DISCOVER FILM, REIMAGINE THE WORLD
Alongside our programme of Irish Documentary and non-fiction features in our Green Screen, Parallax, Culinary Cinema and Illuminate strands, CIFF2022 is proud to present no less than 18 international documentaries in our non-competitive programme, encompassing the spectrum of factual storytelling from around the world. All Festival tickets and passes are on sale now at corkfilmfest.org and the myCIFF app.
International Documentary Features
Passionate and impactful, documentaries that are timely, intimate and inspirational, and not to be missed at CIFF2022.
Presented in the first person by filmmaker and CIFF guest Abigail Disney, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales (Fri, 18 Nov, Gate Cinema) boldly confronts the inherent inequities rooted in US society using the juxtaposition of the lives of Disney workers and that of corporate bosses to scrutinise these inequalities.
A timely chronicle of the US anti-abortionist movement, Battleground (Sat, 19 Nov, Gate Cinema) provides an insightful and poignant account of the campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade. A critical piece of filmmaking from CIFF alumnus, Cynthia Lowen (Netizens, 2018). Also screening as part of our online programme.
Overtly uplifting and quietly inspirational, Calendar Girls (Fri, 18 Nov, Triskel) is a powerful ode to friendship, love and the joys of sisterhood. A heartwarming and entertaining snapshot of women in their golden years, this is a film that truly embodies the sentiment that age ain’t nothing but a number! Also screening as part of our online programme.
Known globally as the ‘Barefoot Diva’ for her penchant for performing without shoes, Cesária Évora (Wed, 16 Nov, Triskel) possessed a voice so beautiful that it could reduce anyone to tears. This intimate documentary tells Évora’s story as the world’s most celebrated morna singer. Also screening as part of our online programme.
With A Daughter’s Tribute To Her Father: Souleymane Cissé (Sat, 19 Nov, Triskel) Fatou Cissé creates a loving portrait of one of the most influential figures of African cinema. The film follows her father’s career through interviews with his family, friends, fans and collaborators, including Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese. Companion Screening: Yeelen (Dir. Souleymane Cissé).
A film like no other, EAMI (Sun, 13 Nov, Triskel) is a deeply immersive journey into the diminishing world of the indigenous Ayoreo tribe of Paraguay. Dream-like and impressionistic, EAMI documents the apocalypse of industrialised deforestation, from the perspective of a young girl, who is channelling the spirit of a bird-god.
From subtly poetic stories to moving, transcendent tales, these non-fiction features speak of life, love, music, dance and death.
Karaoke Paradise (Sun, 13 Nov, Triskel) is a look at contemporary Finnish existence through the lens of karaoke performance. Juxtaposing the performance and the performer against the frequently mundane landscapes within which they perform, the results are as heartbreaking as a Celine Dion rendition. Also screening as part of our online programme.
Last Dance (Wed, 16 / Sun, 20 Nov, Gate Cinema) follows cabaret artist Vincent DeFont, long considered one of the most iconic drag mothers of the New Orleans drag scene, performing as his alter-ego Lady Vinsantos. Vince has decided to put the glamorous Lady Vinsantos to bed, albeit in the most extravagant way possible – by fulfilling his ambition of putting on a show in Paris.
For their film Love Around The World (Wed, 16 Nov, Gate Cinema), co-directors and married couple Andela and Davor travelled around the world to learn about the ways that people meet and to explore their rituals and traditions. Told through interviews with happy couples of all genders, nationalities, and religions, this heartwarming documentary reveals the multifaceted, yet universal face of love. Meet the Filmmakers.
Four years prior to the making of Man On Earth (Fri, 11 Nov, Gate Cinema), its subject, Bob, contracted Parkinson’s disease, robbing him of his independence and livelihood. Bob’s home state of Washington has a law that provides voluntary euthanasia to people who have been given less than six months to live, and the film joins him on his final eight days.
True to its name, in Midwives (Tue, 15 Nov, Triskel) Hla and Nyo Nyo are midwives and medical professionals operating within the war-torn Rakhine State area of Myanmar where the Rohingya population is effectively denied their human rights. Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing’s extraordinary debut feature documentary tells the story of these exceptional women, working in horrendous conditions to deliver much-needed healthcare to the local population.
Director Omar Acosta, (Stretch & Bobbito, 2015) returns to CIFF with Mixtape (Sat, 12 Nov, Triskel), a music documentary from the world of hip-hop. Long before radio stations aired new hip-hop releases, mixtapes were the only way that people could hear them and the mixtape culture soon exploded to become a worldwide phenomenon. Mixtape charts its rise and features interviews from the likes of KRS-One and Lil’ Wayne.
Conflict and activism, drama and dreamers – a collection of illuminating, immersive and unforgettable documentaries.
The hugely influential Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa interrogates conflict within Europe with The Natural History of Destruction (Sat, 19 Nov, Triskel), an account of the aerial warfare during WWII between Britain and Germany. It makes for a truly haunting and sinister cinematic experience that resonates deeply with our current war-torn reality.
From Academy Award®-nominated director Matthew Heineman (City of Ghosts, A Private War) comes Retrograde (Sun, 13 Nov, Gate Cinema), documenting the US military’s departure from Afghanistan after 20 years, leaving the country in the hands of the Afghan officers they themselves had trained. A dizzying boots-on-the-ground look at how things can go south so quickly.
The ‘Grindadrap’ or ‘Grind’ is a traditional whale hunt carried out seasonally within the Faroe Islands. A Taste of Whale (Sun, 13 / Fri, 18 Nov, Gate Cinema) is Vincent Kelner’s exceptionally well-balanced documentary of the local Faroe Islanders who participate in the event, as they rub up against ‘The Sea Shepherds’, a group of animal rights activists.
Film director, writer and journalist Thomas von Steinaecker follows Herzog’s extraordinary film career in Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer (Sun, 20 Nov, Gate Cinema), including some of his major projects like Fitzcarraldo or unforgettable documentaries like Grizzly Man or Into the Inferno. An appropriate homage to this important filmmaker on his 80th birthday.
A love letter to Lisbon, to cinema and to Portuguese director Paulo Rocha by co-directors and partners João Pedro Rodriguez and Joau Rui Guerra da Mata, Where Is This Street? Or With No Before And After (Wed, 16 Nov, Gate Cinema) was filmed during the pandemic in the empty streets of their beloved hometown. A playful meditation on the 1963 Cinema Novo movement classic The Green Years.
The Wild One (Mon, 14 Nov, Gate Cinema) is an illuminating portrait of theatre director and filmmaker Jack Garfein, which presents a creative and touching reflection of this overlooked genius. Narrated by Willem Dafoe, the film tracks Garfein’s traumatic early experiences during the Holocaust, through his escape to New York and the beginning of his creative life, a vivid tribute to a great artist.
