Cork International Film Festival announces a full return to cinemas and venues throughout Cork City from Thursday, 10th to Sunday, 20th November, including a spectacular Family Gala and Wild Child Retrospective featuring enduring coming-of-age classics.
Celebrating its 67th edition in 2022, CIFF will present a curated programme of the latest and best Irish and world premieres and special events to audiences in Cork, including a three-day digital programme of highlights available nationwide. The full programme will be announced on Wednesday 12th October when all programme information and tickets will be available at corkfilmfest.org and via the myCIFF App (available on App Store and Google Play)
FAMILY GALA – ROALD DAHL’S MATILDA THE MUSICAL
Cork International Film Festival is proud to announce that Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical will be the Family Gala presentation on Sunday, 20th November at The Everyman. Adapted from the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical, it is directed by Matthew Warchus, with Screenwriter Dennis Kelly, and features wonderfully infectious songs by Tim Minchin. It stars impressive Irish newcomer Alisha Weir in the leading role, who will be in attendance to introduce the screening. This entertaining and delightful film features the adventures of Matilda Wormwood, a little girl with big curiosity, a sharp mind and a vivid imagination. Matilda also happens to have the worst parents in the world and, while they content themselves with trashy TV and dodgy money-making schemes, she loves to lose herself in the pages of her beloved books, and think up cheeky acts of rebellion and revenge. On meeting inspirational teacher, Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch) Matilda dares to take a stand against her parents and head teacher Miss Trunchbull, played perfectly by Oscar® winner Emma Thompson, to fight for what’s right and change her story.
Wild Child Retrospective
Seven extraordinary classic films will showcase in CIFF’s Wild Child Retrospective about very different experiences of childhood. Through coming-of-age journeys and thought-provoking stories, the Retrospective focuses on how early influences can shape your life, how friends can affect your whole world and how determination can overcome any obstacle.
CIFF Festival Director and CEO, Fiona Clark commented: “We are thrilled to bring the 67th edition of Cork International Film Festival, Ireland’s first and largest film festival, back to the big screens of Cork this November. We have many exciting film screenings and events in our programme this year, and none more so than the magnificent ‘Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical’ as our Family Gala. We are also delighted to welcome its Irish star, newcomer Alisha Weir, who plays the inquisitive and sharp-minded Matilda Wormwood, to introduce this special family screening. The theme of childhood on film carries through our 67th programme with our Wild Child Retrospective, featuring Irish and international classics, from enchanting stories to timeless tales. We look forward to sharing our full programme when we officially launch the 67th CIFF on 12th October, and to warmly welcoming audiences back to our cinemas this November to discover film and reimagine the world.”
Screening as part of the Wild Child Retrospective, War of the Buttons, which was filmed across West Cork, is a timeless tale of two rival gangs of kids, and warmly captures the treasures and trials of childhood. It will be introduced by Producer, Lord David Puttnam. Continuing the retrospective, actor Brady Corbet hit the ground running with his directorial debut, The Childhood of a Leader, a fictional account of the childhood years of a future dictator. The film focuses on key moments which shape his path. With an outstanding performance by Tom Sweet as the young boy, and with Liam Cunningham and Bérénice Bejo as his parents, and a supporting cast including Stacey Martin and Robert Pattinson, Corbet’s film is a cinematic triumph, underpinned by an exquisite and occasionally overwhelming score by the late Scott Walker.
‘Raise ravens and they will pluck out your eyes’ says the Spanish proverb. In this allegorical drama about loss and childhood innocence by master of Spanish cinema Carlos Saura, Raise Ravens features compelling performances by Geraldine Chaplin and Ana Torrent, resulting in this beautiful and strange dreamy tale about childhood that will make you sing the song ‘Porque te vas’ for the rest of the Festival.
Another wonderful addition to this insightful Retrospective is Neil Jordan’s adaptation of Patrick McCabe’s extraordinary novel The Butcher Boy, an exhilarating, rollicking ride through the mind of young Francie Brady. In Francie we find both schoolboy and sociopath, carving a furrow of chaos through his hometown of Clones and beyond in 1960s’ Ireland. Anchored by an explosive debut from Eamonn Owens as Francie, and featuring the cream of Ireland’s talent in its supporting cast, including Sinead O’Connor as the Virgin Mary, The Butcher Boy is a dark delight, as disturbing as it is entertaining.
The White Ribbon, a central piece in this Retrospective, is a charming black and white drama about strange events in one German village. Moving to Italy, The Wonders is an enchanting story from the sunny Tuscan countryside about a family of beekeepers facing unexpected disruptions to their normally calm way of life. Finally, in Wadjda the only singular dream of the leading character is to own her own bike. However, she is a 10-year-old girl living in Saudi Arabia and girls just don’t ride bikes do they? Follow her exciting journey in this wonderful film about persistence and achievement.
CIFF Director of Programming, Anna Kopecká commented on the Retrospective: “In our Wild Child Retrospective we are focusing on children and childhood, not just seen as sweet and innocent but also strange, different, wild and unexpected portraits of kids by masters of Irish and world cinema.”
Cork International Film Festival is committed to offering a wide range of educational and outreach programmes for young people in Cork and nationwide. Following in-person sessions in Mallow in October, supported by Cork County Council, our award-winning youth film and mental health programme, Intinn, returns in November with screenings, workshops and resource packs, to be delivered in person in Cork City and available online nationwide. In addition to this, a programme of eight films have been specially selected for schools. Full details of our Family and Young People programme will be published on 12th October.
Cork International Film Festival runs 10th – 20th November, 2022. Full programme available from Wednesday 12th October. corkfilmfest.org
