Cork Film Festival is proud to present the premiere of Frédéric Pelle's Life Is A Joke, now completed as a chaptered film of six parts. The rich mix of humanity and humour so evident in their short film incarnation, expressed with consummate storytelling skill and direction, is only deepened and enhanced in this feature format.

This film is composed of six moments, inspired by stories written by Stephen Dixon. After shooting Pieces Of My Wife in December 1999, I decided to compose a movie in different parts, interconnected by some characters; mainly Fran�ois Gomez, a 30-year-old man looking for the right place to be, the right woman, the right job... just like everyone. From ordinary and daily situations, Dixon creates something different, humorous, tragic, implausible, believable. I just had to choose the right stories in order to give a part to my character.

A journalist wrote: Dixon's best is superb: tragic, funny, cruel. He's telling us all bizarre things we already know about ourselves, and he is right on the mark.

I like this very much, and that's what I tried to do in pictures - Frédéric Pelle