The Horizon (L’Horizon) with post-screening discussion for 5th Night of Ideas
Cork International Film Festival is thrilled to partner once again with the Embassy of France in Ireland as part of their Night of Ideas programme by presenting a free digital screening of L’Horizon by Emilie Carpentier followed by a discussion about film and climate awareness on Thursday, 27th January 2022 at 6.30pm.
The post-screening discussion features an introduction from director Emilie Carpentier, and a conversation about the use of film and the arts to highlight environmental and climate issues, as well as discussing the speakers’ actions and experiences with Laragh McCann, a Taisce award-winning Irish photographer, and filmmaker who also founded the not-for-profit Climate Love Ireland with award-winning filmmaker, writer, and photographer Shaun O’Connor whose recent film A White Horse won the Best Irish Short Film at Foyle Film Festival and has been longlisted for the Academy Awards® 2021, and Dr. Maria Kirrane, Sustainability Officer for University College Cork and who holds a BSc. in Environmental Science and a Ph.D. in Ecology.
On the northern outskirts of Paris, where housing projects rise out of fields, Adja, 18, burns with the desire to live intensely. While her brother breaks out as a pro soccer player, her best friend blows up as an influencer on social media, and her mother struggles to save her hometown in Senegal, Adja has only a blurred vision of her future. With Arthur, who becomes more than a friend, her political and environmental awareness rises, and Adja joins the fight of her generation.
Watch the trailer for L’Horizon below.
Post-Screening Discussion Speakers
Laragh McCann
Laragh is a multidisciplinary artist and founder of Climate Love Ireland, a grassroots climate action community of over 12k. She was recently awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award for her work communicating and acting on the climate crisis as a 2021 Climate Ambassador with An Taisce. As a self-taught filmmaker, her film-work to date explores female identity, eating disorders, coming of age feelings of isolation and liberation, reproductive rights and has appeared in Cork, Dublin, and Galway Film Festivals, I-D, and Dazed and has been nominated for several awards including an Emerging Director Award and a Discovery Award at DIFF. Her writing explores similar themes and has featured in The Irish Times, The Irish Examiner, Thread Magazine, I-D, and numerous online platforms. Laragh’s next project ‘Where is She Project’ will combine her experiences of writing, filmmaking, and environmentalism by exploring the relation of women and the earth through film and collaboration with other artists and filmmakers. @WhereisSheProject will be launching in spring 2022.
Shaun O’Connor
Shaun O’Connor is an Irish filmmaker. His short film ‘A White Horse’ has won numerous awards on the festival circuit, including ‘Best Irish Short’ at the Academy Award® Qualifying Foyle Film Festival. His most recent music video for ‘The Consequences Of Breaking The Heart’ by ADT was released in November. Shaun’s collected work can be seen at www.shaunoconnor.com.
Dr. Maria Kirrane
Dr. Maria Kirrane holds a BSc. in Environmental Science from UCC and a Ph.D. in Ecology. As the Sustainability Officer for UCC, Maria is tasked with delivering the University’s Sustainability Strategy which seeks to embed theSDGs across all functions of the University. She led the University in becoming the first in the world to be awarded a Green Flag from the Foundation for Environmental Education, and the first outside of North America to be awarded a STARS Gold rating from the Foundation for Environmental Education. Maria established and manages UCC’s Green Campus Living Laboratory Programme which supports staff and students to develop and deliver their own sustainability projects.
WHAT IS THE NIGHT OF IDEAS?
The French Embassy is delighted to present the fifth Night of Ideas in Ireland, once again dedicated to the environment with a series of hybrid film screenings and discussion presented in association with Cork International Film Festival and Irish Film Institute on 26th and 27th January. These special events will celebrate our planet and the stream of ideas between countries, cultures, topics and generations.
Initiated in 2016, French and international voices were invited to discuss the major issues of our time and the ‘Night of Ideas’ very quickly established itself on the French and international agenda. Each year, on the last Thursday of January, the Institut français invites all places of culture and knowledge, in France and on the five continents, to celebrate together the free circulation of ideas and knowledge by proposing, on the same evening, conferences, meetings, forums, and round tables, as well as screenings, artistic performances, and youth workshops, around a theme. This Night of Ideas will also be marked by the beginning of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.