Burning Bright: Thank You For Watching CIFF2020 - Cork International Film Festival

Burning Bright

Thank You For Watching CIFF2020

The 65th Cork International Film Festival has come to a close following a spectacular turnout at the first all-digital Festival programme. Households tuned in Nationwide amassing over 71,000 streams which is 4,517 years of film viewed collectively over 8 days!

Audience Award Announced

The votes have been cast and counted and CIFF is delighted to announce that The Audience Award 2020 has been awarded to debut Irish feature, ‘The Bright Side’. Ruth Meehan’s poignant, dark comedy captured the hearts of our audiences, garnering the top prize for this world premiere in CIFF.

“Winning the audience award at the 65th CIFF means the world to us. The fact that a film with the kind of sensibilities and complexities of The Bright Side has been able to speak to so many people at this time, in this way is just unbelievably encouraging. We are so grateful to the indomitable spirit of the team at CIFF for showing it and to the audience at home for voting for it.” – Co-writer and Director, Ruth Meehan

But wait, there’s more!

You can still enjoy the Cork Costume Trail in the windows of The Gate Cinemas Cork, The River Lee and The Metropole Hotel Cork -extended until Saturday 28 November; filmmakers worldwide can tune into our Industry Sessions online on the CIFF Industry Portal until the end of November; and the CIFF Digital Archive is available online to view and for you, our audiences, to submit your Festival memories. Read on for more information…

That’s A Wrap

The 65th Cork International Film Festival – From Our Homes to Yours.

We’d Love Your Feedback

Thank you for supporting the Festival, we hope you enjoyed your experience. If you would like to be in with a chance to win a Festival Friend membership for 2021, please complete our Audience Feedback Survey and tell us what you thought.

Take The Survey

Cork Costume Trail Extended

Take a stroll through the city to view the Cork Costume Trail in the windows of The Gate Cinemas Cork, The River Lee and The Metropole Hotel Cork! Walk the trail to see costumes from famous Irish films and TV productions with a Cork connection. This curated selection from the Irish Costume Archive Project includes costumes from The Wind That Shakes the Barley, The Tudors, Little Women, Breakfast on Pluto, Frank and Michael Collins.

Listen to the CIFF Podcast along the way for special interviews with the Irish Costume Archive Project Curators with behind-the-scenes insights from the set and introductions from Red FM’s Dave MacArdle!

The CIFF Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify & Google Podcasts.

Available to view in Cork City Until Saturday 28 November

The Cork Costume Trail is supported by Cork City Council Placemaking Fund

Digital Archive

The CIFF Digital Archive is a treasure trove of precious materials tracking the history of modern film and Cork, amassed over 65 years. Developed in partnership with the Department of Digital Humanities at University College Cork, the archive is a unique snapshot of modern film history and the history of Cork’s development.

Available to view online at corkfilmfest.ucc.ie the archive contains photographs, programme covers and posters from previous Festival editions over the last 65 years. CIFF & UCC welcome further contributions of items and oral histories. Members of the public are invited to share your stories, photographs and Festival memorabilia with the archiving team by completing the contact form HERE.

Proudly Supported by Founding Archive Partner University College Cork

Industry Sessions Extended

CIFF’s acclaimed film industry training days provide invaluable opportunities for established and emerging filmmakers to connect, and to explore all aspects of the film industry. CIFF is thrilled to welcome award-winning international filmmaker, activist and philanthropist Abigail Disney as its Doc Day keynote guest.

In response to popular demand, CIFF has extended the availability of all Industry Sessions until the end of November. Available for filmmakers worldwide to attend on our dedicated Industry Portal, Sessions are free but ticketed and participants must sign up for each session separately.

Available Online Until Monday 30 November

Book Now

Presented in partnership with Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland
Supported by Screen Skills Ireland

Intinn Youth & Film Mental Health Programme

‘Intinn’, meaning ‘mind’ or ‘way of thinking’, is a film and mental health programme for Transition Year and Senior Cycle students which allows students to explore themes of mental health and personal wellbeing through the accessible medium of film, an exclusive Q&A and a wellbeing webinar, with classroom resources.

Following a successful pilot programme in Cork on World Suicide Prevention Day 2019, this year CIFF extended the programme online, direct to classrooms nationwide. With the generous support of Creative Ireland, Rethink Ireland and ESB Energy for Generations Fund, CIFF were able to offer the programme free of charge. The uptake has been phenomenal with nearly 4,000 students nationwide taking part in the programme – a more than tenfold increase on 2019.

The programme includes a screening of award-winning Irish film ‘I Used to Live Here’, specially selected and researched with Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health. The screening is followed by an exclusive Q&A with director Frank Berry, rising star Jordanne Jones and Youth Mental Health Advocate Dr Tony Bates, and the final session of the programme is a wellbeing webinar with Johnny Goodwin, UCC School of Nursing, exploring the film’s themes of bullying, isolation, relationships, suicide and resilience, and building students’ awareness of local support services through classroom-based activities.

Proudly Supported by Creative Ireland, Rethink Ireland and ESB Energy for Generations Fund