Irish Premiere of Saipan Announced as Opening Gala of 70th Cork International Film Festival
Posted: 26th September 2025
Cork International Film Festival (CIFF) has announced that the Opening Gala of the 2025 edition, marking the significant 70th anniversary of Ireland’s oldest film festival, will be the Irish Premiere of the hotly anticipated Saipan, following from the film's World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Opening Night Gala takes place at The Everyman Theatre on Thursday 6th November at 7pm. Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is proud to support the Festival as its Industry Partner.
The Closing Night Gala on Sunday 16th November, also at The Everyman Theatre, has been announced as the Irish Premiere of Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On?, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern.
Fiona Clark, Festival Director & CEO of Cork International Film Festival, commented:
We are delighted and honoured to bookend our landmark 70th Festival edition with two Irish premieres of this stature. A Festival of our scale and impact is a huge undertaking by our dedicated team and we are excited to share the outcome of our endeavours and invite audiences to celebrate this remarkable milestone – as Ireland’s largest and longest-running film festival – with prestige titles like Saipan and, of course, with its significant Cork connections. We will be showcasing over 200 films and special events across Cork with more films announced in advance of the unveiling of the full programme on Wednesday 15th October. We look forward to welcoming audiences to share the spotlight in Cork in November.”
Saipan is directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn and stars Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke. It’s 2002, shortly before the FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea. The Irish national football team arrives on the Pacific island of Saipan, where they are to bond and train before moving to Japan. But the management’s relaxed approach does not match team captain Roy Keane’s expectations. The Man U star player is here to win it.
Filmmakers Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn handle the story that captured a nation with all the respect due to one of the most seismic events in Irish sporting history. A respect for facts, for protagonists and for all the people of Ireland who found themselves having to take sides. Indeed, the public quarrel between Keane and coach Mick McCarthy rocked the country and sparked debates on notions that went far beyond sport: loyalty, ethics, identity. Saipan was, and is, a big deal.
Commenting on Saipan opening the 70th CIFF programme, filmmakers Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn said:
We are thrilled to be screening Saipan as the Opening Gala of Cork International Film Festival. Our film has Cork running through its veins: story, cast and spirit. And the Festival has played a significant part in our filmmaking life. Since showing our first short in competition, we’ve been lucky enough to return to Cork for feature film screenings and many very good times. To be included in this year’s landmark 70th anniversary celebrations is an enormous joy and honour.”
Marking the Festival’s milestone 70th anniversary, the Opening Night Gala promises to be a spectacular event with special guests and awards, as well as the much-anticipated film premiere. Oscar®-winning producer, film educator and CIFF Patron David Puttnam will be presented with an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award by the multi-award-winning Irish actor Gabriel Byrne. The Honorary Award will be named the David Puttnam Honorary Award going forward, and presented to significant contributors to film in Ireland. The Opening Night celebration will also include the unveiling of a recently rediscovered short archival film about the Festival which has been digitised and restored by the Irish Film Institute.
The 70th edition of the Cork International Film Festival will screen over 200 films and events across Cork city and county from Thursday 6th to Sunday 16th November. Tickets are now available on the Festival's website.
The Festival is proudly supported by Principal Funder the Arts Council, along with its Industry Partner Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, as well as Cork City Council; Department of Culture, Communications and Sport; Creative Europe MEDIA; Eurimages; Coimisiún na Meán; Culture Ireland; Rethink Ireland; Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey; Murphy’s; Babelfís; UCC; Future Planet; HSE; Cork County Council; and Principal Venue Partner, ARC Cinemas. Media Partners are RTÉ Supporting the Arts and the Irish Examiner.
Cork International Film Festival is a member of the Cultural Cinema Partnership, which comprises the Irish Film Institute, Galway Film Fleadh, Dublin International Film Festival and access>CINEMA.