Friday 30 October in Belfast

Belfast times. Last refreshed Fri 19:33.

Showing Film only.

Friday 30 October 10 listings

18:00Started

Damian Mc c arthy Directorial Masterclass

We are thrilled to welcome Damian McCarthy, the twisted mind behind ODDITY, CAVEAT and most recently HOKUM, to this year’s festival to take part in a directing masterclass as part of our Long Short Weekend. McCarthy’s career began with some skin-crawling shorts which screened and won awards at festivals around the world. His feature debut, CAVEAT, screened in 2020 before being added to Shudder and becoming a worldwide sensation. He followed this with ODDITY in 2024, before his biggest feature yet in HOKUM, starring Adam Scott. Despite his meteoric rise, his work retains a deeply Irish sensibility: darkly humorous and versed in folklore, scratching at that paranoid, uncomfortable itch at the back of the brain. The conversation will be moderated by actor, writer and director Clare Monnelly (star of Aislinn Clarke’s FRÉWAKA). Featuring some of Damian’s shorts, some clips from his films, and some from the work that inspired him, this will be an indispensable evening for filmmakers and film fans alike. This masterclass is sponsored by Northern Ireland Screen . This event will be live captioned.
18:00Started

Wild Horse Nine

Martin McDonagh returns with another tragicomic two-hander with a razor-sharp script and outstanding performances from a stellar cast. After the success of The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh has turned his attention to Chile in the 1970s, where two CIA men discuss morality and mortality during a dispatch to the vanishingly remote and metaphorically rich Easter Island. With John Malkovich as the ailing Chris, mentor to Sam Rockwell’s Lee, and idiosyncratic support from Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey and Tom Waites, the film is an accidental allegory for present-day politics with trademark bittersweet notes, sweeping landscapes and strategically-placed horses. This screening has Audio Description available.
18:15Started

BFF: Damian McCarthy Masterclass

The Black Box · Main Room · City centre · Film
Belfast Film Festival are thrilled to welcome Damian McCarthy , the twisted mind behind ODDITY, CAVEAT and most recently HOKUM, to this year’s festival to take part in a directing masterclass as part of our Long Short Weekend. McCarthy’s career began with some skin-crawling shorts which screened and won awards at festivals around the world. His feature debut, CAVEAT, screened in 2020 before being added to Shudder and becoming a worldwide sensation. He followed this with ODDITY in 2024, before his biggest feature yet in HOKUM, starring Adam Scott. Despite his meteoric rise, his work retains a deeply Irish sensibility: darkly humorous and versed in folklore, scratching at that paranoid, uncomfortable itch at the back of the brain. The conversation will be moderated by actor, writer and director Clare Monnelly (star of Aislinn Clarke’s FRÉWAKA). Featuring some of Damian’s shorts, some clips from his films, and some from the work that inspired him, this will be an indispensable evening for filmmakers and film fans alike. This masterclass is sponsored by Northern Ireland Screen.
18:20Started

Dracula (1958)

Hammer Films in partnership with Warner Bros resurrects Dracula in a landmark new 4K restoration featuring long-lost footage unseen for over 60 years. Opposite Peter Cushing's fearless Van Helsing, Christopher Lee brought a terrifying physicality and seductive menace to the role that would redefine the Count for generations. When Jonathan Harker arrives at a remote Transylvanian castle, he discovers that his mysterious host, Count Dracula, is a centuries-old vampire who feeds upon the blood of the living. As Dracula's reign of terror spreads across Europe, the determined Professor Van Helsing embarks on a desperate battle to destroy the Prince of Darkness before more innocent lives are claimed. Screenings include cinema exclusive short film (10 mins) exploring the film's restoration, featuring an introduction from John Gore.
20:30

BFF: HOKUM Live Commentary

The Black Box · Main Room · City centre · Film
Belfast Film Festival are very excited to welcome director Damian McCarthy and editor Brian Philip Davis to take part in a live commentary of their horror hit HOKUM. Arrogant and alienating American novelist Ohm Bauman (the wickedly talented Adam Scott) travels to Ireland to spread his parents’ ashes. He stays in the same quaint Irish inn where they spent their honeymoon. Whilst getting drunk and annoying the locals, he becomes entranced by folk tales of a witch trapped in the very hotel he is staying in. When a woman disappears, he is drawn into the mysteries and horrors that lie beneath the surface of this quaint hotel, and the disturbing secrets from his own suppressed past. Damian and Brian will introduce the film before telling all about the nitty-gritty of crafting a horror film. Commentating live, they’ll provide behind-the-scenes stories and insight on their creative process. This event is 18+
20:30

Hokum Director’s Live Commentary

We are very excited to welcome director Damian McCarthy and editor Brian Philip Davis to take part in a live commentary of their horror hit HOKUM. Arrogant and alienating American novelist Ohm Bauman (the wickedly talented Adam Scott) travels to Ireland to spread his parents’ ashes. He stays in the same quaint Irish inn where they spent their honeymoon. Whilst getting drunk and annoying the locals, he becomes entranced by folk tales of a witch trapped in the very hotel he is staying in. When a woman disappears, he is drawn into the mysteries and horrors that lie beneath the surface of this quaint hotel, and the disturbing secrets from his own suppressed past. Damian and Brian will introduce the film before telling all about the nitty-gritty of crafting a horror film. Commentating live, they’ll provide behind-the scenes stories and insight on their creative process.
20:30

Wicker

Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson’s wonderfully eccentric fable is, at its core, a gentle love story starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård and Peter Dinklage. On the outskirts of a village by the sea, lives a Fisherwoman; smelly, single and perpetually ridiculed. One day, fed up with her stuffy, small-minded neighbours, she commissions herself a husband to be made from wicker. In an otherwise conservative town, this unconventional romance sparks outrage, jealousy and chaos.
20:45

Ken Russell's The Devils Sold out

Censored for more than half a century, Ken Russell’s visionary masterpiece returns to the big screen fully restored in 4K and cut to Russell’s direction - the first publicly released version of the film as intended by the filmmaker. An enduring masterpiece of cinema starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, Ken Russell’s The Devils is a prescient epic of obsession and corruption, and a defining work of art from a seminal filmmaker. Inspired by the true story of 17th-century priest Urbain Grandier, accused of bewitching a convent of nuns, the film lays bare the collusion of church and state through a searing vision of religious persecution, collective hysteria and institutional corruption. Unveiled at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, the definitive version arrives 55 years after the film’s original release. In addition to powerhouse performances from Reed and Redgrave, Ken Russell’s The Devils showcases the stunning work of artists at the peak of their craft. The 8.45pm screening on Fri 30 Oct will include an in-person introduction by Mark Kermode. Warning: The linked trailer contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.