Moving Pictures: A Historic City Walk with Cork International Film Festival
Join architectural historian Danielle O’Donovan on Friday 21 August for Moving Pictures: A Historic City Walk with Cork International Film Festival, a 90-minute guided tour through Cork’s VQ.
Beginning at 6pm outside Gallagher’s Pub (32 MacCurtain Street), the walk will explore some of the city’s best-loved cinema landmarks, including The Everyman and the former Coliseum Cinema, while uncovering the stories behind Cork’s vibrant filmgoing history. Drawing on material from the CIFF Digital Archive, alongside historic photographs and local stories, the tour offers a fascinating insight into the city’s architectural and cultural heritage.
The tour concludes at the historic Metropole Hotel, where refreshments will be provided.
For those who can’t attend in person, CIFF will also release a free recorded walking tour podcast during Heritage Week, allowing audiences to explore the route in their own time.
Booking Information
The walking tour operates on a pay-what-you-wish basis. As places are limited, advance booking is essential.
Tickets can be booked HERE or through the myCIFF app.
Watch a Rare 1965 Cork Film Festival Archive Film
To mark Heritage Week, CIFF is also making available online, free of charge, Féile Scannán Chorcaighe, Cork Film Festival — a remarkable short documentary created in 1965 to celebrate the Festival’s tenth anniversary.
Directed by Cork librarian and historian Pádraig Ó Maidín, the film offers a rare glimpse of Cork city and the Festival as they appeared six decades ago.
The film was rediscovered by CIFF Director & CEO Fiona Clark during an office move in 2018. In collaboration with Dr Ciara Chambers (UCC Department of Film & Screen Media) and the Irish Film Institute Irish Film Archive, it was carefully restored and digitised before premiering during the Festival’s landmark 70th edition in 2025.
For the first time, audiences around the world can now watch this unique piece of Cork’s film history free of charge HERE and the Festival’s YouTube channel.
About Danielle O’Donovan
Danielle O’Donovan has been Director of the Butter Museum since 2025. A specialist in architectural and built heritage, she previously managed the Ports, Past and Present research project at University College Cork and has held senior roles at Nano Nagle Place. She has taught architectural history at university level and has developed numerous heritage, museum and digital humanities projects throughout her career.
CIFF’s Heritage Week programme is kindly supported by Cork City Council’s Local Community Heritage & Biodiversity Grant Scheme 2026.
