The 68th Cork International Film Festival takes place Thursday 9th to Sunday 26th of November. CIFF also announces inaugural ‘CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award’ proudly supported by the Irish Examiner.
Cork International Film Festival (CIFF) has announced that an expanded 2023 edition will take place across Cork city and county from Thursday 9th to Sunday 26th November. The Festival has also announced a prestigious new award which will be presented at this year’s Festival – the CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award proudly supported by the Irish Examiner. The award jury will be chaired by Oscar®-winning film producer, education luminary and CIFF Patron, Lord David Puttnam.
The 68th edition of CIFF will screen the best in Irish and international film across Cork City and county, including Cork Opera House, The Everyman, Triskel, Gate Cinema, The Reel Picture Ballincollig and Blackpool, Crawford Art Gallery, Lord Mayor’s Pavilion, and expanding our regional programme in Gate Midleton and Mallow to Cinemax Bantry and Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, providing more opportunities for audiences to experience and enjoy cultural cinema in local communities across an extended timeframe and footprint this November.
CIFF Director & CEO Fiona Clark spoke about this year’s expanded festival: “This is an exciting development for CIFF; running an extended programme this year enables more cinemas across the city and county to participate, giving more cinema-goers access to the high quality of home-grown and international films in this year’s line-up.”
The CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award will include a cash prize of €3,000 and will be open to any 60+minute-length feature produced or co-produced by an ROI producer. It must have significant Irish artistic input (director/scriptwriter and/or leading actors) and have been filmed in Ireland*. The Festival programming team will select 5-7 films that will compete for the grand prize.
Lord David Puttnam expressed his delight to be Chairing the Jury to select the recipient for this new award: “More than ever film festivals create a unique space in which to be entertained and inspired, and to champion our own storytellers. I’m delighted to be chairing this year’s jury for the inaugural CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award. The opportunity to profile Ireland’s globally recognised filmmaking talent at Ireland’s premiere film festival is a responsibility as well as a pleasure; I look forward to taking on the challenge of narrowing the selection down to a single winner.”
Lord Puttnam is a renowned film producer and executive, having brought audiences award-winning films such as The Mission, Chariots of Fire, The Killing Fields and Midnight Express.
Fiona Clark added: “The Irish film industry is growing, as demonstrated in the past year by the domestic and worldwide successes of home-produced features such as An Cailín Ciúin and Aisha. In recognition of the expanding pool of filmmaking talents in this country, the CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award will be for feature films of all categories, encouraging diversity of talent and amplifying the breadth of creative excellence in Irish filmmaking, supporting the long-term development of this important creative sector.”
Irish Examiner Editor Tom Fitzpatrick also commented on supporting the CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award: “We are delighted to support the CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award as part of our expanded media partnership with Cork International Film Festival, spotlighting Irish film storytelling talent through such a prestigious platform. In an historic year for Irish cinematography, we are happy to work with CIFF on this unique opportunity to profile the foremost cinematic voices in Ireland.”
CIFF seeks out and presents up-and-coming Irish and international talent to showcase to audiences and industry. For 68 years, CIFF has celebrated excellence in filmmaking, championing new voices and established filmmakers through its prestigious, world-class awards, including three Oscar®-qualifying prizes.
The 68th Cork International Film Festival will run from Thursday 9th to Sunday 26th of November, 2023. For more information and to stay up to date with the latest news and programme announcements, visit corkfilmfest.org.
*Any films that are produced by an ROI producer or have an Irish director but do not conform to all rules can be submitted and decisions will be made case by case (e.g. Irish features filmed outside of Ireland).
About Cork International Film Festival
Cork International Film Festival is Ireland’s first and largest film festival and celebrates its 68th anniversary edition in November 2023. The Festival is proudly supported by Principal Funder the Arts Council, along with Cork City Council, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Creative Europe MEDIA, BAI, ESB Energy for Generations Fund, Future Planet, Murphy’s and UCC. Media Partners are RTÉ Supporting the Arts, Irish Examiner and Red FM. Cork International Film Festival is a member of the Cultural Cinema Partnership which includes the Irish Film Institute, Galway Film Fleadh, Dublin International Film Festival and access>CINEMA.
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