Blog: Film festivals

Cork International Film Festival’s mission is to present Ireland’s most exciting, diverse, and ambitious annual film festival, connecting and stimulating audiences and artists through a carefully curated selection of the best films, to create a unique shared cultural experience, rooted in Cork, open to the world.

Cork International Film Festival is rightly positioned and valued at the forefront of Ireland’s film culture. By curating and presenting a programme of exceptional films, our vision is for a film festival recognised and respected around the world for its record of launching and nurturing the careers of the filmmakers of tomorrow. We celebrate award-winning films alongside emerging talent, providing a unique festival experience in Ireland, delivering a depth of engagement for audiences through the medium of film in all its diverse forms, and the opportunity to see these films first in Cork.

The Festival showcases the latest and best international and Irish features, documentaries and shorts, both in cinemas and online via our dedicated digital platform, and includes programmes for schools, families, classics, a focus on film and mental health (Illuminate) and specialist Industry Days, including Doc Day, cementing the Festival as the destination festival for documentary in Ireland.

The Festival welcomes submissions of features and shorts, and all forms of film production – fiction, documentary, animation, experimental, etc. We look for interesting new voices and work that pushes boundaries and takes risks. We champion new voices and celebrate excellence in filmmaking throughout our programme. We also recognise filmmakers’ achievements through our 10 Awards, three of which are Academy Award® qualifying.

Applicants to the 2021 submissions platform will be notified of the outcome of their submission in September 2021.