16/11/2020 - The D’Innocenzo brothers’ Bad Tales has snagged the Spirit of the Festival Award, whilst Estephan Wagner and Marianne Hougen-Moraga’s Songs of Repression was crowned Best Documentary

It’s a wrap for the 65th edition of the Cork International Film Festival. The event, the longest-running Irish gathering of its kind, unspooled from 8-15 November and was held virtually. Initially set to be a hybrid festival, the worrying increase in coronavirus cases and the Irish government’s announcement to implement level 3+ restrictions nationwide on 10 November forced the organisers to rethink the entire event and re-plan it digitally. The closing ceremony took place online on 14 November.

The winner of this year’s Spirit of the Festival Award was Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo’s Bad Tales [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabio and Damiano D’Innocenzo
film profile], a dark fairy tale set in a southern suburb of Rome, where a small community of families live with their adolescent children, starring Elio Germano in one of the lead roles. The jurors explained their choice with the following accompanying statement: “The winners of the Spirit of the Festival Award effectively combined grim reality and horrifying tale to bring us on a journey to the end of the world. The slow-burning pace […] is compelling. The impressive cinematography and a constantly surprising narrative keep us alert and attentive. This is a world overwhelmed by toxic masculinity, the conspicuous lack of older generations bringing sharp focus to the nihilism of the present inhabitants of an unnamed community. While the jury might not agree with the film’s world view, all agreed that this is a highly original and rich work, and a very deserving winner of this year’s award.”

Meanwhile, the Award for Cinematic Documentary went to Estephan Wagner and Marianne Hougen-Moraga’s Songs of Repression [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Estephan Wagner and Mariann…
film profile], which premiered at the 2020 CPH:DOX, and was the winner of both the Politiken:Danish:Dox Award and the CPH:DOX Award. The jury provided the following supporting statement: “Songs of Repression is a powerful film that strikes a balance between nuanced politics and humanity at the heart of the story. The filmmakers approach their subjects with empathy and demonstrate masterful storytelling in the unfolding of their narrative.”

This year, the Irish gathering offered a rich programme comprising 50 fiction features and documentaries, 14 programmes of shorts and several special events.

The full list of award winners is as follows:

Spirit of the Festival Award
Bad Tales [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabio and Damiano D’Innocenzo
film profile] - Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo (Italy/Switzerland)

Award for Cinematic Documentary
Songs of Repression [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Estephan Wagner and Mariann…
film profile] - Estephan Wagner and Marianne Hougen-Moraga (Denmark/Netherlands)

Cork International Film Festival Youth Jury Award
Rascal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Dourountzis
film profile] - Peter Dourountzis (France)

European Short Film Candidate
Blue Fear - Marie Jacotey and Lola Halifa-Legrand (France)

Best Cork Short Award
Ballast - Jesse Gilbert (UK/Ireland)

Best Director - Irish Short
Dúirt Tú (You Said) - Shaun Dunne and Zoe Ni Riordain (Ireland)

Grand Prix Documentary Short
Signal 8 - Simon Liu (Hong Kong)

Grand Prix International Short
Sudden Light - Sophie Littman (UK)

Grand Prix Irish Short
Flicker - Luke Daly and Nathan Fagan (Ireland)