The Foyle Film Festival will return to Derry this month for a jampacked celebration of cinema.
Running from November 17 to 26 at Brunswick Moviebowl and The Nerve Centre, the 36th festival will open with the Northern Ireland Premiere of Oscar winner Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins.
The underdog comedy starring Michael Fassbender chronicles the journey of the American Samoa soccer team who became infamous for their devastating 31-0 FIFA loss in 2001.
Closing the festival is the Northern Ireland premiere of eco-political thriller Evil Does Not Exist by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Winning both the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and Best Film at BFI London Film Festival.
The festival’s Oscar and Bafta- affiliated Light in Motion (LIM) Short Film Competition will showcase the best films from around the world all in contention for Best International Short Film, Best Irish Short Film and Best Animated Short Film.
Recipients of the LIM Awards qualify for consideration in the Live Action and Animated Short Film categories of the Academy Awards without needing the standard theatrical run.
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Highlights include advanced preview screenings of films such Poor Things starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, All of Us Strangers led by Irelands own Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers and psychological thriller, Eileen, starring Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie.
Additionally, this year’s festival presents Powell and Pressburger: Fantasy and Wonder, as part of Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell +Pressburger, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.
The programme will feature a series of Powell and Pressburger’s most celebrated titles including 28 Days Later, Wings of Desire, and Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull which will be followed by a Q&A with Oscar winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker.
Festival favourites such as Cinematic Breakfasts and Dementia Friendly screenings will return, and the Festival Club will host melodic duo Tessio and alternative folk band Polar Bolero.
For music lovers, there will also be screenings of Alison Elwood’s documentary on Cyndi Lauper, Let The Canary Sing, the 40th anniversary 4K restoration of the Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense and Angelheaded Hipster, the first documentary to explore Marc Bolan and T. Rex.
Irish language screenings include Puffin Rock agus Cairde Nua by Oscar nominated Kilkenny animation studio Cartoon Saloon and Derry studio Dog Ears, and Declan Recks’ Tarrac featuring discussion with the film’s writer Eugene O Brien.
Derry- native director Margo Harkin will be in conversation with producer Martha O’Neill about her film Stolen. Whilst Ulster University’s Dr Victoria McCollum meets filmmakers Ross White and Tom Berkley from An Irish Goodbye to revisit the road to their Oscar and BAFTA success.
Christopher Morrison, festival programmer says: “For our 36th edition, we offer another programme brimming with advance preview screenings, guest events, special industry gatherings, festival club music events, and the only Oscar® and BAFTA- affiliated Short Film Competition in Northern Ireland.
“As always, we’ll have festival favourites including cinematic breakfasts, dementia friendly screenings, and a variety of special guests to ensure that there is something for everyone to enjoy. We can’t wait!”
:: Tickets and full programme of events available at foylefilmfestival.org.
