IRISH SHORTS 3: BEST CORK SHORT COMPETITION
TUE 17 | EVERYMAN | 18:00
Home thoughts from abroad? You can never go home again! But everyone must have one…
From archival reflections to urgent calls, a selection of Cork filmmakers and films, including documentary, drama, dance, silent film. Mature themes!
- WHEN IMAGES NO LONGER CARRY TIME NATURALLY – Shuning Zhao [C] [D]Combining archival footage of West Cork with contemporary recordings, this experimental film explores how digital images mediate memory, time and our experience of place.
- HERE & THERE – Bruna Barreto Fontoura [C]WARNING! EXTRATERRESTRIAL SIGHTING! Cork City has been invaded by an extraterrestrial creature who’s only after one thing: to find a new home.
- SEBASTIAN – Owen Warren [C]A young sex worker has an client who is from their life before and must decide if they wish to go ahead with their request
- LIFE/TIME – Terence White [C]Through layered imagery and movement, this experimental dance film brings three stages of a woman’s life into dialogue, exploring the challenges, changes and complexities of ageing.
- EMBROIDERING THE EARTH’S MANTLE – Aideen Barry [C] [RU]Inspired by forgotten surrealist Remedios Varo, this experimental film merges historic cinematic techniques, motion design and performers’ personal journeys into a dreamlike exploration of art, identity and displacement.
- HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE – Liadán Roche [C]Grace, a recently evicted trans woman, and Billy, a trans man stuck at home, find intimacy in an extra-dimensional room – but just like the city outside, the room itself threatens to swallow them whole.
- EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE A HOME – Tomas Heising [C] [D]After nearly four years of weekly protests against Ireland’s housing crisis, Cork musician Martin Leahy makes his 200th and final journey to Leinster House, joined by fellow campaigners determined to make their voices heard.
All films in competition are eligible for the Grand Prix Irish Short Award and when indicated Grand Prix Documentary Short Award [D], Redbreast UNHIDDEN Short Award [RU] and Best Cork Short Award [C].
FUNK + AFTERPARTY
Aly Muritiba | Brazil | 2026 | 106 mins | Subtitled | Fiction
TUE 17 | ARC | 18:30
A young Brazilian funk singer rises from the energetic and gritty baile funk scene of the Morro dos Prazeres to the electrifying favela parties that pulse through the heart of Rio de Janeiro.
In a neon-lit Rio de Janeiro favela where radical joy is an act of resistance, MC Sabrina (Duda Santos), a fearless young talent, catches the eye of an influential music producer. Thrust into the spotlight of the music industry, she must navigate aggressive attempts to “whitewash” her sound and her identity, stripping away her roots for commercial consumption.
Back home, her mother – a broken pioneer of the Baile Funk scene – looms over Sabrina’s rise like an open wound: a warning of stolen youth, a mirror of potential failure, and the last thread connecting her to who she truly is.
Immersive camerawork makes you feel as though you’re right there on the dance floor with the characters of this wild musical film.
FUNK AFTERPARTY
Bellyman meets Stevie G… Baile Funk, Latin, Dancehall, Reggae
21:00 ‘til late @ Intermission Bar.
OUT OF FRAME: ROUND 38 (CORK SHORTS)
TUE 17 | THE ROUNDY | 20:30-21:30 | FREE BUT TICKETED
Cork’s monthly film talk, Out of Frame provides a platform to showcase Cork’s talented diverse film community and a space for exchange and connection among filmmakers.
As in the last two years, filmmakers from the Cork International Film Festival Irish Shorts programme: Best Cork Short Competition will feature in the November edition of Out of Frame.
VERTIGINOUS (LA VERTIGE)
Quentin Dupieux | France | 2026 | 67 mins | Subtitled | Fiction
TUE 17 | ARC CINEMA | 21:00
Jacky has made a crazy discovery that might entail an alternative, virtual reality. When he tells his childhood friend Bruno, they realise they’re onto something, until…
Prepare to be change dimensions with this glitchy, Sims-like animation by cult filmmaker Quentin Dupieux. The prolific director of goofy comedies never takes himself seriously, yet often manages to provide a quasi-philosophical commentary on our world’s absurdities. If this sounds like a mouthful, don’t worry, this mockery of high tech and AI shenanigans is as silly as it gets.
Let loose and embark on a meta-ride through our dystopian world: hyperreal yet artificial, and completely bonkers.
This screening is supported by the French Embassy in Ireland.
