This screening is part of Cinema in the City. FACT’s experiential film programme features the best of independent cinema screened in unexpected and unique locations. Ahead of each film screening, attendees are treated to a screening of short films from emerging filmmakers from across the North West.
FACT has teamed up with The Iris Prize, an international LGBTQ+ film prize and festival, to bring their ‘Best of Iris 2023’ and ‘Falling In Love’ short film programmes to Liverpool.
Watch a curated collection of extraordinary short films that have been honored and celebrated at the 2023 Iris Prize Film Festival. Based in Cardiff, Iris are home to the largest short film prize in the world and work all year round to represent the best LGBTQ+ storytelling through their prize, festival, community outreach and partnership with Film 4 and Channel 4.
The back-to-back short film night will be introduced by Iris Prize Festival Manager, Grant Vidgen, and conclude with a Q&A from Realness with a Twist director, Cass Virdee and lead actor, Kenzo Miyake-Mugler.
Doors: 18:00. Screening: 19:00.
This screening is part of Cinema in the City. FACT’s experiential film programme features the best of independent cinema screened in unexpected and unique locations. Ahead of each film screening, attendees are treated to a screening of short films from emerging filmmakers from across the North West.
Queendom follows the remarkable story of Gena Marvin, an artist from a small town in Russia who dresses in otherworldly costumes and protests on the streets of Moscow. She stages radical performances in public, which becomes a new form of art and activism and puts her life in danger. Director Agniia Galdanova’s stirring documentary spotlights how a trans performance artist can stand up to the Russian government, serving as “an urgent reminder that art can be dangerous”.
Attendees will be treated to short film Looking For Barbara (2021) directed by Helen Kilbride before the main feature begins.
Doors: 18:00. Screening: 19:00.
This screening is part of Cinema in the City. FACT’s experiential film programme features the best of independent cinema screened in unexpected and unique locations. Ahead of each film screening, attendees are treated to a screening of short films from emerging filmmakers from across the North West.
Monica is an intimate portrait of a woman who returns home after a long absence to confront the wounds of her past.
Reconnecting with her mother and the rest of her family for the first time since leaving as a teenager, Monica embarks on a path of healing and acceptance. The film delves into Monica’s internal world and state of mind, her pain and fears, her needs and desires, to explore the universal themes of abandonment and forgiveness.
Co-written and directed by Andrea Pallaoro, Monica stars Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson and Emily Browning in what is set to be one of the best performances of 2023.
Attendees will be treated to short film Betty and Jean (2023) directed by Elinor Randle before the main feature begins.
Doors: 18:00. Screening: 19:00.
Beset with problems, George Bailey – played by James Stewart – finds his previously happy life falling apart around him on Christmas Eve. His impish guardian angel shows him what his hometown would be like without him, and shocked by what he sees, George begs to return to the problems of the present. Beautifully crafted, its humour and gentleness imbued at times with an almost Dickensian darkness, the film is now a cult classic and one of the most enduring of all Christmas traditions.
Embrace the festive spirit at Duke Street Market!
Get ready for a hilarious holiday treat at the exclusive family matinee screening of ‘Arthur Christmas’ at Duke Street Food & Drink Market! Join us for a merry afternoon filled with belly laughs, as they serve up festive sweet treats, popcorn and soft drinks for little ones and hot drinks for adults.
Arrival: 10:45am
Showtime: 11am
Make it a Christmas to remember with a very special performance featuring one of the UK’s best-loved and iconic animated films, The Snowman, with live accompaniment from an outstanding professional orchestra.
Presented by Carrot Productions – the world’s leading performers of The Snowman film with orchestra, and currently celebrating their 10th anniversary – their award-winning show is brought to life in spectacular fashion by the UK’s finest musicians.
Anti-cool and Waugh Office (Julia Waugh & Mark Waugh) present the premiere of Tea and Sugarcane. The film follows the lives of two male victims of human trafficking and slavery in the UK, revealing the story of how they came to find themselves in this situation. Through interviews, we explore their upbringings, families and childhood dreams and discover the triggers which made them take such a risky path to the UK.
Alongside Tea and Sugarcane, Anti-cool also presents two of their recent experimental audio-visual works: Wind, Land and Sea and Echo Tides.
This event includes a discussion with Anti-cool and Julia and Mark Waugh (Waugh Office), followed by a Q&A with the audience. The event is supported by Arts Council England.
Doors: 18:30. Screening: 19:00.
Relive the film that started it all. Watch the wand choose the wizard, a troll run amok and magic mirrors in high-definition while the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performs John Williams’ iconic score.
Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime event as Harry, Ron, Hermione and all your favourite characters return to the screen and enchant the world all over again.
Performances last 3 hours including one interval. This performance will have subtitles.
Under-25s can get £18 tickets (limited availability)
Director Firas Khoury’s coming-of-age story follows Tamer (Mahmood Bakri), a Palestinian teenager living in Israel, and his friends as he comes to grips with his fraught heritage.
The arrival of an outspoken classmate, Maysaa (Sereen Khass), catalyses Tamer’s political awakening, as he agrees to take part in a mysterious flag operation on the eve of Israel’s Independence Day which is a mourning day for Palestinians.
Through his film, Khoury attempts to bring to light the circumstances under which Palestinian youth are forced to develop, and the sharp existential contradictions they are subjected to at a young age.
The film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and received the Golden Pyramid at the Cairo International Film Festival.
“In this film I wish to give prominence to the Palestinian youth, who have willingly and, despite all, chosen to turn their peaceful struggle against injustice into their primary vocation. High school students with courageous souls have become a great source of inspiration to me, since I began following and observing them in recent years. My aim in this film is to expose their struggle to define and reinvent themselves, as well as to bring forth their personal story.” – Firas Khoury, Director
Doors: 15:30. Screening: 16:00.
Based on the horror novella by writer Nikolai Gogol, Viy tells the story of Khoma Brut (Leonid Kuravlyov), a student at a monastery in Kiev.
While travelling home at the end of term with two fellow seminarians the group become lost. As night falls they take shelter at the house of an older woman but as Khoma begins to sleep, he is awoken by the woman who snatches him up to fly together through the night sky.
Realising he has been caught by a witch, Khoma struggles free and takes his revenge. As the witch takes her final breath, she transforms into a young woman (Natalya Varley) causing Khoma to panic and flee the scene. Back at the monastery, a delegation arrives demanding that Khoma must watch and pray over the corpse of the young woman for three nights. Arriving at the village, the student soon discovers that he must spend the nights locked in the church alone with the body of the very witch he’d left for dead.
Gogol was one of the first to use the technique of the grotesque in his writing. His early works are influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing, Ukrainian culture and Viy in particular brings together many disparate elements from folklore. Known for its masterful cinematic effects by Soviet animator and fantasy film director Aleksandr Ptushko, the film is “a must-see for every aficionado of folk-horror and dark fairytales.” – Anne Billson, Sight & Sound.
Doors: 18:30. Screening: 19:00
