18:00
Belfast Film Festival
Screenings, talks and premieres across the city's cinemas and a few places that are not cinemas at all.
59 approved listings across 9 venues over the next two weeks.
Friday 30 October 4 listings
Tonight 4
18:00
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.
18:00
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.
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.
Saturday 31 October 4 listings
Morning 1
11:30
Competition Shorts – Programme #1
Competition Shorts – Programme #1 Dir. Ais Brady, 10mins Alor is young and frustrated, trying to figure out life while awkwardly drifting through parties with a mask covering her face. When she meets the charismatic Timur, the possibility of a life unencumbered by façades and shame changes her perception forever. A sweet and tender drama about embracing the beauty of life in all its forms, even a scarf blowing in the breeze of the night. Dir. Hannah Mamalis, 14 mins Anna’s life is coming to an end. But don’t worry too much, another Anna will replace her. Feeling wistful in her final moments, Anna writes a letter for her successor containing her observations, her advice, her humble pleasures and her guilty pleasures. Director Hannah Mamalis distils the sweet absurdities of modern life into this surreal fable, perhaps you too will learn something along the way. Dir. Will Peppercorn, 11mins A plucky young journalist is looking for a good-news story. Instead he stumbles upon a viciously bitter feud between two neighbouring farmers. Spotting an opportunity, the eternal optimist seeks to bury the hatchet between these rural rivals and return to the newspaper victorious. Michael Smiley and Paddy Jenkins star as the fierce farmers stuck in a hubristic clash of personalities. Dir. Sarah Gordon, 12mins Mary gets accused of being a witch. The rumour spreads like wildfire and she must defend herself against a rabble of restless villagers looking for any excuse to burn something at the stake. This scathing tale of small-town minds meeting the dangerous force of mob mentality is very timely, despite its brilliantly realised period setting.
Afternoon 3
12:00
Student Archive Showcase: Past Scenes Future Screens
This showcase brings together a selection of short films from students at Ulster University and Queen’s University Belfast, presented in partnership with Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive. Spanning fiction, documentary and experimental work, these shorts bring together our screen heritage of the past with the filmmaking talent of the future.
13:30
Spider Baby & Post Screening Discussion
Spider Baby, otherwise known as The Maddest Story Ever Told, features horror stars Lon Chaney Jr. and Sid Haig in a bizarre cult-classic that twists tales like The Addams Family into depraved directions. In a lonesome dilapidated house, chauffeur Bruno cares for the Merrye children, all affected by a degenerative illness. When money-grubbing relatives visit unannounced to claim the house as their own, the Merrye family take action into their own hands. After the screening, we will be joined by Disability Action Research Kollective member Aaliyah Bates and artist and disability activist Deirdre McKenna for a panel discussion exploring how horror can act as reflection of social fears, or as a site of reclamation. Please note this film features negative caricatures of people with disabilities and ableist behaviour. This screening is a Relaxed (RS) event with subtitles for d/Deaf and hard of hearing (SDH). There will be BSL signing for the panel discussion.
14:30
Competition Shorts – Programme #3
Competition Shorts – Programme #3 Dir. Alan Hopkins, 16mins An injured teenager arrives at the door of a nurse and her boyfriend. While she tends to his wounds, her boyfriend becomes inundated with messages and tweets and stories and videos of hate and conspiracy and violence. According to his algorithm, this boy is the reason for it all, and mobs begin appearing at their front door. This timely drama has its finger on the pulse of our hate-inflicted age of paranoia, striking right at the pit of the stomach. Dir. Roisin Agnew, 8mins The subversive history of bogs in Ireland becomes a call to action, as the poisonous spread of data centres across the island is considered and resisted. Blending archive footage with 3D visuals, the film brilliantly reveals how the tendrils of colonialism have bled their way into the building blocks of capitalism forecasting a bleak future, one ruled over by parasitic machines hellbent on draining the environment/the culture/the world of energy & ideas. Dir. Liadán Roche, 16mins As Dublin cannibalises itself out to private interests and shady corporations, two trans lovers find an unexpected solution to the Irish housing crisis. It may not be permanent, but it’ll do for the night. Sexy and surreal, the film dives into the phantasmagoric unknown of mystic ‘third spaces’ and the innate horror of trying to live in a city that doesn’t care about you. Dir. Conor Kehelly, 9mins You go for a simple pint, sipping down that sweet nectar, when a peevish punter takes issue with the cut of your jib. From the perspective of a pint glass, a minor argument becomes a cosmic destruction of the self and a reckoning with the towering figure of the ‘old Irish fella’ in Irish culture. Where some people find Jesus at the bottom of a bottle, Kehelly discovers richly comic yet poignant material, rendering his findings through a beautifully anarchic animation style.
Sunday 1 November 11 listings
Morning 1
10:30
New Irish Shorts – Programme #1
New Irish Shorts – Programme #1 This selection of shorts reflects on rough & rowdy ways. We all find ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place sometimes, and the answer is not always where we expect to find it, be it in Irish dancing, a 1980s computer game or eating ice cream with an allegedly cursed black cat. Dir. Christopher McSherry, 6mins Housepainter Fergal finds a spot of mould in his bedroom. Nothing a lick of paint wouldn’t fix. But the mould comes back aggressively, and Fergal soon finds himself fighting for his life and his sanity. His battle against the dark crevices of the mind is told through lovingly handmade stop-motion animation. Dir. Damian McCann, 17mins Down on luck and down on life, taxi driver Seán figures now is the time to end it all. When a woman with a black cat jumps in his cab, he finds his luck changing in unexpected ways. This darkly funny take on mortality and superstition unfolds as a tense yet tender two-hander. Dir. Zoe O’Rourke, 15mins This affecting period piece focuses on the relationship between a lonely young girl and her teenage babysitter. Through a shared love of the computer game ZORK, she learns about the big bad world and the urge to run away from it all. Dir. Alex Gill, 10mins A Filipino nurse is late for her shift after picking up her Irish-born daughter. Now stuck in traffic, they butt heads over their different upbringings and perceptions of each other. A smart and incisive examination of diaspora and family. Dir. Eileen Tracy, 16mins Millennial Gemma is right on the verge of getting married when her fiancé breaks things off out of the blue. Depressed and dispirited, she soon discovers a new lust for life after taking on Irish dancing, and finding kindred spirit amongst Gen Z teenagers.
Afternoon 6
12:30
New Irish Shorts – Programme #2
New Irish Shorts – Programme #2 Fractures and crossroads run through this programme about history and identity. The past bleeds through and muddies the self in tales of buildings, photographers and pop singers, whereas the Internet infects and alters the societal expectations of tourist traps, outdated messaging boards and same-day deliveries. Dir. Dara Oliver, 11mins A film crew’s arrival in the historic Riddel’s Warehouse awakens the sleeping soul of the building, unlocking the past and releasing the spirits and stories of those who have passed through. A sharply written and thoughtfully composed journey through the echoes of history. Dir. Matthew Hardy, 3mins An essay on fragments/a fragmented tribute to the photographer/rayographer Man Ray. This audacious/ insightful/incisive short captures the spirit of the man/his work with striking beauty and brevity. Dir. Stephen T. Lally, 15mins Sensitive singer/songwriter Bridget is churned through the capitalist machine and becomes CHARITY: a Y2K Pop Princess with a capital P. When she tries to break free from the suffocation of fame and fortune, she is subjected to a surreal odyssey of boy bands, body horror and banging tunes. Dir. Jack Warren, 7mins Trans YouTuber Bailey leaves America for Ireland, but as she documents her new life in Dublin, strange happenings occur in the background. The evil tourist simulacra of Temple Bar on St. Patrick’s Day provides the backdrop for this uncanny odyssey into the dark heart of the Fair City. Dir. Lisa Freeman, 5mins A spoken word meditation on our current culture of convenience and exploitation. Repeated images of racetrack greyhounds and Porky Pig echo and fragment across the screen, distorting our perception of the images and even our understanding of ‘sameday delivery.’ Dir. Heath Virgoe, 11mins Schoolboy Noah finds liberation in the simulation, expressing through an online avatar what he is unable to in real life. This visually inventive and wholesome coming-of-age story harks back to a time when the World Wide Web was still a place for excitement and exploration. Dir. Fergus Boylan, 2mins A lonely civil servant gets a visit from a crooning cowboy in this brief but beautiful animation ruminating on longing and love songs.
14:30
New Irish Shorts – Programme #3
New Irish Shorts – Programme #3 It’s not just you. There’s something wrong these days. You can’t go for a drive, you can’t go for a pint, you can’t even have a bowl of cereal without that inexplicable, unescapable feeling of dread following you around. These films aim for the pit of the stomach. Dir. Paul Kennedy, 7mins In this highly strung experiment in tension, a car stops another car. The drivers talk. Or do they argue? The answers are just out of reach in this unnervingly ambient thriller, featuring uncanny visuals alongside a haunting soundscape. Dir. Tracy Martin, 13mins After being picked up from work, a mother is told a devastating truth that she must keep secret. For the sake of the family. Touching on social media frenzy and male violence, a stomach-churning drama unfolds within the claustrophobic confines of a car. Dir. Olivia Normile, 3mins The act of blinking is considered as a form of editing in this expressive piece rich in texture and imagery. We are presented with a series of striking yet mysterious compositions for a few fleeting moments. Let them seep into your subconscious before it’s too late. Dir. Benedict Godard, 13mins In this aural nightmare, Lily struggles to control her tinnitus while composing the score for an unearthed silent film. She soon discovers something lurking within the celluloid itself, something unnerving that she can’t unhear. Dir. Stuart Drennan, 9mins One lad tells another lad a crazy story about a stranger who snuck into his flat after a night out, and wait ‘til you hear what happened next… A bitta craic over a pint becomes an uncomfortable confrontation and a pointed examination of masculinity and coercion. Dir. Kurt Dean-Darby, 15mins In this delightfully delirious horror, a mysteriously mystic box of cereal arrives in the life of a recovering alcoholic. Though harmless at first, those seemingly wholesome wholegrain hoops soon wreak havoc, leaving blood, guts and milk in their wake. Showings Sunday, 1 November 2026 - 2:30pm @ Black Box Get Tickets →
15:00
A Prayer for the Dying
This sparse and spiky western set in 1870s Wisconsin is the story of a sheriff’s struggle between duty and family in the face of a diphtheria outbreak. When a drifter is found dead on the outskirts of town, it becomes apparent a deadly disease is doing the rounds. With the town’s doctor and sheriff divided on what to do, the town’s future is in doubt. The film has emotional resonance in a postpandemic age, and a daring, against-type performance from the irrepressible John C Reilly as the town’s exhausted doctor. This film is subtitled.
15:00
Bagpuss and Beyond – the History of Smallfilms
Of all the programming from the “golden age of children’s television” surely no body of work is so fondly remembered as that of Smallfilms. Narrator/animator Oliver Postgate and his artist friend Peter Firmin created worlds together which have endured for generations. Bagpuss is consistently voted the nation’s favourite children’s character, but there were also the Clangers, Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog, Pogles’ Wood and many more. Outside of his work for Smallfilms, Firmin also designed and created Basil Brush. Northern Ireland Screen’s Broadcast Archivist, Evan Marshall, presents the whole history of Smallfilms, from its earliest beginnings to its final works and beyond. Illustrated with Firmin’s magical art and clips from the shows themselves, the talk shines a light on the famous works as well as some of the more forgotten chapters of Smallfilm’s history with clips unseen for decades such as Sam on Boffs’ Island and Oliver’s impassioned anti-nuclear 1980s documentary, Life on Earth, Perhaps.
15:15
Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep
This extraordinary debut from filmmaker Rakan Mayasi follows the story of two sisters whose lives become caught up in the after-effects of a violent dispute between two rival clans. Set on the Syria-Lebanon border, an accidental death sets off a chain of events that reveals the strength and dedication of women disempowered by the traditions that surround them. With subtle and authentic performances from real-life Al Mawla family members, the film was inspired by Mayasi’s own family history in the story of his late grandmother’s forced marriage.
16:30
New Irish Shorts – Programme #4
New Irish Shorts – Programme #4 How do you define yourself? What makes a self? And what happens when elements out of your control threaten your already slippery sense of self? Our final selection of films meditate on different forms of identity as affected by motherhood, landlords and geopolitical leanings. Dir. Alannah McNamee, 14mins Two women meet in a park, seemingly with nothing in common, yet they forge an unexpected and unshakeable bond. This compassionate piece runs the gamut of human emotion, insightfully touching on love, loss, longing and loneliness. Dir. Katie Bridget Murphy, 11mins In this bright and breezy comedy of yearning and shoe sizes, shy office worker Emily has a crush on her colleague but is too scared to do anything about it. After a chance encounter, she listens to her inner hype-woman and steps into the unknown. Dir. Tanith Mh, 15mins After her evil landlord threatens to evict the entire household, unemployed Steph desperately tries to scrape together the cash to save them all. Begging, busking, betting it all on a cash call, she’ll do anything to keep her house together. Dir. Sam Nutt, 16mins Heather is slowly returning to normality after undergoing a heart transplant, but something is not quite right. Whether it’s in the unknown tune stuck in her head, or the ‘sláinte’ which slips from her lips, she finds herself questioning her entire way of life. Dir. John Michell, 13mins An adaptation of the viral tweet thread by Séamas O’Reilly, this vivid and lively animation tells the true story of a young lad who mixes up his days at work and ends up alone in a room with his boss and the President of Ireland. Oh and he’s also high on drugs.
Tonight 4
17:45
Master
In forested rural Bangladesh, Jahir is a popular and idealistic teacher making a foray into local politics. When he is elected, he is confronted with hard truths, compromise and the hierarchy of power and positions of influence. With his young family at home beginning to worry, and friends who helped his election campaign starting to feel less essential than the local businessmen, will Jahir succumb to the seduction, and violence, of power? A bold film that skillfully uses colour, real administrative locations and local inhabitants to bring this vibrant and complex world to the screen. With systemic corruption of local politics in Bangladesh at its core, the film’s themes of family, ambition and disillusionment run broadly. Winner of the Big Screen Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2026. This screening is subtitled.
18:30
20 Cigarettes
In director Will McConnell’s latest lo-fi experiment, the concept of the ‘crime film’ is transformed through a structural gambit. Each scene begins with a cigarette being lit and ends as it is stubbed out. Lasting as long as a humble pack of cigarettes does, we witness a story unfold through its liminal moments. With each drag, we learn about Jim and Vick. Against the backdrop of a vote for Irish unity, they get pulled into a life of crime. They soon learn however that the Bonnie and Clyde lifestyle is a hard one to maintain, and their relationship becomes as threatened as the national identity is. 20 Cigarettes is a refreshing take on the genre film in Northern Ireland, addressing and confronting the issues surrounding ‘our wee country’ rather than existing in a vacuum. The central relationship, as brought to life by Charlie Creighton and Anita Jurkovic, is nuanced and deeply felt. This is a bold and exciting film for the current moment.
20:00
The Lough Speaks
If we could hear Lough Neagh speak, what would she say? The widely publicised pollution of the lough has been described as a slow death. The build-up of agricultural poison has formed toxic algal blooms that choke the wild inhabitants of the lough and drive the local community from its shores. But Lough Neagh has been part of our world for 400 million years, and borders five of the six counties. People have been benefitting from its resources since the dawn of civilisation, and stories of the lough are woven into the mythological fabric of Ulster and beyond. This live event juxtaposes Northern Ireland’s rich television archive of BBC Northern Ireland and Ulster Television with traditional Irish singing and local journalism to explore the heritage, history and cultural significance of Lough Neagh. With traditional singer Méabh Meir as the voice of Lough Neagh, and spoken word from Tommy Greene , reading from his book, Troubled Waters: How Lough Neagh Is Being Destroyed by Corporate Greed and Political Neglect. Curated by Belfast Film Festival programmer, Rose Baker , and edited by Docs Ireland programmer, Stuart Sloan .
20:30
The Dreamed Adventure
An archaeologist gets ever more intertwined in the dealings of local gangsters in this understated work from Valeska Grisebach (Western). As the story unfolds near an archaeological dig on the border between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, the transience of such a frontier space becomes apparent in the comings and goings of characters, the significance of memory and past relationships, and the timelessness of found objects. Most of all, it is Yana Radeva’s performance as the impressive and unshakeable Veska, a middle-aged woman holding her ground in this dusty, arid, and at times intraversable landscape of macho power-play, that explains the film’s deserved success in the European festival circuit this year, including the Jury Prize at Cannes.
Monday 2 November 5 listings
Morning 1
10:00
BFF / XR Festival: The Baby Factory is Closed
What if the menopause wasn’t an ending, but the beginning of a rebellion? The Baby Factory Is Closed is an award-winning, 20-minute interactive virtual reality story that puts you inside the body of Zoraan, a woman navigating the menopause in a near-future world of A.I. surveillance, climate collapse and systems determined to control her. This is not a quiet story about ageing. It is funny, furious, surreal and unapologetically rebellious. The Baby Factory Is Closed turns the body itself into the battleground. Original music composition by Katie Richardson. Following sold-out international shows in the USA, Canada and France, the work comes home to the Belfast XR Festival. You don’t need to understand VR. You don’t need to have experienced menopause. You just need to be willing to enter Zoraan’s world. Tickets are limited. Come and find out why The Baby Factory Is Closed. This screening uses VR headsets There are 6 tickets available for each half-hour time slot. This event is 16+.
Tonight 4
18:30
Our House
Three siblings return to the family home after the death of their mother. Practically estranged, they’re happy to go their separate ways once the funeral is done and dusted. The tables are turned however when a solicitor reveals that their mother altered her will prior to passing on, deciding to split her house between them instead of giving it solely to Thomas, who cared for her in later years. They subsequently fall into an inheritance battle that turns bitter, absurd, and eventually deadly. Our House is the debut feature of writer & director Peter Young, a stalwart of the festival, and the talent seen in his previous short film work is here in full display. The film blends elements of dark comedy and thriller seamlessly, yet never neglecting the emotional core. Despite the claustrophobic setting, we never feel boxed in. The central trio of Michael Shea, Hannah McClean and Andy Doherty are funny and devastating in star-making turns, fully embodying the sharp rapport between family who love & hate each other. The supporting cast is rounded out by Colin Connor, Kerri Quinn and Paddy Jenkins in a scene-stealing turn as an indignant taxi driver.
19:00
BFF / XR Festival: Escape The Internet
A massive multiplayer game, where you and over a hundred strangers are trapped on a mysterious island and must work together with your phones to escape the A.I. apocalypse. Created by legendary director Lucas Rizzotto and built with Pete Cybriwsky. Escape The Internet is a new gaming genre that shatters the 4th wall and takes audience interaction to the next level. Experience wild interactive set pieces, uncover the secrets of the people sitting next to you and evade monsters in a deep mystery full of colourful characters. But move fast, because time is of the essence: every audience member is infected with terminal brainrot and can be possessed by an algorithmic demon at any moment. Your future, and the future of the entire internet, is at stake. You can’t stream it. You can’t play it at home. You have to be here. Bring your fully charged phone. Bring your friends. Escape the Internet. Escape The Internet is presented by BXRF in partnership with IDFA DocLab. Individual tickets are priced at £15. If you are booking for a group of 4, please see our Group of 4 Bundle for 10% off your order! This event is 18+
20:30
A Little Learning Is a Dangerous Thing
Whilst recovering from a car accident, Michael (played by Funboys’ Ryan Dylan) falls down an internet rabbit hole causing him to fixate on a local business man who is mismanaging a local lough. Although his contempt is well placed, the obsession threatens to overcome him. Director Dominic Curran has enormous fun playing with the blurred lines of truth and conspiracy in this timely debut. In an age where corporate greed has all but won, it’s exciting to watch a film so unabashedly angry at the times we’re living in, as well as the disaffected ennui that has brought us here. Driven by a piercing score and disorienting visuals, this film simulates the sensory overwhelm of life in the digital age, and is a portrait of a young mind unravelling in real time.
20:45
A Man of His Time
Swann Arlaud (Anatomy of A Fall) gives an effectively inexplicit performance as a man making his way up the career ladder of the Vichy government, the regime in occupied France that collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. Arriving in 1940 with his self-published manifesto, Notre Salut, Henri Marre attempts to ingratiate himself with the new Vichy elite, eventually gaining a comfortable position in middle-management. Based on letters written by the director’s own greatgrandfather, the film is a broadened out imagining of a man about whom little is known. A vague and ambiguous anti-hero, Henri drifts along with the status quo as the war continues and the atmosphere within his bureaucratic office begins to shift. This is a perspective of the Second World War rarely centred in cinema, offering a truly relevant allegory for the political climate of our current age. This screening is subtitled.
Tuesday 3 November 7 listings
Afternoon 1
16:00
‘Heavy, Direct, Quick’ Performance Art Workshop With Rehearsal Space
Rehearsal Space is an emerging performance art collective based in Belfast. Through workshops and open sessions, they create a safe space for participants to explore performance. Everyone, artists and non-artists alike, are welcome. Throughout this session, participants will be guided to move in response to archival footage from Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive. Numbers are limited, booking essential. Note: The gallery space is located on the ground floor. The workshop space is yet to be confirmed, but is likely to be on the first floor which is currently only accessible by stairs. The nearest car park is High Street.
Tonight 6
17:45
A Long Winter
A firm favourite of the festival team, Andrew Haigh returns with this patient, elegiac period piece based on the short story by Colm Toibin. When Mike returns to his family’s remote mountain home after time away, he finds an imbalance in the family dynamic. After his mother disappears, the remaining men in the household find themselves dominated by her absence, as Mike’s self-exploration mirrors his search for his missing mother.
19:00
Maddie’s Secret W/ Normal Cinema Club
Normal Cinema Club is excited to return to Belfast Film Festival with one of the funniest and most heartbreaking films of the year. Maddie Ralph works as a dishwasher at Gourmaybe, a test kitchen/content creation lab, though secretly she dreams of a life as a viral chef, creating reels and recipes for millions of adoring fans. Fortune shines fondly on Maddie and she skyrockets into fame, becoming one of the lab’s on-camera personalities. But soon the success turns sour, and the intense scrutiny that comes with a life lived online manipulates and tortures Maddie’s sense of self. Maddie’s Secret is many things at once: absurdist comedy, razor-sharp satire, deeply sincere melodrama, a love letter to American TV movies as much as John Waters as much as Douglas Sirk – John Early’s ability to walk this tightrope without one false note is what makes the film so singular. Furthermore, he writes, stars, produces and directs in what is sure to be one of the most egregious snubs of the Oscars race. Why? They hate true talent. The cast is rounded out by numerous shining stars: Kate Berlant, Eric Rahill and friend of the club, Conner O’Malley. Simply put, there’s no reason to miss one of the definitive films of our current age. TW: the film contains depictions of disordered eating, self-harm & suicide.
19:00
Our Share of Sand
When twelve year old Maya returns to rural India with her mother, she reconnects with her estranged father. When an accident at his sand mining business reveals inequalities between her family and the local community, Maya’s mother descends into angstridden guilt, while Maya decides to confront things her own way. A fantastic directorial debut, the film effectively portrays the adult world from the perspective of a child. Using the elemental backdrop of earth and water as its stylistic underpinning, this beautiful film flows steadily towards its gut-wrenching climax.
19:00
You’ll Never Believe Who’s Dead
It’s Christmas time, but the Cosgrove family aren’t having a very merry one. The family has fallen on tough times and jobs are hard to come by. After hearing about a robbery gone awry, they amuse themselves by imagining robbing one of the neighbours. Farmer Charlie Bann is bound to have money, sure, and he’d be an easy one to knock off, surely… Fuelled by Christmas spirit and desperation, the sons decide to follow through on their scheme, dragging the rest of the Cosgroves with them. Director Dallan Shovlin makes his feature debut with this delightfully dark comedy, smartly melding the thrilling mechanics of a heist film with a keen social sense of contemporary Ireland. The film never forgets the stark economic realities forcing the Cosgrove family into delinquency. The family is brought to life by an all-star cast of Irish talent, featuring Michelle Fairley and Ardal O’Hanlon as the matriarch and patriarch respectively, with Jacob McCarthy, Ruth Codd and Peter Claffey as their children. The elusive and reclusive Charlie Bann is portrayed by this year’s Réalta Award winner Stephen Rea.
20:30
Hollow Trees
In a post-apocalyptic world, a man and a young boy’s fragile means of surviving faces a new threat in the form of creatures capable of mimicking human sound. Their bond is further challenged by the arrival of a newcomer and the possibility of a better future. We follow their journey as they abandon the familiar; Tom Kerrisk expertly plays a hardened survivor and carer to a young boy played by Louis Kirwan, who brings a sense of real vulnerability to the role. It is an ambitious and at times truly unnerving work of filmmaking from promising young director Cathal Fitzpatrick. Through deft cinematography, the familiar Irish landscape is transformed into an uncanny space as trust, hope and the strength of chosen family are put to the test.
20:45
Minotaur
Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless) returns once again to cast his critical gaze on Russia in our bleak present times. Set in a provincial Russian town during the onset of the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and made outside Russia with support from France, Latvia and Germany, this noir-esque thriller centres around a middle-class businessman who suspects his wife of having an affair. With his staff members disappearing to escape being drafted into the army, and pressure from local government to provide soldiers from his workforce, small-town executive Gleb is growing more concerned with matters at home. The film is based on Claude Chabrol’s The Unfaithful Wife from 1969, and shows how expert filmmaking can produce a quiet slow-build of dramatic tension. This screening has Audio Description available, and will have subtitles for d/Deaf and hard of hearing (SDH). There will be BSL signing for the introduction of the film.
Wednesday 4 November 7 listings
Tonight 7
18:00
Dry Leaf
Filmed entirely on a Sony Ericsson phone – yes, an old one – this is a stylistic exploration of the rich rural landscape of post-Soviet Georgia. Following the story of a man who is searching for his photographer daughter, this low-res film has a distinctly impressionistic aesthetic and painterly quality in the softly pixelated natural world it presents. As he searches for her by following her route in and around the abandoned football pitches she was photographing for a magazine spread, our eyes are opened to the methodical repetition of travel, the meditative and therapeutic connection we have to the world beyond our cities, and the road movie as a chance to slow down and take in the world in all its quiet wonder. This is simultaneously an impressive technical feat and a refreshing reversal of digital advancement, aspects that come together to press pause on the present-day world so it can be truly appreciated.
18:00
ni Independents: Sea of Glass, Bubble, Dark Disquiet
Sea of Glass – dir. Mervyn Marshall – 23 mins Julia, played with quiet precision by Rose Henderson, fills her days beach-combing, gathering treasures and adding them to her collection. However her mind is elsewhere as she stews over her seemingly strained relationship with her granddaughter. Her efforts to connect via calls and voice messages go unanswered, time passes and she falls further into solitude. This film expertly punctuates this journey with the changing of seasons, filmed across eight months, director Mervyn Marshall allows the changes in weather and light to demonstrate Julia’s isolation where she is seemingly suspended in place as the world changes around her. Filmed on location in Maghaberry Prison, Bubble focusses on three women who despite their differences in life experiences, find themselves incarcerated. Through the womens conversations we come to understand the difficulties of life both inside and outside prison walls. Inspired by the lived experience of women within the criminal justice system, it is a timely reflection on issues of domestic violence, addiction and trauma. Director Patricia Downeys 25 years of experience can be felt in this excellently crafted and insular production which allows the performances to shine as they range from moments of humour to intense vulnerability. A struggling mother, Abigail faces tragic consequences following a domestic row concerning her drinking, she is then sent on a voyage into mysterious realms in order to right the wrongs of her actions. Director Sohaib Syed artfully balances surreal moments with psychological tensions, grounding the film in themes of sacrifice, grief and relationship difficulties.
18:30
Skintown
Jack Rowan and Chris Walley give class A performances as Vinny and Jonty, two party-loving best friends in this energetic, warm-hearted comedy set against the backdrop of rural raves and marching bands in 1994’s Skintown (for outsiders: Enniskillen). Sacked from their dead-end job and dreaming of the wider world, when an opportunity presents itself in the form of a risky deal with two flute band members, the pair throw themselves into it, setting off an hilarious chain of events. Directed by Kieron J Walsh and adapted by Ciaran McMenamin from his novel of the same name, the film takes pleasure in referencing real-world people and places, with Portrush’s iconic Kelly’s featuring in a particularly laugh-out-loud scene. The film doesn’t shy away from the very real backdrop of the Troubles, but offers an optimistic take on the simple joys of partying with your pals. With heartfelt and humour-filled performances from a fantastic supporting cast including Michael Smiley, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Hope Ikpoku Jr, Martin McCann, Roisin Gallagher, Gerard Jordan, Tara-Lynne O’Neill and Lalor Roddy.
19:00
Acceptable Levels at Divis
Screening at St Comgall’s Ionad Eileen Howell, in the area where it was originally filmed, Acceptable Levels is the result of a collaboration between Kate McManus and Alistair Herron from the Belfast Film Workshop and John Davies, Ellin Hare, and Robert Smith from Frontroom Productions. The film was made through the innovative Channel 4 workshop scheme to fund small-scale independent productions and was the first feature film to be made under this arrangement. It was shot mainly in Belfast by Frontroom Productions and the Belfast Film Workshop using a cast of professional and non-professional actors. The film title comes from a comment made by British Home Secretary Reginald Maudling in the 1970s, that the best that could be hoped for was ‘a return to acceptable levels of violence.’ The film shows not only what this meant in practice to the community in Belfast, but also the media processes that made it acceptable to the British public. Filmmakers, John Davies, Alistair Herron and Kate McManus will take part in a Q&A after the film. This screening came about from a collaboration with the Recording History oral history project. Working with the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Ulster Museum and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), this research foregrounds the work of international artists and filmmakers active in the north of Ireland from 1968. Led by Dr Isobel Harbison, Recording History aims to address under-documented histories of artists’ and independent film made in Northern Ireland/ the north of Ireland from 1968 to 1990, and to consider these works in relation to existing national collections, facilities, and archives. The oral history interviews undertaken as part of the project will be preserved and made available at PRONI. This screening came about from a collaboration between the Belfast Film Festival, Falls Community Council, PRONI and the Recording History oral history project. This event will be live captioned.
19:00
Enjoy Your Stay
The experience of undocumented Filipino women in Europe is captured with urgency and humanity in this third feature by Swiss filmmaker, Dominik Locher. Together with Filipino screenwriter, Honeylyn Joy Alipio, they have crafted and captured the real-world dynamic between luxury Alpine resorts and the low-wage workers drafted in to keep them running. The story centres on Luz, who walks an emotional tightrope between the exploitative and illegal nature of her working life in Switzerland while feeling the pull of her young daughter still in the Philippines, and manipulative partner who is using a reality TV show to publicly shame her. The community of women workers around her offer comfort and complications, as she tries to climb the career ladder in a world filled with false promises and inequalities. This screening is subtitled and Relaxed (RS).
20:30
Rozkvet
Set in occupied Czechoslovakia during WW2, Rozkvet shines a light on the lesser known story of women who stood as a backbone of the resistance against repressive powers. Featuring standout, often first-time performances from Romani actors, and co-created directly with people from the local Roma community, this feature debut from director Thomas Pollock gives voice to the Roma community as a testament to their survival, through a story that is often left out of historical retellings.
20:45
Coward
Another delicate two-hander about young men finding each other and exploring their sexuality from the master of elegant storytelling, Lukas Dhont (Close). This time a period piece set during the First World War, it follows the lives of two soldiers as they form a close bond while part of a theatre troupe entertaining their fellow comrades in the Belgian army. The stifling hierarchy and discipline of the army, homophobia and the horrors of war combine and pose the question, what is bravery and what is cowardice? Starring Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne as the two romantic leads, they jointly won the Best Actor award for the film’s tender and self-controlled performances at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Thursday 5 November 5 listings
Tonight 5
18:00
Faraway Home
Karl and Rosa are two young Jewish children who escape Nazi-occupied Vienna via kindertransport. They are brought to Northern Ireland to the Millisle refugee farm, where they find it hard to adjust to homesickness and the isolation of country living. Slowly but surely, they get used to the rhythms of rural life, finding friends and a sense of family among the other refugees. But the war isn’t over, and it isn’t long before the Belfast Blitz in 1941 brings the horrors of war back to face them. This moving drama, adapted from the novel by Marilyn Taylor, is based on a true story.
18:00
Star Nhà Ease Presents the Inseminator
In this magical-realist portrait of patriarchy, a father living in rural Vietnam grows increasingly afraid for his 16-year-old son, Ngo, who has an intellectual disability. As he faces his own mortality and the limits of what he can control, he becomes fixated on the idea that Ngo will never find a suitable wife, and that without a male heir, their family line will end. His worry turns into obsession, pushing him toward unusual and otherworldly methods to secure a bride for his son. Blending everyday rural life with surreal, imaginative visuals, the film explores care, tradition, and fear. It was banned soon after its release in Vietnam. This screening is subtitled. The screening will be introduced by Tuyết Vân Huỳnh from Star Nhà Ease, a nationwide film and contemporary arts programme bringing Vietnamese cinematic gems, music, poetry and beyond to UK audiences.
19:00
Prosecution
The flaws and power structures of the German legal system are revealed to a young prosecutor after she becomes the victim of a racist attack. When Seyo Kim pursues her own case through the courts, she comes up against an impersonal bureaucratic machine that fails to acknowledge far right extremism. This is an impressive second feature from Faraz Shariat, depicting one young woman’s gradual disillusionment with the world around her, while at the same time finding a new determination to achieve justice. Written by Claudia Schaefer and starring Chen Emilie Yan in a film that inspires both rage and compassion. UK Premiere. This screening is subtitled and Relaxed (RS).
20:00
Star of the Sea
In 1969, Star of the Sea from North Belfast were the best youth football team in Ireland. The team is made up of Protestant and Catholic players from the mixed local community of Rathcoole.By 1972, the team had been torn apart by The Troubles. Loyalist paramilitaries have taken over Rathcoole and Catholic families are forced out. Among them, the family of Star of the Sea’s full back, Bobby Sands and his best friend Tommy O’Neill, Star’s striker. Bobby joins the IRA, while two of his teammates, Michael and Terry join the loyalist UVF. The team’s star centre back, Raymond McCord is scouted and has a spell at Manchester United but returns to his home club and a very different Belfast. He is the last Protestant player to leave the Star of the Sea club as Northern Ireland descends further into bloody chaos. Despite all of the horror, the surviving players maintain that the ethos of Star of the Sea rings true today and is the way forward for the next generation. This is the story of the talented players of Star of the Sea – who once represented everything that was great about Northern Ireland.
20:00
Thursday Night Quiz W/ Best Boy Magazine and Normal Cinema Club
Can you tell us how they filmed the big Cyclops guy in The Odyssey? Can you tell us how they filmed the little rock thing in Project Hail Mary? Can you tell us how they managed to film a Michael Jackson biopic in this day and age?? For their next trick, Best Boy Magazine & Normal Cinema Club return with yet another quiz dedicated to the most magical medium of all: the movies of course. These Quixotic quizmasters will ask the important questions and reveal the vape and mirrors behind cinema’s most wonderful illusions of grandeur. Expect questions asking if Alana Haim was really the villain, if Anthony Bourdain would really have liked Tony, and the greatest question of all, what the hell is a miasma? It’s Late Night Art, so percolate yourself in culture before perplexing yourself in quiz. Teams are capped at a maximum of 6.
Friday 6 November 4 listings
Morning 1
11:00
dubh Film Lab: Introduction to Super 8 Film Workshop
An introduction to all aspects of Super 8 film shooting and developing for beginners. Participants: 6 max Level: Beginners The course will be divided into three parts: shooting as a group with a Super 8 camera, processing the film in the darkroom, and viewing the film at the end of the day. This course is aimed at professional visual artists who would like to experiment with photo-chemical moving image in the context of their practice and looks at types of cameras and film stock, covers the essentials for film shooting in different conditions, using the developing equipment and chemistry, and preparing the film for projection and/or digital transfer. All materials are included, you can bring ideas for a 1-minute film and some props, costumes, or objects you would like to include in your film. Previous experience with analogue materials or darkroom photography is an advantage, but not a requirement. Helena Gouveia Monteiro is a visual artist and experimental filmmaker. At Fire Station Artists’ Studios she manages the Media Studio and the recently launched Dubh Film Lab. She manages Dubh Film Lab in Dublin, and is a member of L’Abominable/Navire Argo and Filmwerkplaats. Her new film Laoi Shuibhne|Sweeney’s Lay is currently in production with the support of the film project award from the Arts Council of Ireland. To book, please email boxoffice@belfastfilmfestival.org with a short description of your art practice and a link to your work. DUBH Film Lab at Fire Station Artists’ Studios is a space dedicated to photo-chemical moving image, artists and filmmakers with the facilities and technical knowledge to process their own analogue materials and offering training, equipment, and supplies at affordable rates. Currently the only film lab in Ireland, DUBH allows artists to process their still (35mm and medium format) and moving images (standard 8, super 8, and 16mm), rent cameras and equipment, and receive training through a yearly programme of courses, masterclasses, and workshops. Dubh is part of the Film Labs, a network connecting cooperative and artist-run film labs worldwide. About Fire Station Artists’ Studios: https://www.firestation.ie/about/
Tonight 3
17:45
The Story of Documentary Film: The 1980s
After premiering his widely anticipated longform documentary at various international festivals (including Docs Ireland) earlier this year, Mark Cousins excitingly returns to Belfast Film Festival with another chapter. Following on from his hugely influential, 15-hour The Story of Film: An Odyssey, and the subsequent, A Story of Children and Film, and Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema, Cousins continues his exploration of cinematic landscapes with this new journey through documentary history. Weaving through time, culture and place with his singular, inspirational passion for the medium, the chapter looks at documentary-making of the 1980s during the fall of the Soviet regime and the rise of the music documentary. Not to be missed! This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Director Mark Cousins and filmmaker Brian Henry Martin.
20:00
Mississippi Records Presents: A People’s History of Music
Presented by Moving On Music We are delighted to welcome Mississippi Records founder Eric Isaacson for a visual and sonic presentation telling a story of global music scenes that both struggled and endeavoured throughout periods of authoritarianism. It’s a timely and compelling interweaving of people, place, past and present, and making music in troubling times. It’s the story of powerful interests trying to control music and how people fight back. This event explores folk art champions and the exploitative nature of the mainstream music industry – all while drawing on Eric’s comical and colourful personal experiences of the fascist creep. For seventeen years Mississippi Records operated with zero internet presence, released no digital music, and ran a cash only record store in Portland, Oregon. It became a true cult label – selling over one million records and helping (re)discover such artists as Michael Hurley, Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, and The Space Lady. Come along and keep on keepin’ on.
21:00
The Peril at Pincer Point
Crustaceans… Corman… Cardioid microphones, The Peril at Pincer Point has it all! Plucky young Jim Baitte is sound-man on a hotly anticipated horror film. However his easy-going ways have put him behind on work and directly in the firing line. He gets one more chance to save his job: travel to the spectral isle of Pincer Point and capture the best sound ever recorded. This seemingly simple task is suddenly muddied by myths and missing persons, and Jim finds himself caught up in prophecies and plots beyond his comprehension. Why are there crabs everywhere? Could the legend of the ghost pirates be true? Is this what Coppola felt like in Hearts of Darkness? With shades of Bait & Blow-Up & maybe even Barton Fink, Pincer Point is a loving tribute to the importance of making art. From reveling in the means of its gloriously handmade production, to the task at hand of Jim’s oddity-ridden odyssey, that of listening to people and connecting with them, AI could never make a film like The Peril at Pincer Point. Take our sound advice and see it.
Saturday 7 November 11 listings
Morning 1
11:00
The Orange and the Green
Sixty years ago, Ulster Television produced this documentary in what was the 50th anniversary year of the 1916 Easter Rising. A kind of state-of-the-nation assessment, it was produced for a UK audience and discusses how Northern Ireland and the Republic co-exist after partition. With opinion and comment from contributors in Belfast, Dublin & Cork including Denis Ireland, Cathal O’Shannon and an anonymous member of the IRA, among others. The film traces the impact of the Easter Rising on Ireland, and compares the two recently-formed states on social, economic and cultural grounds, asking the question: Will Ireland ever be reunited? Courtesy of the UTV Archive Partnership between Northern Ireland Screen, ITV and PRONI, supported by the Department for Communities.
Afternoon 5
12:15
Nuisance Bear
The plight of the polar bear is captured with style and grace in this documentary that highlights the tragedy and beauty of the natural world in the era of man-made climate change.
14:00
Films by Helena Gouveia Monteiro
Helena Gouveia Monteiro is an experimental filmmaker and visual artist from Portugal, currently living in Dublin. She creates films, books, and multimedia installations that engage different levels of visual and cultural recognition to question our perception of language and audiovisual experiences. She manages Dubh Film Lab in Dublin, and is a member of L’Abominable/Navire Argo and Filmwerkplaats. Her new film Laoi Shuibhne|Sweeney’s Lay is currently in production with the support of the film project award from the Arts Council of Ireland. We are screening some of her recent works, showing the range of her analogue and digital experimentation and her ongoing interest in materiality and the sensory possibilities of film: ends meet (2025) SKINFLICKER (2024) Man of Aral (2023) Purkyně’s Dusk (2021) Um Filme Pela Palestina (2025) Laoi Shuibhne|Sweeney’s Lay (in production) Helena will also be running an introduction to Super 8 film workshop; see here for more details.
14:30
All of a Sudden
The peerless director of Drive My Car and Evil Does Not Exist, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, returns with another deeply considered and exquisitely paced drama. His first film set in Europe, it follows the story of nursing home director, Marie-Lou, who, while at a professional impasse, meets terminally ill playwright, Mari. The two women forge a friendship based on shared language, experience and a desire to understand the world and attempt to make it better. A humane film that touches on the profound while being firmly rooted in everyday experience. Themes of aging, illness, care and empathy, art, communication and the human ability to reason are expertly offered with poise and grace. The two leads, Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, jointly won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
15:00
How Can Cinema Be a Tool for Anti-Racism? Panel Discussion
In 2005, the Belfast Film Festival curated a series of screenings and commissioned a publication on racism in Belfast. This was in response to multiple media outlets describing the city as ‘the most racist’ in the world, and was an attempt to understand how cinema and the moving image can be intertwined with race and racism. 20 years have passed and the world is almost unrecognisable. The advent of social media and the blurred lines of news and fake news has created an environment in which racist pogroms can be incited through AI-generated posts. When the moving image is being manipulated to manipulate others, how can cinema be used to combat this hatred? This panel discussion brings together activists, community workers and film scholars to discuss the question posed and how cinema might fill a vacuum, on a community level, where our own political system has failed. Taking part in the panel will be: Dr Kim-Marie Spence (QUB) Kim-Marie Spence is Lecturer in Cultural Industries and Policy at Queen’s University Belfast. She is also an adjunct lecturer at the Caribbean School of Media & Communication (CARIMAC) at the University of the West Indies (Jamaica). Her research focuses on cultural policy and cultural industries with a focus on Non-West music industries. Recently, she has turned her attention to Black Music/ians in Northern Ireland, as part of a project on British Black Music with the Black Music Research Unit, University of Westminster – which is currently the subject of a BBC Black Music project with the V&A East. Kim-Marie is also a former Jamaica Film Commissioner/Head of Creative Industries. She is director of sits on the boards of international award-winning cultural institutions, The MAC Belfast; Kingston Creative; and Co-Chair of the John Hansard Gallery. Dr Elspeth Vischer Dr Elspeth Vischer is a filmmaker, writer and project coordinator based in Belfast. Elspeth runs the production company Vish Films and specialises in making non-fiction and experimental work concerned with counter-hegemonic perspectives. To date Elspeth has had films screened at international festivals including Docs Ireland, Gaze, Silver Wave, Canada and RVK Feminist, Reykjavik. Elspeth completed a Creative Practice PhD at Queen’s University in 2023 and has been published in numerous academic journals. Elspeth coordinated the Northern Ireland Now Project with Nerve Centre and Northern Ireland Screen between October 2023 – July 2026. This project aimed to diversify the Digital Film Archive through collaborative community engagement across Belfast and the North of Ireland. From August 2026 Elspeth has been a part of the Belfast Stories team working as a Coordinator to bring community engagement and story gathering to this large scale screen centre, creative space and visitor hub due to open in Belfast 2030. Tabassum Islam Susmi Tabassum Islam is a PhD researcher at Ulster University, studying South Asian women’s participation in the UK film industry. Working as a film programmer across Bangladesh, Netherlands, Scotland and Northern Ireland, she has delivered more than 25+ community film screenings in the past three years, driven by a commitment to making cinema more accessible for the underserved audience. This has led to roles including Sparks Programmer at Belfast Film Festival and, currently, Project Facilitator for Spotlight NW at the Nerve Centre. She also hosts Conversations Across Borders, a podcast featuring South Asian film talent from around the world. Claire Mullaly Claire Mullaly is a film and borders researcher. Her fields of research are censorship, identities, and the role of cinema as the alternative public sphere in activism and resistance.
15:30
Everytime
The upcoming Austrian director with a singular vision, Sandra Wollner, returns with her latest film, a story of a family tragedy, a trip to Tenerife in the hope of finding existential answers, and one woman’s relationship with her daughters and a teenaged family friend. With reference to small, personal gestures that almost go unnoticed, patterns of behaviour, and the deeply forged bonds of childhood, youth and parenthood, the film captures the precarity of young life and the mystery of memory while being continually surprising and captivating, like a meandering dream. It’s a moving film with a quietly bold style and nontraditional method of storytelling, set against the backdrop of both urban Berlin’s sleek lines and the rugged volcanic coastline of Tenerife’s north coast. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year where it won the prestigious Un Certain Regard award for emerging filmmakers, and is the German entry for the 2027 Oscars.
Tonight 5
18:00
Mouse
A beautifully-acted story of teenaged girl Minnie finding solace in her best friend’s mother as they both grieve, with the huge talent of Sophie Okonedo, and newcomer Katherine Mallen Kupferer in an impressively well-rounded role. The film affectionately presents a range of fully fleshed-out female characters, including overlydramatic teenaged girls navigating rocky emotional terrain, and middle-aged mothers with a lot on their minds. There is a sweetness to both schoolgirl Minnie’s romantic efforts and blundering errors, all the while revealing a broader astute take on the class system and life’s expectations.
18:00
Movement and Translation
We are very excited to be collaborating with The Masonic Screen (formerly The Shankill Screen) on this screening of three new, exciting experimental works in Vault’s newest location in East Belfast. The Glass Booth by Jenny Brady considers the role of interpretation in society. What must we consider when translating from one language to another? How do you paraphrase an emotion? How does rally car driving fit into all of this? Bodyverses — Alastair MacLennan : Nalam Nalam by Juana Robles is part of an ongoing series collaborating with performance artists across Ireland. This piece focuses on MacLennan, whose bodybased “actuations” explore personal, cultural, and social experience through performance, drawing, installation, and found materials Go Ye Afar by Frank Sweeney follows an Irish Nigerian taxi driver as he embarks on a magical realist odyssey from Dublin to Calabar. Through back-seat confessionals and a miraculous continent hopping car, we learn about Ireland’s dark past in the country and the corporate interests driving it all.
18:00
The People Under the Stairs & catu Walking Tour
Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs (1991) is a razor-sharp horror satire on gentrification. More resonant now than upon its release in 1991, it follows a young boy who breaks into the home of two slum landlords, only to explore the horror hidden within their walls. This screening is paired with a cinematic walking tour in collaboration with CATU Belfast. Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) is an Ireland-wide, members-owned-and-run tenants union, dedicated to tackling housing issues, protecting renters’ rights and grassroots community organising. The tour highlights the destructive impact Airbnbs have on communities and the ongoing housing crisis. Just as importantly, it opens a conversation about what we can do to challenge these pressures. Together, the walking tour and the film create a two-part reflection on the increasing harm caused by landlordism. Audiences can join us for the combined walking tour and screening, or attend the screening on its own. Event timings: This screening is Relaxed (RS) and has subtitles for d/Deaf or hard of hearing. There will be BSL signing for the introduction of the film.
19:00
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
With an incredible ensemble cast including Belfast actors, Lola Petticrew and Anthony Boyle, alongside Joe Cole, Jay Lycurgo and Daryl McCormack, comes the latest film from acclaimed British director, Clio Barnard. Written by Enda Walsh and adapted from the novel by Keiron Goddard, it centres five childhood friends in Birmingham, entering their thirties in the midst of the UK housing crisis. Tackling themes of gentrification, class and family, the friendships are tested by the increasing demands and responsibilities of adulthood. The use of actors lip-synching in her first film, The Arbor, about playwright Andrea Dunbar, marked Barnard as a bold new visionary in British cinema. Most recently, the tender drama Ali & Ava, was another Yorkshire-set story. I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning is Barnard’s fifth feature film in a remarkable career and Belfast Film Festival is delighted to present its Irish Premiere.
20:30
Rose
There’s another incredible performance from one of the greatest actors of our time in this film. Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall, Fatherland, The Zone of Interest, Toni Erdmann), plays the central character, Rose, who decides to live her life as a man. In the 17th Century, after fighting as a soldier in the 30 Years War in central Europe, Rose arrives in a rural village and lays claim to a rambling, disused farmhouse and its surrounding land. As a landowner of standing in the small community, Rose must appease her neighbours by abiding by traditional customs and upholding the usual duties expected of a man with property. The film is a clever and thought-provoking exploration of gender roles and social conventions, and is the third feature from a filmmaker whose previous work has daringly explored challenging subjects from paedophilia (Michael) to race and privilege in an 18th Century Viennese court (Angelo).
Sunday 8 November 1 listing
Afternoon 1
12:30