring Rufus Sewell and Shirley Henderson. It is the festival’s opener and, Feely says, although it’s not a Christmas film, it is a good one to watch in the lead-up to Christmas.

The Irish programme is packed with feature films, shorts, and documentaries this year. One documentary, Loafers, explores the legacy of Loafers Bar, Ireland’s first LGBTQ+ bar, which opened in 1983. It is directed by Cork LGBT Archive founder Orla Egan and comprises archival footage and present interviews.

Rebel Wife explores the role of Clonakilty woman, Mary Jane Irwin O’Donovan Rossa, in Ireland’s campaign for freedom. Much of her story has been forgotten, while her West Cork husband, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, a Fenian activist, lives on through poems and songs. The documentary is directed by Mary Jane’s great-grandson, Williams Rossa Cole.

Hannigan says the documentary is a revelation. “We all know O’Donovan Rossa’s story, but learning about Mary Jane is a revelation. She was a remarkable woman who we should all know about.”

There are two documentaries by Cork filmmakers. Ó Bhéal explores the rise of hip hop in Ireland and is directed by Ciara Nic Chormaic. Hungry Hill looks at life as a sheep farmer working on the Beara Peninsula. It is directed by Mieke Vanmechelen and Michael Holly.

Hannigan says this year saw a record number of short film entries made by people from Cork.

“We couldn’t squeeze in all the Cork shorts I would have liked to, but it speaks to a great vibrancy of filmmaking here.”

One of the Cork shorts, I Called You, is directed by Cork filmmaker Jane Moriarty. It is a psychological thriller created by an all-female team, which looks at the everyday threat of violence women face.

The Irish features include A Sunken Place by Ronan Hugh O’Leary, which looks at what happens when a doctor discovers a cure for depression. Hannigan says it’s a timely film.

“It is complex and touches on a lot of themes people are talking about right now, like the role of Big Pharma and medical technology.”

Another big Irish film is the award-winning Verdigris. It stars Maya O’Shea, who was nominated for the Bingham Ray New Talent Award at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh for her performance in the film. Geraldine McAlinden also stars. They play two women from vastly different circumstances who become unlikely friends. Verdigris, written and directed by Patricia Kelly, has big themes, including ageing and violence against women.

Each year, IndieCork screens several LGBTQ+ films, and this year, the films are programmed together in a new strand, Outlook Shorts.

“We’ve collaborated with Cork Pride for this programme, and we titled it Outlook Shorts, echoing the Outlook Festival, the first lesbian gay festival in Ireland in 1991.”

This year, there is another new strand, Indie Xtra, which Hannigan says will see films played in the Arc Cinema in early 2024.

“We had some brilliant films submitted which we couldn’t fit into the programme, but they deserve to be seen. We want to give a platform to indie filmmakers and let them have the experience of an audience watching their films. We spoke with the Arc, who loved the idea, and we are delighted to say that they will screen some of these excellent films.”

The festival’s closing film, Perfect Days, is directed by the acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders. The film, Japan’s Oscar submission, saw its lead actor, Koji Yakusho, take home the Best Actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Feely says that audiences will be surprised by Perfect Days, which is vastly different from Wenders’ earlier films such as Paris, Texas. It follows the story of Hirayama, a cleaner who appears to live a quiet life but has a hidden depth.

“It’s a lovely, gentle film. It might surprise some people that this is Wenders’ work, but it is well worth seeing. It is the perfect closing film.”

• IndieCork 2023 Film Festival runs from December 15-22
  See www.indiecork.com