The Cork International Film Festival's (CIFF) new Director of Programming Aurélie Godet introduces her inaguaral programme for the 69th installment of Ireland's longest-running film event, which runs from Nov 7th - 17th.
Announcing this year's programme for the Cork International Film Festival filled me with pride and excitement. Although it’s large and diverse, no compromise was made on quality - the result of months of scouting and negotiating. Allow me the superlatives, as I didn’t make these films. I’m talking as an omnivorous cinephile. Comments such as cinema being an aging artform don’t stand for a second when you look at this year’s must-sees assembled here.
People have been enjoying CIFF’s trailer and asked us about the music. It comes from French film Fotogenico, presented in our newly revamped Disruptors strand. A wild ride co-directed by rock critic Benoit Sabatier. He and actor Christophe Paou are attending and the screening will also be introduced by two students, who are fans. As part of our Young Programmers operation, they chose the films that are in the running for the Lookout (youth jury) Award.
Comments such as cinema being an aging artform don't stand for a second when you look at this year’s must-sees assembled here.
Another film they not only selected but gave a 10/10 is Christine Angot’s A Family, which leaves no viewer indifferent. She’s a multiple award-winner as a writer and for the first time she tackles through film the crime of incest inflicted upon her by her father. One of the scenes that leaves us flabbergasted is a clip from a famous talk-show, in which none of the hosts seem to find it abnormal or indecent to laugh and mock their guest who is trying to convey something incredibly personal and painful.
Among our varied non-fiction titles, I bet on two in particular rating high in the Audience Award votes. They are The Making of a Japanese, our documentary gala, whose director and producer are visiting from New York, and Love Alone Can’t Make a Child, from Germany, about a female couple who wish, so sincerely, so deeply, to have a child. The original title is Der Wunsch (The Wish) and as a viewer you come to hope that it works out as much as they do. We have a video message from them for the festival’s audience, it’s really something.
I love Irish filmmaker Eóin Heaney’s film M/S, which beautifully evokes his years of caring for his mother afflicted with multiple sclerosis. It's hybrid rather than documentary, both intimate and transcended by an artistic vision - not unlike quirky US indie Invention. And I believe it is safe to view even if you know the condition too well.
The Fable is one of two excellent Indian films featured this year (together with Cannes Film Festival’s gorgeous Grand Prix winner All We Imagine as Light). It’s a rather unclassifiable film, set in 1989, in which the owner of a large orchard builds himself a pair of wings and goes out for a flight like others would a morning jog. I'm curious to hear the filmmaker, Raam Reddy, who is attending the festival, on his interest for magic realism.
Programming is also an excuse to continue and discover films. I saw Pat O’Connor’s Cal for the first time this year, when its 40-year anniversary restoration was brought to my attention by CIFF’s programming manager Si Edwards. If I were to curate a retrospective on a filmmaker, it would likely not be as an expert of their work but because I saw one or two of their films and am dying to see all the others. This desire is something that I share with the festival’s spectators. I am one of the festival’s spectators.
The year’s best films are having their Irish premiere in Cork, and several online for a taste of the festival wherever you are in Ireland: it’s a rare chance and I encourage people to seize it. September 5 isn't coming out before the end of January, and post-apocalyptic musical The End is a Spring 25 release! Browsing the programme is part of the experience and if it makes you hungry for cinema, we offer bundles and even some all-access "Festival Best Friend" passes.
In my view curating, if done well, is about building a relationship based on trust. So if you see us at the screenings, please introduce yourself, we will gladly help you find the film that is meant for you.
The Cork International Film Festival 2024 runs from Nov 7th - 17th - find out more here.
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