The 69th Edition of the Cork International Film Festival is brimming with special guests!
The perfect occasion for audiences to engage with filmmakers during post-screening Q&As, dine at our unique Culinary events, and attend enriching Industry Day sessions comprising a vast array of cinema industry professionals.
Galas
- Sinéad O’Shea, director of Blue Road : The Edna O’Brien Story.
- Will Sliney, RTE Storyteller for Fox and Hare Save the Forest.
- Ema Ryan Yamazaki, director of The Making of a Japanese.
Spirit of the Festival
- Mo Harawe, director of The Village Next to Paradise.
Best New Irish
- Christopher Andrews, director of Bring Them Down.
- Maurice O’Brien, director of Chasing The Light.
- Aislinn Clarke, director of Fréwaka.
Irish Voice
- Carmel Winters, director of The Art of Loss, and Ken Wardrop, filmmaker.
- Declan Clarke, director of If I Fall Don’t Pick Me Up.
- Darina Clancy, director of The Irish Lumières – The Horgan Brothers.
- Eóin Heaney, director of M/S.
- Damian McCann, director, and Neil Martin, subject of Neil Martin: Bothar an Cheoil.
- Yvonne McDevitt, director of Trumpets, and Maximilian Le Cain, director and film critic.
World Tour
- Ram Reddy, director of The Fable.
- Joshua Oppenheimer, director and Conor Barry, producer for The End.
- John Crowley, director of We Live in Time.
Momentum
- Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson, directors of Mother Vera.
- Georgia Kumari Bradburn, co-director of The Stimming Pool.
Illuminate
- Duncan Cowles, director of Silent Men.
Green Screen
- Doris Metz, director of Petra Kelly – Act Now!; Gisela Holfter, director of the Centre for Irish-German Studies at University of Limerick; Ingrid de Doncker, Co-founder & Head of Research and Innovation at Future Planet.
Culinary
- Federico Conti, Director & Martha Grillo, Writer of The Keep; Sally Barnes of the Woodcock Smokery; Aishling Moore of Goldie.
- Joe McNamee, Food Writer and Journalist; Liam Spacey, Governor Cork Prison; Karen C. Whelan, Chief Officer Work Training, Cork Prison; JJ Healy, Culinary Lecturer MTU & The Open Door Project Coordinator, and William O’Brien, Chef de Partie, Rose Hotel, Tralee for a panel on Welcome to Jail.
Disruptors
- Benoît Sabatier, director, and Christophe Paou, actor of Fotogenico.
- Dean Puckett, director of The Severed Sun.
- Bruce Robinson, director, and Paul McGann, actor of Withnail & I.
Parallax
- Armağan Lale, producer of Strange Abandoned Deranged.
First Take
- Deirdre Barry, Programme Director at the National Talent Academy for Animation; Moe Honan, Producer at Motion Films and Chair of Animation Ireland for the “Exploring career opportunities in the Irish Animation industry” session, hosted by Susan Liddy, Co-Chair of Women in Film & Television Ireland.
- Georgia Kumari Bradburn, Co-director of The Stimming Pool; Olaya Chesneau, Camera Department and Colourist; Shannon Haly, Actress, Writer, Producer for the “Neurodivergent Voices in the Screen Industries” session, hosted by Eleanor McSherry, Programme Coordinator, Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) at University College Cork.
- Federico Julian Gonzalez, Jonathan Hughes, Esosa Ighodaro, Janet Moran for the “Spotlight on Writers | Stage to Screen” session, hosted by Carmel Winters, Writer & Director.
- Lara Hickey, Producer at Copper Alley Productions and Chelsea Morgan Hoffmann, Producer at Element Pictures for the “September Says | A Focus on Debut Feature Development” session.
- Aislinn Clarke, director of Fréwacka for the “Fréwacka | Folk Horror Production Case Study” hosted by Rory Cashin, Entertainment & Culture Journalist.
Doc Day Live
- Alexia de Montalembert, Coordinator at EURODOC and Zlata Filipovic, Producer at Invisible Thread Films for the “EURODOC | Empowering Documentary Makers” session.
- Maurice O’Brien, Director and Clare Stronge, Producer for the “Chasing the Light | Indigenous Documentary Case Study” session.
- Tom Burke, Documentarian and Academic for the “The Gap in Consent | Navigating the relationship with your documentary subject” session.
- Aurelie Godet, Director of Programming at Cork International Film Festival, Mads Mikkelsen, Head of Programme at CPH:DOX and Christopher Small, Editorial & Publications at Locarno Film Festival for the “Close-up on Non-Fiction Curation” session.
- Ema Ryan Yamazaki, Director and Eric Nyari, Producer for the “The Making of a Japanese | So Japanese yet so universal” session hosted by Ken Wardrop, Director and Producer at Venom Films.
Jury
You can find the 69th Edition Jurors on their dedicated page.
