The 56th Corona Cork Film Festival to showcase best in Irish and International Film
The 56th Corona Cork Film Festival, Ireland's oldest film festival will take place from November 6-13 and will screen 300 films over eight days and nights. Big budget films, world cinema, independent films, international documentaries and short films from all over the world, makes this annual extravaganza of film an event not to miss.
The festival opens on Sunday November 6 with the screening of Like Crazy directed by Drake Doremus which illustrates beautifully how your first real love is as thrilling and blissful as it is devastating. Like Crazy which stars Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin won the Grand Jury Prize Sundance Film Festival, 2011
The festival will close on November 13 with the screening of Toomelah directed by Ivan Sen which is set entirely in the remote indigenous community of Toomelah, located on the New South Wales/Queensland border. It is a provocative yet comic story that transports audiences inside this community, to experience an authentic world and way of life that is Toomelah.
Michael Barry of Barry & Fitzwilliam, distributors of Corona Extra said ‘We are proud to be title sponsors of the Corona Cork Film Festival for the 5th year in a row and to partner with them in bringing an interesting mix of films to Irish audiences. It has always been a resounding success for the brand and the festival itself.'
Local production is to the fore in this year's Corona Cork Film Festival with three feature films made in the Cork area being screened. The programme includes world premieres of Patrick O'Shea's Tree Keeper and Conor Stanley's Steamin' and Dreamin 2 both filmed in Cork City. Also screening is Gerard Hurley's The Pier filmed in Ballydehob.
Another film with a Cork connection is Crooked Man, a film of comedian Tommy Tiernan's last tour. The film was shot in Cork's comedy club City Limits where Tommy first achieved success. It's an indication of the strength of the local filmmaking scene that the ‘Made In Cork' programme has been expanded from two to three programmes.
These screenings take place in the context of the launch during the festival of the recently established Cork Screen Commission established to attract film production to Cork City and County. Also participating in the festival are Southern Screen Professionals and Cork Film Centre who's latest production, Brian Cronin's Fond of a Moth will be screened on the opening night.
Exciting international features include the Locarno-winner Best Intentions, The Minister which won the Prize of the International Critics in Cannes 2011 and The Flying Machine, a spectacular adventure in 3-D which pushes the boundaries of family animation. Prolific Portuguese filmmaker Edgar Pera will be in Cork to present his latest feature The Baron.
Inspired by actual events, The Whistleblower is based on the life of Kathryn Bolkovac who uncovered a dangerous reality of corruption, amid a world of private contractors and multinational diplomatic doubletalk while working for the United Nations in Bosnia. Kathryn Bolkovac will attend the festival for the screening of the film.
Strong documentaries in the programme include Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey, a remarkable portrait of Bernadette Devlin McAliskey; Holly Rollers, a true story of card counting Christians who try and take casinos for millions; Give Up Tomorrow a riveting exposé of a world of corruption and injustice in contemporary Philippines and The Kingdom of Survival which uses investigative journalism to trace possible links between spirituality, art, radical politics and fringe philosophy.
The 56th Corona Cork Film Festival will screen films in the newly renovated Triskel Christchurch where there will be a number of music performances combining moving image and sound, including performances from the Cork VJ collective. Other side-bar events include a focus on Romanian short films and the launch of the Irish Japanese Film Festival which will later tour throughout Ireland.
The Corona Cork Film Festival in collaboration with the National Film Archive will screen Come On Over (1922) a lively emigrant comedy. Recreating the Wurlitzer-style splendour of early cinema, Come On Over will be presented with accompaniment by Morgan Cooke on the Triskel Christchurch recently restored TC Lewis organ. There is a special screening of The Dawn directed by Tom Cooper to celebrate the 75th anniversary of this remarkable film which was heralded as a landmark achievement in Irish filmmaking.
The Festival has long been a supporter of artists working in film and this year honours acclaimed Irish artist Jesse Jones. The Corona Cork Film Festival and the National Sculpture Factory will screen the European Premiere of The Struggle Against Ourselves which is Jesse Jones' latest film. The Struggle Against Ourselves will screen in the National Sculpture Factory on the Factory Floor from November 10-12 and will see the factory floor transformed into a giant off-site cinema for three days only.
The Festival will also present OutLook 2011, featuring over nine hours of gay and lesbian features, documentaries and short films from Ireland and across the globe.
The Corona Cork Film Festival once again continues to fly the flag for short filmmakers and will screen over 22 Programmes of Irish and International Short Films. Filmmakers from all over the world will compete to win prestigious awards including the "Best International Short Film Award", the "Best Irish Short Film Award" and the "Made in Cork Award".
For the full programme of screenings and tickets see http://www.corkfilmfest.org/.
Tickets are also available from the Festival Box Office in the Cork Opera House.
Tel 021 4271160.