Artistic Policy

Cork International Film Festival plays a vital and catalytic role in presenting, supporting and celebrating film. We are a proud supporter of Irish, European and international film culture, championing it not only at the festival but also through our networks and partnerships. We actively participate in the Cultural Cinema Partnership to advocate for the importance of film culture among policy-makers and funders.

Cinema is an art form that can take many forms, many shapes. It comes from all parts of the world, speaks a universal language and is able to cross social, cultural and global boundaries. It can help us discover other cultures and experience things that may be out of our reach, or even out of our comfort zone. Festival programme includes feature fiction films, documentaries, short films, experimental, artist moving image works as well as all hybrid approaches that blur the distinctions between documentary and fiction and push against the constraints of genre. We create thematic strands with focus on diverse important issues such as mental health and climate change, and carefully curated retrospectives, bringing classics into the context of contemporary cinema.

Our Festival creates a dynamic space for audiences and filmmakers to participate in a compelling and transformative creative, social and cultural experience. We are a Festival of both quality and celebration. We showcase the best of contemporary Irish, European and world cinema, bringing to Cork the best new films by established auteurs, including many alumni filmmakers, and at the same time supporting and actively searching for the newest emerging talents.

We directly support filmmakers through the exhibition and promotion of their films, creating opportunities for public participation and engagement with their work, alongside meaningful training and career networking opportunities. We adhere to the Arts Council Policy on fair and equitable remuneration of artists and follow international sector standards on pay and screening fees to rights holders, in cinema and online. We are committed to supporting artists through pay and screening fees as well as filmmaker attendance and hospitality at the Festival.

We remain incredibly proud of our past whilst simultaneously looking towards the future; since 1956, we have been a launchpad for countless careers, supporting our alumni filmmakers from their first shorts through to their first features, via our Academy© accredited shorts competitions and our feature and documentary awards.

Our programme aims to reflect the breadth and diversity of our audience and to continually evolve with the community it serves. To this end, our dedicated programming team is searching tirelessly for the best new films, via open submissions, from festival alumni filmmakers and festival advisors, and from the festival circuit, paying attention to all diverse and different voices, and opening the doors for those underrepresented and overlooked by the majority. We work tirelessly towards a festival that is inclusive, accessible and welcoming to all.

We have made our Young People, Children and Education (YPCE) activities a strategic priority, and create opportunities unique in Cork and Ireland for young audiences and filmmakers providing a high profile platform to champion their voices, empowering them to unleash their creativity, and to access the industry and influence its future. We value meaningful engagement of young people and ensure their active participation in the development of a YPCE programme designed for and with young people. In our outreach activities, we focus on providing opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and marginalised communities to participate in the joy of the shared cinematic experience.

Our Industry Days provide a unique opportunity to connect students, emerging and established Irish and international filmmakers in Cork city, as well as creating global access and connection via our digital platform of recorded sessions, available for free, providing the opportunity to learn more about future cinema trends. Our main focus is on upcoming filmmakers in our First Take day and on the documentary filmmaking in our Doc Day.

Our Strategic Ambitions 2023 – 2025

CIFF – The Promise of our Name

Cork International Film Festival – Discover film, reimagine the world

Sustainability

CIFF believes in championing film as a platform to raise awareness on the challenges and solutions of climate and social issues, and promote discussion, debate and action by carefully creating our film programme. We are committed to continuing to develop how we conduct our own operations at the Festival, aiming to measure and reduce our impact, and becoming a greener organisation that can lead the way for a more sustainable cultural landscape in Ireland. 

We encourage our audiences to support us on our sustainability journey, and we welcome any feedback that can help us improve: sustainability@corkfilmfest.org 

As part of our sustainability policy, we have reduced our volume of printed materials and the CIFF brochure is printed on FSC-certified paper meaning it has been responsibly sourced.