Intinn & Illuminate
CIFF is proud to present Intinn, our film and mental health programme that offers Transition Year students the opportunity to explore mental health, personal well-being and strategies of resilience through film, Q&As with filmmakers and well-being workshops led by youth mental health specialists.
Developed in collaboration with University College Cork, Intinn is supported by ESB Energy for Generations Fund and The Gate Cinema, for which is has been nominated for multiple Business to Arts Awards in 2021 and 2022.
In 2021, Intinn included two short films, each with Q&As and workshops, available for free both in-person in Cork and online nationwide direct to your classroom.
HUM
Nathan Fagan | Ireland | 2017 | 19 mins
An intimate portrait of artist and musician Kevin Nolan, diagnosed at 19 with schizoaffective disorder.
AN OPEN DOOR
Aoise Tutty Jackson | Ireland | 2018 | 15 mins
A pioneering initiative within the Mental Health Service provides a space for hope and recovery for the local community.
In Cinema: Gate Cinema Cork: 15 – 18 Nov; Online: 15 – 18 Nov
For booking/enquiries contact schools@corkfilmfest.org
Proudly supported by ESB Energy for Generations Fund
If you would like to help support Cork International Film Festival’s activities, including our education and outreach programmes for young people, you can donate here. Thank you.
ILLUMINATE FILM & MENTAL HEALTH
Sincere in intent, and of paramount importance as a tentpole programme at Cork International Film Festival, Illuminate is unique in Ireland in its focus on the intersection of film and mental health, presenting films which explore mental health and wellbeing, and inviting professionals, service users and filmmakers to respond, and engage in dialogue inspired by the films.
In 2021, this diverse and distinctive offering includes The Hive, an admirable debut feature focused on the circumstance of children coping with a parent’s mental illness, alongside documentary films The First Woman and Looking for Horses; the former exploring the mental health challenges related to addiction, whilst the latter subtly analyses trauma and the lingering effects of war on the human psyche.
Roisín Geraghty, Industry Manager & Programme Advisor
THE FIRST WOMAN
Miguel Eek | Spain | 2020 | 76 mins | Subtitled
TUE 09 | TRISKEL | 14:30
Eva has struggled with addiction, spending six years living in a psychiatric institute, trying to put her life back together. On the verge of being relocated to an assisted living facility, she takes her first tentative steps toward a ‘normal’ life. Now she has to find work, visit her ailing mother and try to reconnect with the son she lost custody of two decades earlier. Prolific Catalan director Miguel Eek perfectly captures the raw vulnerability of a woman desperate to start her life over better. RBC Official Selection, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2020 Official Selection, Belgrade International Documentary Film Festival 2021.
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THE HIVE
Christophe Hermans | Belgium, France 2021 | 81 mins | Subtitled
SAT 06 | TRISKEL | 14:00
For as long as they can remember, Marion, Claire and Louise (Sophie Breyer, Mara Taquin and Bonnie Duvauchelle) have been living with the severe emotional ups and downs of their mother, Alice (Ludivine Sagnier). Now Marion plans on taking a gap year and travelling to Brazil just as Alice’s downward spiral starts to accelerate. Christophe Hermans’ debut feature is a superbly paced tale of a young family struggling to live with a parent’s mental illness, featuring exceptional performances from Sagnier and her young co-leads. SE
The screening was followed by a discussion with a panel of speakers, who explored the themes of the film and how they relate to mental health. The panellists included:
- Dr. John Goodwin, Mental Health Nursing Undergraduate Programme Lead, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork
- Orla Bushnell, Clinical Nurse Specialist/Systemic Family Therapist in Adult Mental Health
- John Finn, Social Worker
LOOKING FOR HORSES
Stefan Pavlović | Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, France 2021 | 88 mins | Subtitled
MON 08 | TRISKEL | 18:00
Stefan Pavlović’s mesmerising feature documentary debut is a deep-dive into his own personal history of displacement and the legacies of the Balkans conflict of the 1990s. It is also a quest to rediscover the wild horses of his Bosnian childhood. Over a summer spent in the company of a reclusive hermit fisherman who lives alone on an island in a picturesque lake, the director builds invisible bridges of understanding and empathy between two damaged people struggling with the physical manifestations of trauma. RBC Winner, Burning Light Award, Visions du Réel 2021 – Winner, Special Jury Prize, Sarajevo Film Festival 2021
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