As spring approaches, there are lots of funding opportunities for the sector. Donât forget that submissions are open for the 70th Cork International Film Festival; take advantage of the early bird discount by submitting your film before Friday, March 28th.
Fear Screen, our chilling season of thrillers and horrors, returns to the Triskel this March â keep an eye on your inbox for the full programme reveal very soon. Meanwhile, several CIFF2024 Irish Premieres are now hitting cinemas â don’t miss your chance to discover some Festival highlights you may have missed.
(Image: Actor Nora-Jane Noone and director Christopher Andrews at the Irish premiere of Bring Them Down at CIFF2024).
Submit Your Film to the 70th CIFF
Showcase your work on a global stage and take a step towards the Academy AwardsÂŽ. Cork International Film Festival welcomes submissions across all forms of film production – features, shorts, fiction, documentary, animation, experimental, and more. We are dedicated to championing new voices and celebrating excellence in filmmaking, with 15 awards recognising outstanding talent â three of which are OscarÂŽ qualifying.
We are honoured to have been selected for the presentation of the prestigious Audentia Award in 2025, in partnership with the Council of Europeâs Eurimages Fund. The Audentia Award promotes greater gender equality in the European film industry and includes a prize of âŹ30,000 for a female filmmaker.
For full submission guidelines, visit our website or FilmFreeway. Submit by Friday, 28th March to take advantage of our early bird discounted rate. Donât miss your chance to be part of Irelandâs premier film festival.
CIFF2024 Highlights in Cinemas Now
A number of films that premiered at CIFF2024, including Hard Truths and September 5, as well as three CIFF2024 Best New Irish Feature nominees, are hitting Irish cinemas this month. You can find them in your local cinema here.
BLUE ROAD: THE EDNA OâBRIEN STORY
With the release of her revolutionary 1960 novel âThe Country Girlsâ, Edna OâBrien sealed her fate as both a revered novelist and a feminist icon. SinĂŠad OâSheaâs thoughtful documentary weaves effectively OâBrienâs professional and personal triumphs and difficulties, in a portrait of an iconoclast who stood in resistance to the Irish conservative doctrine of the mid-20th century. Winner of the CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award (supported by the Irish Examiner) and Audience Award 2024. Screening from February 16th-19th at Triskel.
SEPTEMBER SAYS
Sisters July and September are very close, but very different: September is protective and distrustful; July, open and curious. An incident in school forces them to flee to an old holiday home with their mum, where a series of surreal events cause their bond to shift in ways July cannot comprehend. Shortlisted for the CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award (supported by the Irish Examiner). Screening in select cinemas from February 21st.
BRING THEM DOWN
Starring OscarŽ nominee Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) and Christopher Abbott (Possessor), Bring Them Down is a tense and gripping thriller about two warring families set against the harsh landscape of rural west Ireland. When the ongoing rivalry between farmers Michael and Jack suddenly escalates, it triggers a chain of events that take increasingly violent turns, leaving both families permanently altered. Shortlisted for the CIFF Best New Irish Feature Award (supported by the Irish Examiner). Screening now at The Arc Cinema.
Forthcoming Events
CIFFâs year-round programme kicked off with our European Film Weekend in January and Fear Screen, our season of gripping thrillers and bone-chilling masterpieces, will return in March, curated by the CIFF programming team and showing in the atmospheric surrounds of the Triskel. Weâll be releasing the schedule along with tickets and passes soon – keep an eye on your inbox for our dedicated Fear Screen newsletter.
Our friends at First Cut! Youth Film Festival are preparing to launch their full programme, running in Youghal from March 3rd to 8th. Keep on eye on their website for an exciting showcase of new films by young filmmakers, including a programme of Cork International Film Festival short films.
We wish our colleagues at Dublin International Film Festival every success as they present their 23rd edition, from February 20th to March 2nd, offering a jam-packed programme featuring 80 feature films and 55 short films.
Funding Opportunities
Arts Council Film Bursary Award
The purpose of the award is to support professional artists at any stage of their career to develop their art practice. It provides artists with the time and resources to think, research, reflect and critically engage with their art. Max awarded: âŹ20,000. Deadline: 5.30pm, Thursday 20th February
Screen Ireland Frameworks – Animation
An initiative for the support of short animation filmmaking. It is a flagship scheme for the Irish animation sector which has produced global award-winning films to a consistently high standard. Budgets can be between âŹ13,000 and âŹ14,500 per minute, depending on format. Deadline: 1pm, Friday 7th March
Screen Ireland Frameworks – Focus Shorts
A short film scheme for the making of live-action, fiction films that act as a proving-ground for Irish creative talents aspiring to write, direct and produce films for the cinema. Focus Shorts can be up to ten minutes in length and receive a budget of up to âŹ70,000. Deadline: 1pm, Friday 7th March
LUX Audience Award
We were delighted to welcome the Lord Mayor, Cllr Dan Boyle, and MEP Billy Kelleher to launch our CIFF European Film Weekend in January. Voting is still open for the LUX Audience Award â the biggest audience award in the world.
If you caught any of the LUX Films over our European Film Weekend or as part of the Festival in November, you have until March to place your vote and be in the running for a range of exciting prizes, including a trip to the European Parliament to attend the LUX Award Ceremony in April 2025 and meet the filmmakers.
