Blindness is often misunderstood, shaped by misconceptions that can lead to social exclusion. What is Blindness? The World Unseen brings these misconceptions to light through powerful storytelling, sharing the lived experiences of visually impaired individuals.
Join them at FACT’s cinema in Liverpool on April 22-23 for a compelling film screening followed by a Q&A panel with researchers, creatives, and individuals with lived experience. Together, we’ll challenge common myths and explore the rich, diverse perspectives of those navigating the world with visual impairment.
This event is part of Bring Your Own Brain, a public engagement programme linked to the British Neuroscience Association’s Festival of Neuroscience.
THE EVENT
WARNING! WARNING! Brace yourself! – 1984 sci-fi cult classic “The Brother From Another Planet” will crash land smack bang in the middle of Liverpool this March! This weird but also surprisingly sincere analogy for the life of an immigrant in 1980’s New York has gained notoriety for its interesting plot and stand out performance by Morton as a mute alien. Incredibly low budget but full of charm, this film touches on themes of racism, xenophobia, and just the everyday feeling of alienation.
Come join us March 20th to grab some food, get involved in the post-screening discussion, and experience this iconic entry in B-Movie Brilliance.
Tickets start from £1 so grab yours now by clicking the link on the right or on the door!
6:30PM – DOORS OPEN
We’ll be serving refreshments
7:00PM – FILM BEGINS
9:00PM – POST SCREENING DISCUSSION
THE FILM
Year: 1984
Runtime: 1h 48m
Certificate: 15
Director: John Sayles
Writer: John Sayles
Country: America
Languages: English
Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction
Cast: Joe Morton, Caroline Aaron, Herbert Newsome
Synopsis: The Brother is an alien who has crash-landed on Earth, in New York City. While mute, strongly empathic, and able to fix things, he resembles a Black man with strange feet. His attempt to make a place for himself in Harlem is an allegory for the immigrant experience in the United States. Meanwhile, two bounty hunters from the Brother’s home planet arrive and try to capture him.
This screening is in collaboration with Liverpool African Diaspora Film Network
Presented by Black Girl Watching Film Club
Join us for a night of bold, boundary-pushing cinema at Fringe Flicks! This April, we’re screening Kenneth Anger’s Lucifer Rising (1972), a hypnotic invocation of myth, magic, and cosmic transformation. Blending occult symbolism, surreal imagery, and a legendary soundtrack by Bobby Beausoleil, this underground classic is a must-see for lovers of experimental film.
Alongside it, we’re showcasing a hand-picked selection of international short films, spanning cosmic horror, surreal comedy, and dark satire. Expect strange, striking, and thought-provoking cinema from emerging filmmakers worldwide.
Audience Choice Award – Vote for your favourite short film of the night!
Limited-Edition Poster – Available on the night, screen-printed by Liverpool Community Print Station.
Part One: DaDa Makes Music
6pm – 6.45pm
Join them to celebrate 10 years of the DaDa Ensemble project and wider music programme.
DaDa have commissioned a new short film looking at the work of the DaDa Ensemble over the years. The film features clips from past performances and interviews with the young musicians, the music leaders and project staff. This is an informal celebration event, the film is approximately 6 minutes long and there will be an opportunity to chat before and after the screening.
Part Two: DaDa’s Film Shorts
7pm – 8.30pm
The film shorts programme includes two new commissions to accompany the artists’ recent poems ‘Unwoven’ by Amina Atiq and ‘I Want More Disabled Rage’ by Dolly Sen and ‘Home’, a new work from Dora Colquhoun (featuring original music). Join us to watch all 3 films, an informal Q&A, with an opportunity to meet the artists. Drinks and snacks provided.
Access: Venue access information visit fact.co.uk
The event will be BSL interpreted. Audio Description and Captions will be available to accompany the films.
Booking info: Book tickets via the FACT website: fact.co.uk
About DDFI40:
DaDaFest International returns 8th-31st March 2025 to celebrate DaDa’s 40th Anniversary and this time we are coming with ‘RAGE: A Quiet Riot’.
DDFI40 will showcase work by disabled artists that captures all shapes and sides of rage. From the internal quiet frustrations and righteous rage, to overt injustice and activism, DDFI40 will explore disability rights, disability arts, access, ableism and ‘Rage’ in an explosion of creativity.
Better Man looks at the rise, fall and resurrection of Robbie Williams – one of the UK’s bestselling artists of all time.
Inspired by Williams’ life and how he sees himself, the film shines a light on the incredible highs and lows of celebrity and the journey to stardom. This fantastical musical will be filled with reimagined versions of Williams’ musical hits and iconic performances, with spectacular set pieces and stunning visual effects.
Age Rating: 15
The original Queens are back and hitting the big screen. Winner of over 35 awards, experience the best of British Musical HER-story in a live capture of the must-see musical sensation, SIX the Musical.
The Original West End cast reunite at London’s Vaudeville Theatre in front of a sold-out audience to strut their stuff and re-write their Tudor traumas in an unmissable cinematic recording of the show packed full of style, sass, and sensational songs.
Cert tbc
Set in the influential New York music scene of the early 60s, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN follows 19-year-old Minnesota musician BOB DYLAN’s (Timothée Chalamet) meteoric rise as a folk singer to concert halls and the top of the charts – his songs and mystique becoming a worldwide sensation – culminating in his groundbreaking electric rock and roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
Cert 15
Cert 12A
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.
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
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
