Fringe Flicks is a quarterly underground short film night curated by artist-led collective People Versus TV (PVTV), showcasing strange, subversive, and experimental cinema from around the world.
The July edition kicks off Season 3 with Reality+ — a bold, darkly comic sci-fi short by Coralie Fargeat, acclaimed writer-director of The Substance and Revenge. Originally released in 2014, Reality+ explores identity, artificial perfection and the violence of self-improvement culture, and feels eerily prescient in light of her recent breakout success. It’s the perfect centrepiece for a night of weird, visionary cinema.
The full programme is loosely themed around “Altered Selves”, featuring 10 shorts that explore identity, transformation, and perception — with work from Liverpool, India, China, Belgium, and the USA.
Expect esoteric horror, poetic dreams, neurodivergent voices, surreal detours, and a documentary written entirely by pigeons.
Events are Pay What You Can. You can vote in the People’s Choice Award, and a limited edition alternative film poster by local artist Rhonda Davies will be available on the night.
Another British Gem !This time, revisiting one of Britain’s best apocalyptic horror films of the last few decades before the third installment 28 Years Later is released later in the month.
28 DAYS LATER (2002) BY DANNY BOYLE
SYNOPSISA group of misguided animal rights activists free a caged chimp infected with the “Rage” virus from a medical research lab. When London bike courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up from a coma a month later, he finds his city deserted. On the run from the zombie-like victims of the Rage, Jim stumbles upon a group of survivors, including Selena (Naomie Harris) and cab driver Frank (Brendan Gleeson). He joins them on a perilous journey to what he hopes will be a safe future..Tea, coffee and popcorn included with ticket!Timings:DOORS: 7pmFILM + INTERMISSION: 7:30pmEND: 9:15pmAccessibility info:Kitty’s Laundrette is step-free and has a disabled toilet. Film screened with closed captions unless mentioned, and a midway toilet break.
The Sandbox Showcase: A Night of Short Films & Creative Community
Step into the world of short film and retro nostalgia at the Sandbox Showcase. A unique 90s-themed evening hosted by Let’s Make Films, spotlighting the best emerging filmmaking voices from Liverpool & the North West.
Taking place at Picturehouse @ FACT on Tuesday, 20th May, the night is part film screening, part creative hangout and fully focused on community, fun and discovery.
From 4:30, we’re transforming the bar area into a vibrant throwback experience, with 90s-inspired activities for all to enjoy. Expect:
- Classic Arcade Machines
- Pop Boutique pop-up store offering 10% off vintage gear with your ticket.
- Retro gaming from Pixel Bar (plus one hour free of gaming time after the showcase)
- Pop-Up video rental shops from Tape Trove & VideOdyssey
- Free film rental vouchers courtesy of Snips Movies
At 6:30 pm, we head into the cinema for a specially curated screening of 12 short films by some of the region’s exciting filmmakers. Bold, Personal and inventive work that captures the creative spirit of the Sandbox.
After the credits roll, stick around for post-screening drinks, chats with the filmmakers, and more time with your creative community.
Event Details:
?Picturehouse @ FACT – 88 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ
? 20.05.25
? Doors & Activities from 4:30 | Screening from 6:30
?️ Tickets: £4
Whether you’re a filmmaker, a vintage obsessive, or just curious about Liverpool’s creative scene, this is your invitation to be part of something different. Come dressed in your best 90s look and help us build a new kind od film night for the city.
1972, New York. In John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s apartment, the TV is permanently on, acting as a ‘window to the world’.
Through their television this inventive documentary explores the America of that time, the Lennons’ evolving politics and their complex personal life as they search for Yoko’s estranged daughter Kyoko against the backdrop of the Nixon-McGovern election. Featuring previously unheard phone recordings and music from John’s only post-Beatles concert, it reveals the world that John and Yoko inhabited and the couple’s relevance, which still stands today.
Becoming Led Zeppelin explores the origins of this iconic group and their meteoric rise in just one year against all the odds.
Powered by awe-inspiring, psychedelic, never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, Bernard MacMahon’s experiential cinematic odyssey explores Led Zeppelin’s creative, musical, and personal origin story.
The film is told in Led Zeppelin’s own words and is the first officially sanctioned film on the group.
Cert 12A
Elton John’s Billy Elliot musical – based on Stephen Daldry’s 2000 film – beamed into cinemas, shot live in HD at Victoria Palace Theatre in London’s West End.
Based on the Academy Award® nominated film, Billy Elliot the Musical has won the hearts of millions since it opened in London’s West End in 2005. Set in a northern mining town, against the background of the 1984/85 miners’ strike, Billy’s journey takes him out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class where he discovers a passion for dance that inspires his family and whole community and changes his life forever.
Cert 15
Sweet, tender and serene; Drylongso is a coming-of-age drama that follows the life of Pica, a vivacious and passionate young photography student.
After attending one too many funerals, Pica decides to fully immerse herself in her work and channel her trauma through her art. Perfectly encapsulating the life of a young black girl in Oakland where gang activity is steadily rising, Cauleen Smith comments on femininity, sexism, violence and friendships in this fantastic feature film debut!
They’ll be screening this groundbreaking classic in DIY filmmaking in May 15th at Metal, Edge Hill Station. Tickets start from £1 so grab yours now by clicking the link on the right or on the door!
7PM – DOORS OPENThey’ll be serving refreshments7:30PM – DRYLONGSO BEGINS9:00PM – POST SCREENING DISCUSSION
THE FILMYear: 1998Runtime: 1h 21mCertificate: 12Director: Cauleen SmithWriters: Cauleen Smith, Salim AkilCountry: AmericaLanguages: EnglishGenre: DramaCast: Toby Smith, April Barnett, Salim Akil, Will Power, Channel Schafer
Synopsis: A young woman in a photography class begins taking pictures of black men out of fear they will soon be extinct.Trigger Warning: Violence
Sweet, tender and serene; Drylongso is a coming-of-age drama that follows the life of Pica, a vivacious and passionate young photography student.
After attending one too many funerals, Pica decides to fully immerse herself in her work and channel her trauma through her art. Perfectly encapsulating the life of a young black girl in Oakland where gang activity is steadily rising, Cauleen Smith comments on femininity, sexism, violence and friendships in this fantastic feature film debut!
They’ll be screening this groundbreaking classic in DIY filmmaking in May 15th at Metal, Edge Hill Station. Tickets start from £1 so grab yours now by clicking the link on the right or on the door!
7PM – DOORS OPEN
They’ll be serving refreshments
7:30PM – DRYLONGSO BEGINS
9:00PM – POST SCREENING DISCUSSION
THE FILM
Year: 1998
Runtime: 1h 21m
Certificate: 12
Director: Cauleen Smith
Writers: Cauleen Smith, Salim Akil
Country: America
Languages: English
Genre: Drama
Cast: Toby Smith, April Barnett, Salim Akil, Will Power, Channel Schafer
Synopsis: A young woman in a photography class begins taking pictures of black men out of fear they will soon be extinct.
Trigger Warning: Violence
Drylongso trailer
This screening is in collaboration with Liverpool African Diaspora Film Network
Presented by Black Girl Watching Film Club
Mystery Theatre Club Edition 14
Metrocola
Doors at 7pm
Pay What You Can ( cash on door )
After a brief stint away and a few secret screenings, Mystery Theatre Club is back!
This time they’re upstairs at Metrocola in town!
In May we will be screening Ash & Money, a favourite during our residency at Kitty’s Launderette.
Ash and Money is the first film project by Theatre NO99. It is a full length making-of documentary that sheds light into how NO75 Unified Estonia came to be, interviews the people behind the project and also many political figures in office at the time and looks into how the process of creating possibly the biggest contemporary performing arts event in recent European history evolved in real time.
The NO99 Theater announced in March of 2010 that it would use all the tricks commonly used in politics and communications over the following two months to create a new successful and energetic super-party. The theater organized a party convention and staged it with the participation of 7000 people. The documentary film produced about the project and its influences is a study of the state of affairs in democracy, the media and grass-roots society in the Republic of Estonia.
BUT time did it’s work…
Situation changed and people changed.
Or did they?
Join Kitty’s Launderette to celebrate the life of the Irish revolutionary Bobby Sands, who died at 27 years old, 44 years ago on the 5th of May.
A screening of HUNGER (2008) by Steve McQueen.
SYNOPSIS:
Within Maze Prison in Northern Ireland, Irish republican Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbinder) along with fellow prisoners take part in a ‘dirty protest’ in pursuit of countering a criminalisation policy by the British government and gaining recognition as political prisoners. These protests soon escalate into hunger strikes, where the young man withstands great moral and political pressures in pursuit of freedom for the Irish people. For his first feature film, McQueen crafts an intimate account following Bobby’s final weeks, till his eventual death on the 5th of May, 1981.
They’ll be serving up some hot Colcannon soup before the film starts on a first-come, first serve basis.
Afterwards, a loosely guided discussion about the film and its portrayal of state violence. Please stick around to share your thoughts!
Suggested Donation is £5
(This covers cost of ingredients and printing our programming notes.)
Timings:
DOORS: 6:45pm
FILM + INTERMISSION: 7:30pm
POST-SCREENING DISCUSSION: 9:15pm
END: 9:45pm
Accessibility info:
Kitty’s Laundrette is step-free and has a disabled toilet.
Film screened with closed captions unless mentioned, and a midway toilet break.
