Celebrate cinema this Tuesday, 11 November with a day dedicated to remarkable storytelling and local spirit. The Festival shines a spotlight on acclaimed filmmaker John Boorman, with an Honorary Disruptor Award presentation before the screening of one of his classic films, and a fascinating new documentary about the making of the disastrous Exorcist II: The Heretic. Across the county, audiences can also enjoy Festival features in Bantry, bringing the magic of film to local venues and audiences.
Ready to dive into the 70th Cork International Film Festival?
- All Festival tickets are on sale now.
- Grab a Festival Pass, including our new ‘7 for €70’ film pass and a 15-Film CineSaver Student/U25 for just €70, and unlock more films for less.
CIFF HONORARY DISRUPTOR AWARD: JOHN BOORMAN
CIFF’s Honorary Disruptor Award, dedicated to the free spirits of the film world, will be awarded this year to filmmaker John Boorman (in absentia). The ceremony will precede the screening of Zardoz (see below) starring Sean Connery.
Cherie Lunghi, star of Excalibur, will accept the award on John’s behalf.
The ceremony will also include video messages from Callum Turner, Jamie Lee Curtis, Liam Neeson, Juliette Binoche, Brendan Gleeson, Seamus Deasy.
Photo credit: Carolyn Cole, LA Times
ZARDOZ + Q&A
John Boorman | Ireland, United States | 1974 | 105 mins | Fiction
TUE 11 | TRISKEL | 20:00 | WITH Q&A
It is the year 2293. A race of humans known as the Brutals worship a flying stone head called Zardoz, who provides them with weapons in exchange for food. But a Brutal Exterminator named Zed (Sean Connery) grows curious, uncovering the mysteries surrounding their society. A visionary sci-fi like no other from John Boorman.
This screening will be followed by a discussion with Cherie Lunghi, Paul Duane and Yal Sadat (Cahiers du Cinéma)
Watch our Director of Programming, Aurélie Godet talk about why she picked this film as one of her must-see movies of CIFF2025, here.
BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL
David Kittredge | United States | 2025 | 112 mins | Documentary
TUE 11 | TRISKEL | 17:15
After the success of Point Blank and Deliverance, Warner Brothers offered John Boorman the chance to direct a sequel to their smash hit, The Exorcist. The result was a critical and financial failure that nearly ended Boorman’s filmmaking career. But to be an artist is to be a risk-taker.
Obsessed with Exorcist II: The Heretic, director David Kittredge embarked on a seven-year journey to tell the story of how he made one of the most audacious, big-budget creative swings in Hollywood history, and then endured a critical and commercial cataclysm. It’s a story about how Hollywood once took huge bets on auteur filmmakers, and how that era ended. And it’s the story of one of the most hypnotic, subversive and misunderstood studio films in Hollywood history.
“Not only is this docu entertaining, it is also a great primer on the film business, then and now, and is easily one of the best movies about the making — and unmaking — of a movie I have ever seen.” Deadline
COUNTY SCREENINGS AT BANTRY CINEMAX
NOUVELLE VAGUE
Richard Linklater | France, USA | 2025 | 105 mins | Subtitled | Fiction
TUE 11 | CINEMAX BANTRY | 18:00
Richard Linklater’s love letter to the French New Wave.
Paris, 1960. Jean-Luc Godard has built a reputation as a film critic and cannot resist any longer the itch to make his own film. François Truffaut, who the year before became the film world’s darling with his debut The 400 Blows, has a story for him. Godard gets on it, wants Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in the lead roles.
This film will be called Breathless and was to become one of the most beloved and admired films in history.
COMPANION SCREENING
We are pleased to offer two screenings of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 seminal film and Linklater’s inspiration – Breathless (A Bout de souffle).
This screening is supported by the French Embassy in Ireland.
COUNTY SCREENINGS AT BANTRY CINEMAX
SIRÂT
Oliver Laxe | Spain | 2025 | 115 mins | Subtitled | Fiction
TUE 11 | CINEMAX BANTRY | 20:15
The thundering bass of an illegal rave in the Moroccan desert. A father, with his son, searches among the gyrating dancers for his missing daughter. A group of seasoned ravers reveal to them that a final event will be taking place in another desert location, and they follow the revellers across the barren wastes towards this last party, only to be confronted by their own existential limits.
