The 54th Corona Cork Film Festival, Ireland’s oldest film festival which will take place from Sunday November 1-8, launched its programme of events on Thursday, October 22nd. The festival will open with the screening of ‘The Boys are Back’ starring Clive Owen (Closer)
The opening film portrays a father who suddenly finds himself as a single dad to two young boys. The festival will screen over 300 films before then closing with the screening of ‘The Road’, a dramatic thriller directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition) about a father and his son walking alone through burned America.
Leading the way in the festival’s international section is ‘Up in the Air’ which stars George Clooney (Burn After Reading) and tells the tale of a man whose cherished life on the corporate road is threatened after meeting the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams. Berlin winner ‘London River’ from director Rachid Bouchareb (Days of Glory) tells the story a Christian mother and a Muslim father who meet as they try to find their respective children following a bomb attack in London while ‘The White Ribbon’, from director Michael Haneke (Funny Games) which won the Palme D’or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, is the depiction of life in a tiny Protestant village in Germany prior to the horrors of WWI.
‘Samson and Delilah’ from director Warwick Thornton (Green Bush), gives an insight into Aboriginal life in Australia whilst ‘Taking Woodstock’, directed by Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain), is a comedy inspired by the true story of Elliot Tiber and his family, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the famed Woodstock Festival. Also incuded is the Coen Brothers’ (No Country for Old Men) latest film ‘A Serious Man’ which is the story of a simple man and his search for clarity in 1960’s America. A noted Irish feature being screened at the festival is ‘Eamon’, the award-winning directorial debut of Margaret Corkery, who won the 2005 Best Irish Short Award at the Festival.
In the festival's documentary section, director Robert Pappas’ latest project, ‘To Age or Not to Age’, receives its world premiere in Cork. The film tracks the pioneers in the field of anti-aging research at Harvard, MIT, and Cambridge and offers commentary on the discovery of the anti-aging gene.
Renowned music director Julien Temple (Glastonbury) will attend the festival for the screening of ‘Oil City Confidential’, which profiles the 1970’s British band Dr Feelgood. ‘No Greater Love’ from Michael Whyte (Shankhill) gives a unique insight into the Discalced Order of Carmelite Nuns in London’s Notting Hill who lead a cloistered life dedicated to prayer; while the black comedy ‘Goodbye, How Are You’ from Boris Mitic (Pretty Dyana) portrays the fractured society in Serbia struggling to come to terms with the effects of war and widespread political corruption. There will also be a screening of the Irish documentary ‘Art of Time’ from Fergus Daly where leading artists and thinkers respond to our rapidly changing world.
This year will also see the Corona Cork Film Festival and the Irish Film Archive celebrating 125 years of the GAA with a screening of a selection of archival films on Cork hurling down through the years including a special film on the legendary hurler Christy Ring.
As previously released the festival will pay tribute to Georges Schwizgeble, one of the world’s master animators, and Austrian innovator Peter Tscherkassky will give a Director’s Masterclass and screen a programme of his work. Media Artist Alex Mackenzie and filmmaker Eve Heller will also attend the festival.
Tickets for all screenings are available on www.corkfilmfest.org and in the Festival Box Office which is located in the foyer of the Cork Opera House (Tel: 021 4271160)
