MAF Cinema is delighted to return to the Gate Midleton for 2025 and offers another THREE FREE fantastic screenings for our audience, with the generous support of Cork County Council and the Gate Cinema Midleton.
SATURDAY 10TH MAY 11am FREE FAMILY SCREENING
Who loves trees? …We do! Celebrate the MAF25 theme of ‘Treedom‘. The MAF team is delighted to invite you. Join us for a FREE family screening of the multi-award winning film, ‘The Lorax’. This event will be on Saturday 11th May, at 11am at the Gate Cinema.
In the walled city of Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity, a boy named Ted hopes to win the heart of his dream girl, Audrey. When he learns of her wish to see a real tree, Ted seeks out the Once-ler, a ruined old businessman outside of town in a stark wasteland. Upon hearing of how the hermit gave into his greed for profits and devastated the land over the protests of the Lorax, Ted is inspired to undo the disaster. However, the greedy Mayor of Thneed-Ville, Aloysius O’Hare, has made his fortune exploiting the environmental collapse and is determined to stop the boy from undermining his business.
The Lorax Tickets – CLICK HERE!
SUNDAY 11th MAY 11am – ANIMATION MORNING AND EVENING DOUBLE BILL
11am – 12pm Join us for our spectacular ‘Animation Morning.’ You can watch a host of vibrant stop-motion shorts by young animators from Midleton’s primary and secondary schools. These are from the First Cut! Youth Film Festival 2025.
Enjoy some amazing claymation stories from Midleton C.B.S. and fantastic paper cut-out animations from the talented CDYS Art Group.
Plus! A special screening of some captivating land art stories from Midleton Educate Together N.S. The event will conclude with a prize-giving ceremony courtesy of The Gate Cinema! So roll up animators and be in with a chance to win!
Animation Tickets COMING SOON!
SUNDAY 11th MAY 4 – 6pm DOUBLE BILL SCREENING
Later on Sunday, join us at the Gate Cinema once more. Enjoy a complimentary double bill screening of ‘Coillte’ – A film by Irene Tanner, followed by ‘The Irish Lumières – The Horgan Brothers,’ a TG4 production, produced and directed by Darina Clancy. Screening followed by a brief Q&A session.
COILLTE – A film by Irene Tanner
“A culture is no better than its woods.” – W.H. Auden
Ireland was once the most forested country in Europe; today it is the least. This film contrasts the imagined mythical forests of Ireland’s past with contemporary conifer plantations. It is a deep and personal lament for Ireland’s lost cultural and natural heritage.
The filmmaker revisits her childhood environment with a new perspective informed by the Irish language and the current ecological unravelling. The film examines the ecological costs of the commercial forestry model. It also considers how concepts like ‘nature’ and ‘countryside’ have profoundly altered over time. Drawing on Irish language texts and songs, the film conjures an ancient worldview. This worldview centered on our interdependence with the natural world. Meanwhile, the camera’s lens reveals a barren landscape now dominated by monocultures.
Film, archive material, and memory combine in this meditative essay film. It juxtaposes word and image. This creates a poetic exploration of our changing relationship to the natural world.
The Irish Lumières – The Horgan Brothers
This is the story of the Horgan Brothers of Youghal. They were photographic, cinematic, and animation pioneers. They achieved this at the time of the Lumière brothers in France. It could be said that they made Youghal the home of Irish cinema.
‘The Irish Lumières – The Horgan Brothers’ is an affectionate tribute to these pioneers of Irish film. It brings to life the extraordinary achievements and innovations of the Horgan brothers. This happened mere years after the advent of cinema.