BELFAST Film Festival has launched its 2023 programme with a mesmerising roster featuring the best of latest cinema.
Films shown will include a selection from the Cannes and Venice film festivals as well as seven Best International Feature Oscar selections.
Some of this year's highlights are as follows:
International Competition
Now into its second year, the International Competition has reached new heights with six debut features and two accomplished second features. These include the winner of Cannes' coveted Un Certain Regard Award, Molly Manning Walker’s 'How To Have Sex' and the winner of the Camera D’Or, Pham Thien An’s 'Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell'.
FILM: Molly Manning Walker's debut film 'How to Have Sex' follows teenagers on a hedonistic holiday in Crete before things take a dark turn
New Cinema
Showcasing the best of new cinema both in Ireland and internationally, the New Cinema strand has some of the most anticipated, bold and exciting films on the festival circuit such as William Oldroyd’s thriller set in 1960s Boston 'Eileen', starring Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie.
This category also includes the Northern Ireland Screen funded thriller 'Lie Of The Land' and Scottish feature 'Silent Roar' with a sterling debut feature performance from Belfast actor Louis McCartney.
NEW FILMS: 'Eileen' starring Anne Hathaway is set 1960s Boston, the film trails a parasitic relationship between two women working at a juvenile detention facility
Work in Progress – Kneecap and Fréamhacha
The festival will also be hosting some special and unique events including a history of 16mm with 'The 16mm Century' featuring a live DJ afterparty plus two work-in-progress screenings: Aislinn Clarke’s newest Irish language horror 'Fréamhacha' and the hotly anticipated film from Belfast Irish language rappers, Kneecap.
KNEECAP: An update and sneak peek will be provided on Kneecap's eagerly awaited film which looks at the groups lives
Solidarity with the Workers
Extending solidarity to those striking in the entertainment industry and elsewhere, there is a section dedicated to the related themes of industrial action and work practices including a showcase of some of the year's most provocative, mischievous and subversive movies with a section called: Kill Your Job Before It Kills You.
Jess Kiang, International Programmer for the festival said: “After the roaring success of our inaugural International Competition last year I am excited to return with another showcase of eight stunning films made by emerging filmmakers from around the world.
BELFASTfilm.jpg
"I'm also hugely excited about the 'Kill Your Job Before It Kills You' section, which exemplifies our spirit of resistance to inequality and injustice in the workplace.
"This could not be more in keeping with our pleasure in honouring pioneering US filmmakers John Sayles and Maggie Renzi, who have forged together a truly independent, varied and fearlessly political career."
Rose Baker, UK and Ireland Programmer added: “This programme is so packed that it is difficult to pick just a few highlights. The 16mm Century celebrates the centenary year of the 16mm format.
"We are also very proud to have two amazing work-in-progress events which showcase some of the best and most original work happening in film in Northern Ireland, with Aislinn Clarke’s Fréamhacha and Fine Point’s Kneecap."
POOR THINGS: Closing film 'Poor Things' stars Emma Stone as a suicide victim crudely brought back to life by crazed scientist Willem Dafoe
Opening and Closing films
Belfast Film Festival’s Opening and Closing films are two of the most eagerly awaited films of 2023. The festival will open with Andrew Haigh’s 'All of Us Strangers', starring Irish actors Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, while Yorgos Lanthimos’ Golden Lion-winning 'Poor Things' stars Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo in the closing film.
A full list of the amazing screenings on show can be found online as well as tickets at:
