Simply Irresistible

With a guest list that promises Jonathan Rhys Meyers, David Thewlis, Todd Haynes and Whit Stillman, a slew of new Irish movies and an international programme featuring the latest from Ken Loach, Steven Soderbergh, Alain Resnais and James Ivory, the 43rd Murphy's Cork Film Festival is shaping up to be irresistible.

The eight-day event opens on Sunday night with Divorcing Jack, an acerbic black comedy which is likely to have jaws dropping all over the Cork Opera House. Based on Colin Bateman's novel, it is set in 1999, in the run-up to the election of Northern Ireland's new prime minister. The central character, an abrasive Belfast newspaper columnist, is played by David Thewlis, who will attend the screening along with David Caffrey, the film's young Irish director, and Colin Bateman, who wrote the screenplay.

It will be preceded on Sunday by the world premiere of Paul Mercier's director, Lipservice, one of three Irish-language short films commissioned under the Oscailt initiative, along with Edel O'Brien's Aqua and Dearbhla Walsh's Cosa Nite, which are also showing in Cork.

The festival's strong line-up of new Irish features features Stephen Bradley's Sweety Barrett, with Brendan Gleeson and Liam Cunningham, and John Lynch's Night Train with John Hurt and Brenda Blethyn, both of which were very well received in Toronto last month; Joe O'Byrne's Pete's Meteor, starring Mike Myers and Brenda Fricker, which has its world premiere in Cork; and Paul Tickell's Dublin drama, Crushproof, shown under the title of Hooligans at Galway in July.

There's also the world premiere of Paul Unwin's film of the Henry James story, The American, filmed in Dublin this year with Matthew Modine, Diana Rigg and Brenda Fricker; Harry Hook's Irish-made All For Love, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's St Ives and starring Jean-Marc Barr, Miranda Richardson and Anna Friel; Roger Michell's Titanic Town, set in Belfast in 1972 and starring Julie Walters; Eoin Moore's prize-winning, improvisational Berlin-made Break Even; and Jimmy Smallhorne's picture of a bisexual young Irish immigrant in New York, 2by4.

The prolific and fast-rising young Irish actor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, will return to his native Cork for the festival screening of the glamrock movie, Velvet Goldmine, on October 17th, accompanied by the film's director, Todd Haynes. He also co-stars with Minnie Driver in the period drama, The Governess, showing next Friday.

The American writer-director, Whit Stillman will be making a return visit to Cork next Tuesday with his new movie, The Last Days Of Disco. Actor-turned-director Peter Mullan will be attending the festival, where he is represented by two films - Orphans, his first film as a director, and Ken Loach's powerful My Name Is Joe, which won Mullan the best actor award at Cannes this year. New American cinema at Cork includes Steven Soderbergh's comeback with the Elmore Leonard adaptation, Out Of Sight, starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez; Peter Chelsom's The Mighty, starring Sharon Stone; and the Sundance prize-winner, Pi.

The international programme promises the Brazilian Central Station, directed by Walter Salles, which won at Berlin this year; James Ivory's picture of Americans in Paris, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, with Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Hershey; from France, Erick Zonka's Cannes prize-winner, The Dream Life Of Angels, Francois Ozon's Sitcom, and the new Alain Resnais film, On Connait La Chanson; from Britain, Michael Winterbottom's drama, I Want You, and Guy Ritchie's hip crime movie, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels; and from Canada, Painted Angels, starring Brenda Fricker (who features in three movies at Cork) and Kelly McGillis.

The 8th Irish Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, which runs parallel to and as part of the Cork festival from October 15th to 18th, includes two programmes of shorts and six features, including the aforementioned 2by4, and the new film from Go Fish director Rose Troche (who will be in Cork) - Bedrooms And Hallways, starring Kevin McKidd and Jennifer Ehle. However, the strongest gay movie I've seen this year is showing in the main festival on Wednesday, the day before the lesbian and gay event begins. That is the aptly-titled Head On, a provocative and sensual Australian drama from the Greek-Australian director, Ana Kokkinos, who made Only The Brave. Set in Melbourne, it charts an eventful and often traumatic 24 hours in the life of a voraciously sexually active 19-year-old (played by Alex Dimitriades) coming to terms with his homosexuality and his rigidly conservative Greek immigrant parents.

The centrepiece of the commendably wide-ranging documentary programme at Cork is Francis Barrett - Southpaw, Liam McGrath's film of the Irish boxer. The festival's retrospective programme will pay tribute to the work of Philip King and Nuala O'Connor of Hummingbird Films, whose notable documentaries and series include Bringing It All Back Home and Sult. And, as ever, Cork is fielding a massive programme of shorts, Irish and international. One very special event not be missed is next Thursday night's screening of F. W. Murnau's 1927 silent classic, Sunrise, with live musical accompaniment by the Cine Chimera Orchestra under the leadership of Richard McLaughlin.

And Cork's closing film on October 18th will be Shekhar Kapur's acclaimed historical drama, Elizabeth, in which Cate Blanchett, as the young Queen Elizabeth I, heads a prestigious international cast.

The festival venues are Cork Opera House, Triskel Arts Centre and the Kino cinema. The booking office is at 9 Washington Street. Tel: (021) 251223.