Cork International Film Festival director: ‘When Covid happened I thought, thank God we were in a place of strength’
- 7 months ago
The Cork International Film Festival begins this Thursday with a gala screening of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things kicking off a marathon 18-day event packed with premieres, special events, educational initiatives and screenings across the county. The festival holds a special place in the hearts of all Corkonians and has come a long way from its humble beginnings.
Before there was an airport in Cork, there was the festival. Founded in 1956 by a small group of visionaries that included Dermot Breen, it quickly became a much-loved institution, bringing national and international films to a city that proved to have an inexhaustible thirst for quality cinema.
In its early years, the festival spent much of its energies beating away the interference of the Catholic Church: there were censorship rows over screenings of films such as A Town Like Alice, Midnight Express and The Last Temptation of Christ. In recent times, financial issues and ensuring the event’s continuing relevance have been more pressing. But as the 68th edition opens, the festival is in very good shape thanks to the efforts of festival director Fiona Clark and her small but industrious team.
Covid, Clark believes, did the festival a favour by showing where its vulnerabilities were.
“One challenge we continue to face is that there’s been a lack of historic investment in Cork, particularly for cinema, but also in the arts infrastructure generally. There isn’t a Light House or an IFI in the centre [like in Dublin], and the Gate Cinema is closed for refurbishment at the moment. That’s going to be fantastic when it reopens, it’ll be a great resource for the city, but of course it’s a massive challenge for us that it’s not available for us this year, because a large proportion of our programme would traditionally have been there.
“So again we have to think differently, respond flexibly, because this year we’re an extended festival, we’re at 18 days, which means that we’re going to more venues. So we’ve forged partnerships with other venues, we’ve taken programmes to Ballincollig and Blackpool with the Reel Picture, we’ve got a programme in Bantry at the Cinemax, and at the Regal in Youghal, and a programme at the Gate in Midleton and Mallow, where we’ve done our schools programme before. So six venues where we’re going to be doing the Super Cine Saturday [November 25], a little pocket festival, and the films that we’re showing there are the crème de la crème of what’s in the programme, like the Cannes Jury Prize winner Fallen Leaves.”
“It’s an opportunity for us to say, look can we expand the depth of the festival rather than the scale, because the festival is already very large, we don’t want to go any bigger than it is.”
Among the challenges created by the Gate’s closure was turning venues not normally associated with film into working cinemas.
“This year, when we deliver our programme in the Everyman, which is a beautiful theatre that gives us capacity, we have to build a cinema in
Before there was an airport in Cork, there was the festival. Founded in 1956 by a small group of visionaries that included Dermot Breen, it quickly became a much-loved institution, bringing national and international films to a city that proved to have an inexhaustible thirst for quality cinema.
In its early years, the festival spent much of its energies beating away the interference of the Catholic Church: there were censorship rows over screenings of films such as A Town Like Alice, Midnight Express and The Last Temptation of Christ. In recent times, financial issues and ensuring the event’s continuing relevance have been more pressing. But as the 68th edition opens, the festival is in very good shape thanks to the efforts of festival director Fiona Clark and her small but industrious team.
Covid, Clark believes, did the festival a favour by showing where its vulnerabilities were.
“One challenge we continue to face is that there’s been a lack of historic investment in Cork, particularly for cinema, but also in the arts infrastructure generally. There isn’t a Light House or an IFI in the centre [like in Dublin], and the Gate Cinema is closed for refurbishment at the moment. That’s going to be fantastic when it reopens, it’ll be a great resource for the city, but of course it’s a massive challenge for us that it’s not available for us this year, because a large proportion of our programme would traditionally have been there.
“So again we have to think differently, respond flexibly, because this year we’re an extended festival, we’re at 18 days, which means that we’re going to more venues. So we’ve forged partnerships with other venues, we’ve taken programmes to Ballincollig and Blackpool with the Reel Picture, we’ve got a programme in Bantry at the Cinemax, and at the Regal in Youghal, and a programme at the Gate in Midleton and Mallow, where we’ve done our schools programme before. So six venues where we’re going to be doing the Super Cine Saturday [November 25], a little pocket festival, and the films that we’re showing there are the crème de la crème of what’s in the programme, like the Cannes Jury Prize winner Fallen Leaves.”
“It’s an opportunity for us to say, look can we expand the depth of the festival rather than the scale, because the festival is already very large, we don’t want to go any bigger than it is.”
Among the challenges created by the Gate’s closure was turning venues not normally associated with film into working cinemas.
“This year, when we deliver our programme in the Everyman, which is a beautiful theatre that gives us capacity, we have to build a cinema in