Other Irish features include Frank Berry’s Galway Film Fleadh-winning Michael Inside, the story of an 18-year-old living in Dublin who is sentenced to three months in prison after he is caught hiding drugs for somebody in his neighbourhood; Maurice Fitzpatrick's In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America, which documents to life and career of Northern Irish politician, and Nobel Prize winner, John Hume; Gerry Gregg's Condemned to Remember, which sees Irish Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental celebrate his 80th birthday in a Dublin Mosque and embark on an epic journey across a Europe in turmoil; Pat Collins' Oscar-longlisted Song of Granite, a dramatisation of the life of legendary sean nós singer Joe Heaney; Brian O'Malley's gothic horror The Lodgers, the story of twins Rachel and Edward who are imprisoned in their crumbling family estate by a sinister presence, forbidden from leaving or allowing outsiders within the grounds; Padraig Conaty's independently-funded No Party for Billy Burns, an odd tale about a young man from Co Cavan who really loves Cowboy films; Nagham Abboud, Alekson L. Dall’Armellina, and Miriam Velasco's Writing Home, the 2017 Filmbase Masters students' feature film, which sees a privileged young man return home to a rural Irish village when his estranged father falls ill; and John Murphy and Traolach Ó Murchú absorbing documentary Photo City, a portrait of photography itself as told through the lens of the citizens of a place defined by the art form, the city of Rochester, home of Kodak.
Other highlights include Ruben Östlund’s The Square, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, and Documentary Gala, Promised Land, directed by Eugene Jurecki. The film looks at how America has changed since Elvis Presley died 40 years ago.
The Festival will present the world premiere screening of short films produced under the Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board’s Focus Shorts and Real Shorts schemes. Over 50 Irish short films feature in the programme, and for the first time, a selection will be invited to feature on the RTÉ Player post-Festival, as part of RTÉ’s principal media partnership. The Cork Film Festival has two awards with Academy Awards® accreditation. The winner of the Grand Prix Irish Short, presented by RTÉ Supporting the Arts, and the winner of the Grand Prix International Short, will automatically qualify for the Academy Awards® longlist.
By Niall Murphy