2019 proved to be another strong year for Irish film with over 30 films making their way to a cinema release. We pick our 10 favourites of the year – 5 feature films & 5 documentaries.
Film is the great liberator. It frees us from our physical state of embodied inertia. It is the emancipation of consciousness. And, as En Vogue so rightly concluded, once you have achieved this conscious freedom, the rest will follow.
Our writers have been busy voting for their favourite films of the year. Film Ireland spared no expense and spent €2 million on a calculator to tally the votes. Unfortunately, the calculator was too large to fit in the editor’s desk so after resorting to a trusty abacus, the votes were counted and the results announced.
In this podcast, Paul Farren & Wayne Byrne discuss Sam Peckinpah’s masterpiece The Wild Bunch, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Paul and Wayne look back on the film’s legacy and celebrate its “ballet of violence”.
Dividing their time between tropical islands and cinemas in Dublin, Sarah Cullen and Richard Drumm take out their film scalpel and get under the skin of film.
Emma Keyes checks out a programme of Cork-themed films from collections at the IFI Irish Film Archive.
In this podcast, Paul Farren talks to author Wayne Byrne about his latest book Burt Reynolds on Screen, the first critical overview of Reynolds’ work which examines his complete filmography, featuring candid discussions with costars and collaborators, exclusive behind-the-scenes photos and a wealth of film stills.
Sean O’Rourke was at the Cork Film Festival to watch ‘The Light House’, Robert Eggers’ enthralling, evocative follow-up to the chilling period horror The Witch.
In this podcast Gemma Creagh talks to the writer/director Aoife Crehan about her debut feature.
Emma Keyes was at the Cork Film Festival to see ‘Lost Lives’, Dermot Lavery and Michael Hewitt’s film adapted from the book that aims to document the stories of the men, women and children who have died as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.