IndieCork becomes a BAFTA-qualifying festival for British short film

IndieCork Festival, taking place September 19^th to 26^th physically at The Gate Cinema and online September 19^th to October 3^rd, has released some key moments and themes of the festival this year.

The festival has just been announced as a BAFTA-qualifying festival for British short film. As IndieCork has a special focus on Northern Irish shorts this year, this will mean that those filmmakers are on the journey to qualifying for the BAFTA Best Short Film Award.

Commenting on this milestone, Mick Hannnigan, Co-Director of IndieCork, said: “We’re thrilled that IndieCork is now recognised by BAFTA as a significant festival for short film. We join our international counterparts in helping UK filmmakers to qualify for the award.”

IndieCork has a special focus on the distinguished avant-garde U.S. filmmaker, Bill Morrison, who will attend as Special Guest this year. Described by Variety as ‘one of the most adventurous American filmmakers’, his work has premiered at the New York, Sundance, Telluride and Venice film festivals. His mid-career retrospective was held in MoMA in 2014 and his film ‘Decasia’ (2002) was the first film of the 21^st Century to be selected for the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry.

Morrison attends IndieCork to present his new film The Village Detective: A Song Cycle which has been selected for Telluride Film Festival this month, and receives its U.S. theatrical release on September 24^th.

IndieCork continues to nurture new talent and this year, all the international features are debut films. This includes new Irish features Gateway by Niall Owens and Rebecca’s Boyfriend by Craig Austin as well as international features Sweetheart by Marley Morrison (England) and Botox by Kaveh Mazaheri (Iran). Co-Director of IndieCork, Úna Feely said “IndieCork is very much a creators’ festival and we’ve found that this ‘discovery’ approach is something that comes naturally to the festival. Across the features, documentaries and shorts we present exciting new talent, often at the beginning of their careers. IndieCork is a creator-focused festival and we pride ourselves in forging strong relationships with our filmmakers.”

In conclusion she said “Our focus on discovery and innovation involves, of course, the legendary Bill Morrison as our Special Guest,  but other programmes, such as Artist Film (a collaboration with MTU Crawford college) play a role in nurturing distinctive filmmaking. Our Best Emerging Irish Female Director award was established to encourage more women to take the central creative role in the filmmaking process.”

Cork, Irish and World Shorts competitions run throughout the festival with many filmmakers making the trip to IndieCork this year, many seeing their work on the big screen for the first time.

IndieCork September 19^th to 27^th at The Gate Cinemas

All tickets www.gatecinemas.com

IndieCork Online September 19^th to October 3^rd

All tickets www.indiecork.com