Manchester Film Festival reopened its doors last weekend with opening film, Rye Lane. Directed by Raine Allen-Miller this was easily one of the festival’s greatest opening night movies to date. A beautifully curated piece of artistic expression, with visuals so striking that movie stills alone would cause audiences to applaud.
The only downside to the opening night movie being so remarkable is that it set the standard for the remainder of the week’s films very high. Thankfully, the weekend showed us that all filmmakers participating have brought their A-game, and audiences are sure in for a treat each and every night.
Saturday gave attendees the real opportunity to experience all that the festival has to offer; with their red carpet being host to countless Q&A sessions with directors, and cast members alike, as well as some more intimate audience-controlled sessions following each film in the screenings themselves.
A couple of honourable mentions include FGKO (directing duo Fabrice Garçon and Kévin Ossona), which made their 3rd return to the festival following massive previous success, this time with ‘Blazing Neon’, an action-packed noir movie. This was the feature-length film’s premiere and saw colossal admiration and applause.
As well as feature-length movies, a returning category was the ‘North West Shorts’, which sees local talent flexing their capabilities such as ‘I fall’ by Dan Thorburn; a versatile director from Manchester. This rhythmical dance piece exploring the carnage and chaos of addiction, saw Thorburn collaborating with dancers from the ‘Fallen Angels Dance Theatre’ group and was unlike anything he’s done before.
With two additional North West sets due throughout the week (Wednesday 20:15 & Sunday 12:50) it’s truly exciting to see what more Manchester has to offer in the days to come.
As well as UK premieres, the festival is host to some worldwide premieres, such as ‘Wait for Me’ which played over the weekend. The feature-length film by director Keith Farrell saw a packed screen of both fans and fellow filmmakers in awe of its excellent storytelling. Just another great example of getting the chance to witness wonderful films ahead of their general cinema release.
Sunday brought hit after hit, with both narrative features and shorts in abundance. The versatility of narrative that the shorts demonstrated was the true highlight for the final day of opening weekend. With filmmakers putting more faces on the screen than ever before.
The festival is still underway and there are tickets still available. Don’t miss out on what’s bound to be some of the best of cinema this year and get yours today!
By REECE DONLAN