The Corona Cork Film Festival, the oldest such jamboree in the nation, kicks into busy action on Sunday. This is the 55th edition and, as ever, there will be a particular focus on new short films. Lucky attendees can also catch such mainstream features as Anton Corbijn's The American, Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Goand – an exciting choice for closing film – Sofia Coppola's Somewhere.
In a touching gesture, Mick Hannigan, the festival’s veteran director, has dedicated the 2010 event to the memory of this paper’s late film correspondent, Michael Dwyer. “Michael was a good friend to Cork Film Festival, generous in his advice and in his support,” Hannigan writes.
The festival, established in 1956, offered cultural nourishment during grim, grey periods in the State's history. The 2010 episode will continue that tradition. Special events include a focus on Portuguese cinema, a collaboration with the Triskel Arts Centre called A Secret Understanding, and a deserved tribute to the under-appreciated avant-garde film-maker Mark Nugent, who died earlier this year aged 48.
On a lighter, more digestive note, the Cork Film Festival will, yet again, host its annual Slow Food Gala. Some pun in the area of “food for thought” seems in order.
The Corona Cork Film Festival runs from November 7th until November 14th. corkfilmfest.org.
