French finesse

Be aware that the excellent Cork French Film Festival, which began last weekend, continues until Sunday.

Be aware that the excellent Cork French Film Festival, which began last weekend, continues until Sunday.

Among the highlights is a screening, with live musical accompaniment, of Carl T Dreyer's silent masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arcin the suitably ecclesiastical Christchurch, Triskel venue. Irene Buckley, the Corkonian composer, will be utilising electronics, organ from Rhoda Dullea and the strains of soprano Emma Nash. If you want to get some sense of what Ms Buckley's work sounds like, check out her website at irenebuckley.com. The event kicks off tomorrow at 8pm.

The festival organisers have worked hard at finding innovative ways of reaching beyond the conventions of the traditional film festival. For example, Project DI,which plays in the Triskel tomorrow at 10pm, is a collaboration between dancer Delphine Dolce and "electro-videographer" Lionel Palun. Andrew Fogarty and David Lacey provide the sounds.

There are two other unmissable revivals on Sunday. Marcel Carné's Les Enfants du Paradis, a timeless tale of show folk, and Jacques Tati's Mon Oncle,wry commentary on modern life, both play at the Gate Cinema. The festival closes later the same day with an early showing for Aki Kaurismäki's delightful, eccentric comedy Le Havre. Fans can look forward to a characteristically unhinged interview with the great Finn in these pages in the next few weeks. corkfrenchfilmfestival.com.

Donald Clarke

Donald Clarke

Donald Clarke, a contributor to The Irish Times, is Chief Film Correspondent and a regular columnist