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international cinema

PILI [TANZANIA], THU 21 MARCH, 8PM

By archive, Season 20 Films

Two screenings, at 6pm and 8pm.  Box office for first screening opens at 5:30pm.

The result of a ground-breaking collaboration with the women of Tanzania: 65% of the cast of non-actors are HIV positive. Both heart-warming and heart-wrenching, it’s an authentic view of their hard lives.

Pili is a young woman who provides for her two small children by tilling the local fields. Her husband has deserted her because she has a HIV condition that she keeps secret from the rest of her small community. Pili dreams of a better life for her family, so when she is offered the chance to take over a village market stall, she desperately tries to raise the cash for the required deposit.

Set and filmed in Tanzania, Leanne Welham’s debut feature is the result of a ground-breaking collaboration with the women of Miono, Tanzania, with 65% of the cast of non-actors being themselves HIV positive. Heartwarming and heartwrenching, Pili provides an honest, authentic view of Tanzanian life.

A young mother faces difficult decisions when offered the chance of a better life in Leanne Welham’s thoughtful drama. – The Guardian ★★

HIV positive cast star in a film shining a light on the struggles of Tanzanian women living with HIV.The Telegraph

With a compassionate and imaginative boldness, first-time British feature director Leanne Welham has shot a film about HIV in Tanzania. A drama that arose from what was originally a documentary project, Pili uses mostly non-professionals, many in just the same situation as their characters.The Guardian  ★★

Tanzania, 2017 | Language: Swahili | 83 minutes | Cert: CLUB

Director: Leanne Welham

Cast: Bello Rashid, Sekujua Rashid, Mwanaidi Omari Sefi, Sesilia Florian Kilimila, Siwazurio Mchuka, N’kwabi Elias Ng’andgasamala

THE GUILTY [DEN SKYLDIGE – DENMARK], THU 28 MARCH, 8PM

By archive, Season 20 Films

Two screenings, at 6pm and 8pm.  Box office for first screening opens at 5:30pm.

Taking place in just two rooms, this nerve-jangling thriller about an emergency police dispatcher and one fateful call uses minimal ingredients to devastating effect.  World Cinema Audience Award, Sundance.

Alarm dispatcher and former police officer, Asger Holm, answers an emergency call from a kidnapped woman. When the call is suddenly disconnected, the search for the woman and her kidnapper begins.  With the phone as his only tool, Asger enters a race against time to save the endangered woman.  But soon he realizes that he is dealing with a crime that is far bigger than he first thought.

So taut, you almost forget to breathe.The Guardian  ★★★★★

Smartly constructed and tautened with regular twists, but if it were merely clever, it wouldn’t test your nerves as it does.The New Yorker

A cinematic study in tension, sound design, and how to make a thrilling movie with a limited tool box.RogerEbert.com

Gustav Möller’s taut debut never leaves the confines of the call center, but builds a vivid aural suspense narrative. – Variety

A pulse-pounding, twisty crime thriller that masterfully ratchets up tension with chillingly effective results. – Hollywood Reporter

Denmark, 2018 | Language: Danish | 85 minutes | Cert: CLUB

Director:  Gustav Möller

Cast:  Jakob Cedergren, Jessica Dinnage, Johan Olsen

 

MOUNTAIN [AUSTRALIA – Documentary], THU 4 APRIL 8PM

By archive, Season 20 Films

Two screenings, at 6pm and 8pm.  Box office for first screening opens at 5:30pm.

A spectacular documentary that asks what mountains mean to us and why we are compelled to conquer them.  It features adrenaline-rushing footage and music by the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Only three centuries ago, setting out to climb a mountain would have been considered close to lunacy. Mountains were places of peril, not beauty, an upper world to be shunned, not sought out. Why do mountains now hold us spellbound, drawing us into their dominion, often at the cost of our lives?

From Tibet to Australia, Alaska to Norway armed with drones, Go-Pros and helicopters, director Jennifer Peedom has fashioned an astonishing symphony of mountaineers, ice climbers, free soloists, heliskiers, snowboarders, wingsuiters and parachuting mountain bikers.

Willem Dafoe provides a narration sampled from British mountaineer Robert Macfarlane’s acclaimed memoir Mountains of the Mind, and a classical score from the Australian Chamber Orchestra accompanies this majestic cinematic experience.

A truly amazing view from the top.The Guardian ★★★★

For those terrified of heights, Mountain will be a nonstop nightmare. Yet big scares are a small price for the awe-inspiring footage you’ll see.The New York Times

How the hell did they film that?The Irish Times ★★★★

A ravishing feat of vertiginous filmmaking. – The Hollywood Reporter

A sublime rush of adrenaline and orchestral beauty…not for the faint-hearted. – The Guardian ★★★★

Australia, 2017 | Language: English | 76 minutes | Cert: CLUB

Director: Jennifer Peedom

Narrator:  Willem DeFoe

Music: Australian Chamber Orchestra

1945 [HUNGARY], THU 11 APRIL 8PM

By archive, Season 20 Films

Two screenings, at 6pm and 8pm.  Box office for first screening opens at 5:30pm.

An Orthodox Jewish man and his son arrive in a Hungarian village at the end of WWII, upsetting the inhabitants who must confront the recent horrors they’ve experienced, perpetrated, or tolerated.

When two black clad men arrive at a country railway station, a classic western set up appears to be unfolding. But it’s 1945 in Soviet-occupied Hungary in the immediate aftermath of World War II, and by their appearance the men are Orthodox Jews. As the men make their way to town and word of their arrival spreads, there’s a growing panic among some of the more prominent townsfolk – especially town clerk, whose son’s wedding is later that day.

This difficult time in Hungary is rarely dealt with in cinema, and certainly not with as much clarity, economy and nuance as Ferenc Török displays here. A rare subject too, the grave and sobering issue of how the Gentile population of Nazi-occupied countries behaved towards Jewish neighbours, and how they have, or have not, come to terms with a life based on guilt and betrayal. With its monochrome splendour and striking soundtrack, morally compromised townspeople and its tick-tock narrative towards an unknown conclusion, we’re reminded of Fred Zinnemann’s taut and masterful High Noon.

1945 is a tense, chilling, beautifully nuanced take on a little-known slice of history based on the acclaimed short story Homecoming by Gábor T. Szántó.

★★★★

A sombre, accomplished skilled drama.The Guardian ★★★

Marvellously directed and acted.RTE.ie ★★★★

Török’s engaging, imperfect feature has important and timely things to say about historical guilt and remembrance.  – The Irish Times ★★★

Hungary, 2017 | Language: Hungarian | 91 minutes | Cert: CLUB

Director:  Ferenc Török

Cast: Péter Rudolf, Bence Tasnádi, Tamás Szabó Kimmel, Dóra Sztarenki

JEUNE FEMME [FRANCE], THU 27 SEPTEMBER, 8PM

By archive

A superbly sympathetic and spikily comedic portrait of a rudderless young woman in search of an identity.  She’s determined to make a new start with style. 

Winner, Camera d’Or for best first feature film, Cannes Film Festival 2017.

Broke, with nothing but her cat to her name and doors closing in her face, Paula is back in Paris after a long absence. As she meets different people along the way, there is one thing she knows for sure: she’s determined to make a new start – and she’ll do it with style and panache.

Director Léonor Serraille deservedly scooped the Camera d’Or prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival for this debut feature. Jeune Femme impresses with it sheer vivacity and the powerhouse central performance of actress Laetitia Dosch as Paula provides the wild heart of the film. This is cinema that is funny, moving and hugely invigorating.

Comedy with a soaring, free-spirited lead…A white-knuckle sense of emotional freefall powers every fraught scene.The Irish Times ★★★★

Laetitia Dosch dazzles in Léonor Serraille’s debut feature as a young Parisian woman struggling to work out who she is.The Guardian ★★★★

The film plays like an assured American comedy with its quick-fire pacing and conventional, redemptive arc. But the film is pure French in its tone and atmosphere. – Little White Lies, Cannes Film Festival 2017

France, 2017 |Language: France | 98 minutes | Cert: 15

Director:   Léonor Serraille

Cast:  Laetitia Dosch, Souleymane Seye Ndiaye, Grégoire Monsaingeon

SUMMER 1993 [ESTIU 1993 – SPAIN], THU 4 OCTOBER, 8PM

By archive

Six-year-old Frida faces the death of her parents and integration into a new nuclear family during a long Catalonian summer.  Beguiling, unsentimental and deeply personal.  

Winner, Best First Feature, Berlin Film Festival 2017.

In the summer 1993, following the death of her parents, six-year-old Frida moves from Barcelona to the Catalan province to live with her aunt and uncle, who are now her new legal guardians. The country life is a challenge for Frida – time passes differently in her new home and the nature that surrounds her is mysterious and estranging. She now has a little sister she has to take care of and must deal with new feelings, such as jealousy. Often, Frida is naively convinced that running away would be the best solution to her problems.

The family does what it can to achieve a fragile new balance and bring normality to their life. Occasional family outings to a local fiesta or a swimming pool, cooking or listening to jazz in the garden bring them moments of happiness. Slowly, Frida realizes that she is there to stay and has to adapt to the new environment.

Stunning drama of a childhood ripped apart…Carla Simón’s brilliantly realised story of a six-year-old traumatised by the death of her parents features miraculous child performances.The Guardian ★★★★★ 

A film that movingly looks at an orphaned six-year-old’s loneliness and confusion without the usual dip into sentimentality. – Variety

Childhood memoirs always are under threat from self-indulgence and sentimentality, but 1993 successfully sidesteps both, establishing Simon as a talent to watch.  A delicately crafted, moving filmic memoir. True and captivating. – The Hollywood Reporter

Spain, 2017 |Language: Catalan | 97 minutes | Cert: CLUB

Director:   Carla Simón

Cast:  Laia Artigas, Paula Robles, Bruna Cusí

ZAMA [ARGENTINA], THU 11 OCTOBER, 8PM

By archive

Set in 18th century Paraguay, Zama is a dissatisfied magistrate assigned to a remote colony.  This stunning and bold piece of filmmaking, full of wit and striking visuals, casts a powerful spell.

Don Diego de Zama is a magistrate in a remote Spanish colony in South America. He dutifully does his job, hoping to persuade his superiors to approve a transfer to Buenos Aires. As the months pass, and he grows increasingly desperate, the unhinged Zama hopes that a dangerous mission to capture a notorious outlaw will finally guarantee his long-awaited relocation.

The first film in almost a decade from Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel (The Headless Woman) is very much worth the wait: This is a stunning, strange and bold piece of filmmaking,

Desire and despair at the end of the world. In Lucrecia Martel’s magnificent drama, a Spanish officer stuck at a remote South American outpost numbs his burgeoning panic with erotic reveries. –  The Guardian  ★★★★

This surreal period piece is 2018’s best film so far. Lucrecia Martel’s Paraguay-set drama finds pathos and grim humor in colonial South America.Vanity Fair Magazine

Lucrecia Martel, one of the greatest directors in the world right now, gets a well earned retrospective at Lincoln Center in New York City.Vogue Magazine

Click here for The Irish Times review.

95% rating from Rotten Tomatoes

Argentina, 2017 |Language: Spanish | 115 minutes | Cert: CLUB

Director: Lucrecia Martel

Cast: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lola Dueñas, Matheus Nachtergaele

 

 

THE RIDER [USA], THU 25 OCTOBER, 8PM

By archive

Brady, a South Dakota rodeo cowboy, suffers a near-fatal accident that halts his career and forces him to re-evaluate his future.  A beautifully crafted and absorbing glimpse of ‘real-life’ America.

Winner Art Cinema Award at Cannes 2017.

Brady is a talented South Dakota bronco rider and horse trainer – cowboys and rodeos are the centre of his world. So when he suffers a near-fatal accident that halts his career, Brady struggles to recover from a serious head-injury that forces him to reevaluate his future.

Chinese-born director Chloé Zhao proves that her acclaimed debut feature Songs My Brothers Taught Me was no flash-in-the-pan, as she returns with another beautifully crafted and absorbing glimpse of ‘real-life’ America in this second feature. Casting non-professional actors as versions of themselves allows her to bring a unique authenticity and intimacy to the story – the result is a powerfully emotional and touching exploration of humanity.

The best American movie this critic has seen in the past year…The commanding abilities Chloé Zhao shows in “The Rider” easily mark her as one of the world’s most important young directors. – rogerebert.com ★★★

Study of a damaged rodeo rider is a hugely impressive slice of prairie naturalism.The Irish Times  ★★★★★

Impressive, stylish bronco rider drama bucks the trend.  Chloé Zhao’s distinctive new feature shows life among South Dakota’s star bronco riders, who play themselves in a kind of heightened documentary. – The Guardian ★★★

Click here to watch an interview with the director and Brady.

Click here for official website.

USA, 2017 | Language:  English | 104 minutes | Cert: CLUB TBC

Director:  Chloé Zhao

Cast:  Brady Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau

CUSTODY [JUSQU’À LA GARDE – FRANCE], THU 8 NOVEMBER, 8PM

By archive, Season 19 films

This heart-stopping, award-sweeping debut feature charts a family’s struggles with the fallout of divorce. 

After a bitter divorce, Miriam and Antoine battle for sole custody of their son, Julien. Miriam claims the father is violent but lacks proof. Antoine accuses her of manipulating their son for her own ends. Both sides seem to be hiding something – the truth is buried in deceit and jealousy. Julien becomes a pawn in a tense conflict that brings the family’s fraught past to light.

Winner of prestigious awards at the 2017 Venice Film Festival, including the Silver Lion for best director, Custody is a gripping, tension-filled drama that heralds a stunning new cinematic voice in Xavier Legrand. His mastery of building suspense, supported by exceptional performances, makes this one of the must-see films of 2018.

A time-bomb of a film that crackles with intense emotional involvement. – LA Times

Hurtling drama of a horrific boyhood…Xavier Legrand’s portayal of domestic violence is a singular debut.The Irish Times ★★★★★ 

Terror tactics and fury blaze in an electric debut.The Telegraph ★★★★★ 

A portrait of a marriage made in hell.The Guardian ★★★★

France, 2017 |Language: French | 94 minutes | Cert: 15A

Director: Xavier Legrand

Cast: Léa Drucker, Denis Ménochet, Thomas Gioria

A short Irish film, An Island [13 minutes] will be shown before the feature.

 

CRYSTAL SWAN [KHRUSTAL – Belarus] THU 15 NOVEMBER, 8PM

By archive, Season 19 films

THIS FILM IS SHOWN IN THE GATE CINEMA ON NORTH MAIN STREET.  START TIME IS 8:30PM.

A highlight of Season 19 is Cork Cine Club’s partnership with Cork Film Festival to present Crystal Swan in the Gate Cinema on North Main Street.

This energetic debut from Belarusian director Darya Zhuk is about young Veyla living in post-Soviet 1997 Minsk.  She dreams of moving to America to become a DJ, but her wanderlust is derailed by a typo in a forged U.S. visa application, forcing her to a backwater village where she is determined to fake her way to the American dream.

The debut feature of Belarusian director Darya Zhuk, is the sort of blazing triumph that would hold even the sleepiest film festival-goer in rapt attention. – RogerEbert.com

The kooky scenario at the heart of vibrant this comedy could be lifted from a Seinfeld episode…sweet and salty with a screwball zip.The Skinny

Impressively assured for a first feature, Crystal Swan boasts a luminous lead performance from rising Russian screen queen Alina Nasibullina, and a sparky, sardonic script. – Hollywood Reporter

This tale of a DJ’s fate is definitely worthy of a spin.Screen International

100% from Rotten Tomatoes.

Belarus, 2018 |Language: Russian, English | 95 minutes | Cert: CLUB

Director:   Darya Zhuk

Cast:  Alina Nasibullina, Ivan Mulin, Svetlana Anikey

Online booking is available for Crystal Swan.  Booking opens on Tuesday 16 October at 7pm on www.corkfilmfest.org.