As part of the 18th Belfast Film Festival Cinepunked held an event called Art vs Artist to discuss the recent public engagement with the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations. Cinepunked’s resident hosts Robert JE Simpson and Dr Rachael Kelly led an interactive panel discussion navigating the ethics of… Read Article →
Congratulations to all our winners this year! Winner of the Short Film Competition was Good Girls, written and directed by Niamh McKeown and produced by Jack Cowhig. A film about Pinkman’s finest student and head girl, Bonnie, who takes us on a tour of her school as she tries to round up the school captains… Read Article →
“I wish I was a bit younger because there are still so many stories to tell”. Ken Loach, the UK’s foremost political filmmaker, was welcomed to Northern Ireland to take part in multiple public Q&A’s and receive the Réalta Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinema. The Réalta award, Irish for ‘star’, was created with a… Read Article →
Brian Henry Martin was joined on stage by the incredible talent that is Graham Linehan, four time BAFTA winner, an IFTA winner and winner of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. In a warm, funny and engaging conversation at the Assembly Buildings Conference Centre, Graham entertained a packed audience by talking about his successful career… Read Article →
The Dig after-party packed out The Marcus Ward, supported by our fabulous sponsors Birra Moretti and Jaxbox Gin! Our Closing Night film, The Dig, sold out two screens in the Moviehouse, Dublin Road and boasted an incredible line up of Northern Irish talent. Directed by Andy and Ryan Tohill, The Dig tells the story of… Read Article →
The 18th Belfast Film Festival ended with another packed day before finishing off with two sold out screenings of The Dig! Amanda Coogan: Long Now, a documentary following performance artist Amanda Coogan who prepares for and performs daily for six hours a day, five days a week. Amanda and director Paddy Cahill were in attendance… Read Article →
On the penultimate day of the 18th Belfast Film Festival we had an eclectic mix of films to show you! In the Strand Arts Centre, we celebrated 30 years of Cinema Paradiso with a packed out audience! Host Brian Henry Martin tweeted, ‘I was once little Toto spellbound by the magic of my local cinema,… Read Article →
Day 8 brought a whole host of special guests over to the festival, with many of them taking part in Q&A’s after screenings of their films. In a sold out screening of A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot, director Sinead O’Shea took part in an informative Q&A with a lively Belfast crowd, that… Read Article →
Day 7 was chockablock full of Q&A’s, in conversation events and sing-a-longs! We were delighted to welcome Graham Linehan to discuss his career in a Q&A with Brian Henry Martin at the amazing Assembly Buildings Conference Centre. Graham, a four time BAFTA winner who is best known for some great comedy hits such as Father… Read Article →
Our special guest for this year’s festival was Ken Loach, one of the greatest filmmakers in the world. He received the Réalta Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinema to a standing ovation in the sold out Movie House, Dublin Road. Ken Loach is a British film and television director, and the UK’s foremost political filmmaker.… Read Article →
On Day 6 of the Belfast Film Festival, we welcomed Ken Loach to Northern Ireland to receive the Réalta award for outstanding contribution to cinema. The atmosphere in Belfast was electric as one of the greatest filmmakers in the world went from venue to venue to take part in Q&A’s. Ken started off in St… Read Article →
We are at the half way point of the 18th Belfast Film Festival and day 5 was packed to the brim with special events and guests! We were absolutely thrilled to welcome Irish Civil rights leader, feminist, socialist and elder stateswoman of anti-establishment politics, Bernadette McAliskey to our 50th Annniversary Screening of Agnès Varda’ Black… Read Article →
Niamh McKeown’s Good Girls wins gold at Belfast Film Festival’s 18th Short Film Competition. The highly anticipated Short Film Competition kicked off on Saturday morning with judges Chris Martin (Indie Movies), Sarah Edge (Professor of Photography and Cultural Studies at UU), Joan Parsons (Head of QFT), Eoin Cleland (last year’s winner, Incoming Call) and Sarah… Read Article →
Day four of the Belfast Film Festival kick started with the Short Documentary Competition in the Queens Film Theatre, with this year seeing almost three times as many submissions! Nomad by Zoe Tweedy, a documentary about a retired rider and transgendered woman nestled in the Canadian countryside, won the top prize! The NI Independents continued… Read Article →
The Shorts competition is one of our favourite events in the Film Festival’s year – it’s a chance for us to get a measure of the talents of the filmmaking community in both the North and South of Ireland. QFT 1 was packed with filmmakers from all over the island, before they headed off to… Read Article →
