Inspired by CIFF’s Cinema of Foresight retrospective, this Trail invites you to discover five installations and explore the big ideas that have shaped – and continue to shape – our world.
Scan, listen, and explore as you move through Cork City. Discover special installations at:
Scan QR codes at each exhibit to unlock the stories behind the installation.
Along the way, enjoy Cork’s renowned hospitality – stop in for a coffee, a pint, or a snack at nearby pubs and cafés (our map has all the best spots!).
Share your discoveries on socials using #CIFF2026
The Cork Film Trail is sponsored by Murphy’s
Supported by Cork City Council
Presented in collaboration with Babelfís
This year, we’re taking the festival beyond the big screen!
Join us on an interactive city-wide adventure inviting you to explore Cork, discover new places and get involved in the festival along the way.
Download the Vibemap app, follow the Film Trail and take on a series of fun challenges as you make your way around the city. Collect as many points as you can and you’ll be entered into our competition for the chance to win!
Inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, this special Cork Film Trail mission challenges you to track down HAL across 15 participating pubs.
1. FIND HAL
Hunt for HAL 9000 in 15 participating pubs across Cork city centre.
2. SCAN & SCORE
Follow the instructions at each location to log your discovery and collect points.
3. SHARE & WIN
Keep exploring, rack up your points and share your discoveries!
🏆 REACH 300 POINTS TO ENTER OUR GRAND PRIZE DRAW!
Think you can outsmart HAL? Your mission starts now…
Over 18s only. Please drink responsibly.
As you explore the Trail, discover the fascinating stories, film history and cultural connections behind some of our featured locations. Curious about a particular stop? Simply click on the film titles below to listen to the corresponding podcast segment and uncover a little more about the cinematic stories hiding in plain sight around Cork.
Whether you’re following the trail in person or exploring from home, there’s plenty more to discover.
Curious about a particular stop? Simply click on the film titles below to listen to the corresponding podcast segment and find out more.
The Cinemile is an award-winning podcast, where married couple Dave and Cathy record their walk home from the cinema. Now in its 10th year, the podcast is recorded out and about in Cork, with new episodes every Sunday.
COULD WE SURVIVE IF WE UNPLUGGED FROM TECHNOLOGY?
GHOST IN THE SHELL
Oshii Mamoru | 1995 | 83 mins
In a futuristic cybernetic society, Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg counter-cyberterrorism officer, hunts a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master. As she untangles the political conspiracy, she faces a deep existential crisis, questioning the nature of her own humanity, consciousness, and soul within her mechanical shell.
SEE THE FILM: TUE 17 | ARC CINEMA | 20:45
IF YOU WERE LEADER OF THE WORLD, WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU WOULD DO?
DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB
Stanley Kubrick | 1964 | 94 mins
In Kubrick’s seminal apocalyptic comedy, an unhinged American general orders a rogue nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, sending world leaders into the Pentagon War Room to avert global catastrophe. They discover that a hidden Soviet doomsday device will automatically trigger global annihilation.
SEE THE FILM: SAT 14 | TRISKEL | 12:30
SEE THE FILM: MON 16 | TRISKEL | 17:30
CAN A FILM CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE THE WORLD?
CINEMA OF FORESIGHT: RETROSPECTIVE TALK
with The Irish Times’ Donal Clarke and filmmaker Paul Duane, who will ask:
If films can’t predict the future, do they recognise forces shaping it?
Does foresight make a film better?
Are the filmmakers who have this ambition and talent the ones who deserve our attention?
JOIN THE TALK: SAT 14 | TRISKEL | 15:00
DO YOU MIND IF I ASK YOU A PERSONAL QUESTION?
IF YOU HAD THE POWER TO TURN AI OFF, WOULD YOU?
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
Stanley Kubrick | 1968 | 184 mins
Kubrick’s visionary masterpiece of science fiction spans the dawn of humanity to the far reaches of space. Two scientists are sent to Jupiter to investigate a mysterious monolith.
During the voyage, the spacecraft’s sentient supercomputer, HAL 9000, turns rogue, forcing a lone survivor into a surreal, transcendent rebirth.
SEE THE FILM: SUN NOV 22 | EVERYMAN | 11:00
CAN QUEER CINEMA LEAD SOCIAL CHANGE?
DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS (ANDERS ALS DIE ANDERN)
Richard Oswald | 1919 | 50 mins
Concert violinist Paul Körner falls in love with a male student, but their relationship is threatened by blackmail and Paragraph 175, which criminalised homosexuality.
Co-written by Richard Oswald and sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, this pioneering silent film was an early cinematic plea for gay rights and sympathetic portrayal of queer life.
SEE THE FILM: FRI 13 | ARC CINEMA | 16:15
SEE THE FILM: SAT 21 | ARC CINEMA | 18:00
Missed out on the CIFF Walking Tour? Explore Cork through the Film Trail!
Led by architectural historian Danielle O’Donovan, this 90-minute walk through Cork City Centre will uncover the stories behind some of the city’s best-loved cinemas and entertainment venues, revealing how they brought Irish and international films to Cork and helped shape its social and cultural life.
Our CIFF Walking Tour may be fully booked, but there’s another way to discover Cork through a cinematic lens. The CIFF Film Trail, powered by Vibemap, invites you to explore the city at your own pace, uncovering film-related stories, discovering local landmarks and completing interactive challenges along the way.
Think of it as a cinematic treasure hunt around Cork! Download the Vibemap app, follow the trail, collect points and you’ll even be in with a chance to win a prize.
The Cork Film Trail is sponsored by Murphy’s
Supported by Cork City Council
Presented in collaboration with Babelfís
