The Manchester Film Festival has officially announced the exciting programme for its 2026 edition this March. As ever, the all-star line-up will span genres, languages and cultures, with films starring the likes of Charli XCX, Willem Defoe, Asa Butterfield and plenty more, increasingly positioning Manchester as the place to be for cutting edge film.
The festival’s expansion follows a successful 2025 edition, which saw ticket sales rise by 15%, audiences of over 7,000 across the programme, and more sold-out screenings than ever before – with the 2026 edition set to top even that.
When will Manchester Film Festival take place?
Manchester Film Festival will take place from Thursday 19 – Sunday 29 March across Manchester city centre.
Where will Manchester Film Festival show screenings?
Marking the festival’s biggest year to date, screenings will take place across more venues than ever before, including HOME, Odeon Great Northern, Northern Light Cinema, Aviva Studios and Flix at the Treehouse Hotel Manchester, reflecting the continued growth and expanding reach of the festival.
What does the programme look like?
Over ten days, guests can enjoy an expansive line-up featuring international premieres, short and feature films, intimate Q&As, industry mixers, relaxed drinks events and the excitement of the red carpet. This year’s programme showcases 52 feature films, including nine UK premieres and eight world premieres, with all films screening in Manchester for the first time.
Highlights include: Erupcja, directed by Pete Ohs and starring global pop icon Charli XCX; Rose of Nevada, directed by Mark Jenkin and starring George MacKay and Callum Turner; and the Manchester premiere of The Souffleur, directed by Gastón Solnicki and starring Oscar-nominated actor Willem Dafoe.
Additional Manchester premieres include Our Hero Balthazar, directed by Oscar Boyson and starring Asa Butterfield and Jaeden Martell; The Last Viking, directed by Anders Thomas Jensen and starring BAFTA-winning actor Mads Mikkelsen; and Honey Bunch, directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli and starring Jason Isaacs.
The programme also features new work from internationally acclaimed filmmakers. Jim Jarmusch returns with Father Mother Sister Brother, starring Oscar- and BAFTA-winning actor Cate Blanchett, Oscar-nominated actor Adam Driver, Vicky Krieps and Charlotte Rampling.
Manchester and North West based films
The festival also continues its commitment to supporting and showcasing filmmakers based in Manchester and the wider North West, championing stories rooted in the region. This year’s programme includes three films made by Manchester-based filmmakers, reflecting the breadth and ambition of voices emerging from the city. The selected films are:
- Chatlines (World Premiere), directed by Lloyd Eyre Morgan and Neil Ely, a sharply observed LGBTQi sci-fi drama exploring loneliness, intimacy and connection in the digital age, starring Mancunian actor Nico Mirallegro (Skins).
- Synthesized (World Premiere), directed by Chris Green, a bold, music-driven film about ambition, creativity and identity, starring Thomas Turgoose (This Is England).
- The Old Man and the Sea (Manchester Premiere), directed by Colin Offland and Marc Ingham, a contemporary reworking of a classic story, reimagined through a distinctly local lens.
Once again, the line-up includes a short film programme, featuring a North West Shorts strand highlighting exceptional talent in the short film art form, with films either produced in or made by filmmakers based in the region. Highlights include Kit Harington’s (Game of Thrones) directorial debut Psychopump and Pigs, starring Bessie Carter (Bridgerton) and father-and-daughter duo Olivia Williams (The Crown) and Jim Carter (Downton Abbey).
Festival Director Neil Jeram-Croft said: “We are incredibly proud to present the programme for the 12th edition of Manchester Film Festival, which marks our biggest and most ambitious year to date. This year’s line-up brings together an exceptional range of films and filmmakers, with screenings taking place across more venues than ever before, reflecting both the growth of the festival and the appetite for independent cinema in the city.
“We are especially looking forward to welcoming filmmakers from across the UK and internationally, as well as welcoming back our brilliant volunteers, whose support is vital to bringing the festival to life. We can’t wait to welcome audiences this March for ten days of powerful storytelling, standout premieres and inspiring conversations.”
Full list of films being screened at Manchester Film Festival
– Narrative films –
World Premieres
- Chatlines (Dir. Neil Ely, Lloyd Eyre-Morgan / UK)
- Finding My Voice (Dir. Arabella Arabia Burfitt-Dons / UK)
- Littermates (Dir. Michael Woloson, Scott Tinkham / United States, UK)
- Mutt Cat (Dir. Shay Kelly / UK)
- One of Us (Dir. Stefan van de Graaff / UK, USA)
- Synthesized (Dir. Christopher Green / UK)
- The Cure (Dir. Nancy Leopardi / Canada)
- Visceral Images (Dir. Ed Palmer / UK)
UK Premieres
- Afrodite (Dir. Stefano Lorenzi / Italy)
- Five Kinds of Fear (Dir. Bruno Bini / UK)
- LifeHack (Dir. Ronan Corrigan / UK)
- Magic Hour (Dir. Katie Aselton / United States)
- Maricel (Dir. Elias Demetriou / Cyprus, Greece)
- Ride or Die (Dir. Josalynn Smith / United States)
- Sophia (Dir. Dhafer L’Abidine / Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom)
- The Model (Dir. Marcus Flemmings / UK)
Manchester Premieres
- A Magnificent Life (Dir. Sylvain Chomet / France)
- Couture (Dir. Alice Winocour / France, United States)
- Eagles of the Republic (Dir. Tarik Saleh / Sweden, France, Denmark, Finland)
- Erupcja (Dir. Pete Ohs)
- Exit 8 (Dir. Genki Kawamura / Japan)
- Father Mother Sister Brother (Dir. Jim Jarmusch / United States)
- Hen (Dir. György Pálfi / Hungary, Germany, Greece)
- Honey Bunch (Dir. Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli / Canada)
- I’ve Seen All I Need to See (Dir. Zeshaan Younus / United States)
- Lady (Dir. Samuel Abrahams / UK)
- Love Me Tender (Dir. Anna Cazenave Cambet / France)
- Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) (Dir. Joel Alfonso Vargas / United States)
- Misper (Dir. Harry Sherriff / UK)
- Mortician (Dir. Abdolreza Kahani / Canada)
- My Father’s Island (Dir. Vladimir de Fontenay / UK, Norway, France)
- Once Upon a Time in Gaza (Dir. Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser / Palestine, UAE, France)
- Orphan (Dir. László Nemes / Hungary)
- Our Hero Balthazar (Dir. Oscar Boyson / United States)
- Rebuilding (Dir. Max Walker-Silverman / United States)
- Rose of Nevada (Dir. Mark Jenkin / UK)
- Satisfaction (Dir. Alex Burunova / United States, UK)
- Small Gods (Dir. Asher Rosen / UK)
- Solitary (Dir. Eamonn Murphy / Ireland)
- Surviving Earth (Dir. Thea Gajic / UK)
- The Curse (Dir. Kenichi Ugana / Japan)
- The Fence (Dir. Claire Denis / France)
- The Last One for the Road (Dir. Francesco Sossai / Italy)
- The Last Viking (Dir. Anders Thomas Jensen / Denmark)
- The Souffleur (Dir. Gastón Solnicki / Austria, Argentina)
- The Stranger (Dir. François Ozon / France)
- Think of England (Dir. Richard Hawkins / UK)
– Documentary Films –
UK Premiere
- Never Get Busted! (Dir. David Anthony Ngo, Erin Williams-Weir / United States)
Manchester Premiere
- Are We Good? (Dir. Steven Feinartz / United States)
- Rhino (Dir. Tom Martienssen / UK)
- The Old Man & The Sea (Dir. Colin Offland, Marc Ingham / UK)
- Ultras (Dir. Ragnhild Ekner / Sweden, Denmark, Finland)
– Short Films –
World Premiere
- Baby Steps (Dir. Hannah Owen / UK)
- Birder (Dir. Emma Kay / UK)
- Don’t Worry About Me (Dir. Jamie Yuan / UK)
- Fawn (Dir. Emily Everhard / United States)
- Hide and Seek (Dir. Fatah Minoobakhsh / UK)
- How to Wash a Body, How to Cleanse a Soul (Dir. Luke Bather / UK)
- Inflicted Kindness (Dir. Gaia Dzhahinian / UK)
- Insulate (Dir. Mark Geoffrey Parham / UK)
- K-9INE! (Dir. Elliott Power / UK)
- Killingsworth (Dir. Josh Brine / United States)
- NightCap (Dir. Jack Hartley / UK)
- No Faces (Dir. Louis Michael McCourt / UK)
- Pissnchips (Dir. Turkina / UK)
- Rainy Day (Dir. Jack Hartley / UK)
- Safe Space (Dir. Matthew Eyre / UK)
- Sun Valley (Dir. Kate Ryan Brewer / UK)
- The Pigs Underneath (Dir. Charlie Dennis / UK)
- The Truth About Space (Dir. Jeremiah Towolawi / UK)
- Three Little Words (Dir. David Haddock / UK)
- Trigger Hunt (Dir. Colin O’Toole / UK)
- Uncle Artoo (Dir. Zoë Whittaker / UK)
- We Were Here Once (Dir. Veras Fawaz / Netherlands)
- Yugen (Dir. Nayelli Ojeda / Mexico)
UK Premiere
- Beast of the Seine (Dir. John Portman / United States)
- Being Bublé (Dir. Dan Perlman / United States)
- Blue For You (Dir. Sebastian Ortiz Wilkins / Canada)
- From Sidney, With Love (Dir. East Elliott / UK)
- Gap (Dir. Stephen Colfer / Ireland)
- God Dam (Dir. Abigail Hill / United States)
- How Brief (Dir. Kelly McCormack / Canada)
- Icarus (Dir. Christos Kardana / Belgium, France, Greece, UK)
- Jackie Is Lost (Dir. Maximillian King / UK)
- Little Pains (Dir. Milda Baginskaitė / UK)
- Ratols & Ransom (Dir. Ali Habib / Pakistan)
- Something In The Air (Dir. Niamh Barry / Ireland)
- Spray Me (Dir. Christopher Chuky / UK)
- Swimmer (Dir. Helen Warner / UK)
- The Knight (Dir. Lotte Sweeney / Australia)
- The Last Snow (Dir. Sotera Kupinaitė / Lithuania)
- Whim Rules the Child, and Weather the Field (Dir. Katla Sólnes / Iceland)
Selected Manchester Premieres
- A Death in the Family (Dir. Yasmin Hafesji / UK)
- A Mustard Seed (Dir. Femi Oladigbolu / UK)
- Ackee and Saltfish (Dir. Jasmin Nunes / UK)
- Acts of Kindness (Dir. Ben Strebel / UK)
- Coyotes (Dir. Said Zagha / France, Jordan, Palestine, UK)
- Flint (Dir. Naqqash Khalid / UK)
- Good Behaviour (Dir. Dan Sloan)
- Gowk (Dir. Ryan Pollack / UK)
- Jealous People Are Ugly People (Dir. Theo James Krekis / UK)
- Largo (Dir. Charles Meunier / UK)
- Mango (Dir. Joan Iyiola / France, UK)
- Pigs (Dir. Julia Jackman / UK)
- Psychopomp (Dir. Kit Harrington / UK)
- Swim Sistas (Dir. Catherine Joy White / UK)
How to get tickets
You can get tickets to attend Manchester Film Festival here.