Episode 25 of the Lock-In Podcast features Úna Feely, co-director of the IndieCork Festival of Film and Music which, despite the challenges of social distancing, will take place in Cork on October 4.
Click on the player below to play the podcast audio (download: 11:51; 7MB; MP3), or scroll down to watch the video.
So how do you run a film festival during a pandemic? The secret is a hybrid approach. As restrictions have eased somewhat over the summer, cinemas have been operating since the end of June, although with reduced seat capacity. IndieCork will hold screenings in Cork’s Gate Cinema which can accommodate up to 50 people per theatre. And for those who opt for the online experience, IndieCork Online will offer films to view over a two week period, beginning on 4 October, and extending for a week after the physical festival ends.
“We started the festival to try and show films that don’t normally get screened, that are coming from the independent sector a lot of the time. Ireland has moved on a lot in the last ten years in terms of film production. There are also so many different outlets now for film, distribution-wise, that a lot of films don’t make it into distribution into your local cinema. So really we’re kind of offering the experience of discovering new films that don’t otherwise get seen and supporting the independent makers. Now we also do that with music, so we have a performance element to the festival which this year, obviously, will be slightly different and we’re trying to move some of that online as well. Basically, IndieCork is about supporting that independent film maker and music maker.”
While pandemic restrictions present a logistcal challenge to arts events such as IndieCork, they also represent an artistic constraint and a worthy theme. Early in the year, IndieCork put out the call for pandemic pictures; the result is Lockdown Films – a programme of creative short films made under lockdown conditions.
The IndieCork Festival of Film and Music will run from 4 – 11 October at the Gate Cinema in Cork, and from 4 – 18 October on IndieCork Online, which is proudly sponsored by Blacknight. There’s also a bonus programme of short films which will run this Friday 18 September as part of Culture Night. For more information, visit IndieCork.com.
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About the Author: Conn Ó Muíneacháin
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