Submissions for the 69th Cork International Film Festival are now open.
*** PLEASE READ OUR RULES AND CONDITIONS FOR ENTRY ***
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, and includes programmes for schools, families, and specialist Industry Days such as Doc Day, cementing the Festival as the destination festival for documentary in Ireland. Programme strands also include Culinary Cinema (film and food), Green Screen (film and environment & climate activism), Guilty Pleasures (cult classics) and Illuminate (film and mental health).
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 12 Awards, three of which are Academy Award® qualifying.
Applicants to the 2024 submissions platform will be notified of the outcome of their submission in September 2024.
Cork International Film Festival is accredited by the following Awards Academies:
- Academy Awards®: winners of the Grand Prix Irish Short, Grand Prix International Short and Grand Prix Documentary Short categories qualify for the long list of the Academy Awards® for the Animated Short Film/Live Action Short Film and Documentary Short categories.
- BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television): filmmakers whose British shorts are selected for competition in the Festival’s Grand Prix International Short competition may enter their films for BAFTA consideration
- BIFA (British Independent Film Awards): filmmakers whose British shorts are selected for competition in the Festival’s Grand Prix International Short competition may enter their films for BIFA consideration.
- European Academy Awards: Cork International Film Festival submits a short film nomination to the European Short Film Awards.
In competition, Cork International Film Festival makes the following awards:
- Grand Prix Irish Short Award, with the winner eligible for the long list of the Academy Awards® for the Animated Short Film / Live Action Short Film category
- Grand Prix International Short Award, with the winner eligible for the long list of the Academy Awards® for the Animated Short Film / Live Action Short Film category
- Grand Prix Documentary Short Award, with the winner eligible for the long list of the Academy Awards® for the Documentary Short category.
- Best New Irish Feature Award, celebrating the best of new Irish fiction and documentary feature works, supported by the Irish Examiner
- Gradam Spiorad na Féile / Spirit of the Festival Award, championing feature filmmakers (European first- and second-time directors) who push boundaries and take risks – bold ideas, well told
- Gradam na Féile do Scannáin Faisnéise / Award for Cinematic Documentary, recognising documentary filmmakers who push cinematic boundaries
- Best Director Irish Short, Supported by Screen Directors Guild Ireland
- Best Cork Short Award (Cork Shorts may also be eligible to compete for the Grand Prix Irish Short Award if they are Irish premieres)
- European Film Awards, Cork Short Film Candidate for European Short Film nomination, European Film Awards 2025
Out of competition, the Festival makes the following awards:
- Audience Award (Features) for feature films, the shortlist nominated by the Festival’s programmers
- Audience Award (Shorts) for short films, the shortlist nominated by the Festival’s programmers
- Cork International Film Festival Youth Jury Award, with jury representation from University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology, and St John’s College
