Manchester Film Festival unveils star-studded lineup: 37 premieres from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden gems revealed

Lights, cameras, premieres! The Manchester Film Festival is back this March, bringing an unmissable lineup of 37 films debuting in the city, including 15 UK premieres and 4 world premieres. From Steve Coogan’s turn in The Penguin Lessons to A24’s latest horror-comedy Y2K and Oscar hopeful Santosh.

All 37 films on the list will be screening in the city for the very first time.

Opening proceedings in March will be The Penguin Lessons, directed by Peter Cattaneo and starring Steve Coogan. Based on the best-selling memoir, it tells the story of a man’s personal and political awakening during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history, brought about by his unlikely adoption of a penguin. 

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Also on the programme are the Manchester premiere of the UK’s Oscar selection Santosh (dir Sandhya Suri); Sundance and Cannes hit Good One (dir India Donaldson); and South by Southwest Audience Award Winner My Dead Friend Zoe (dir Kyle Hausmann-Stokes). 

UK premieres include Y2K, A24’s latest horror comedy starring Fred Durst and directed by Kyle Mooney; the latest film from Mother Schmuckers directors Harpo and Lenny Guit, Heads or Fails and Cazzie Davids directorial debut I Love You Forever.

Taking place across the city this March, it’ll be the first time that the festival will have screenings at HOME, as well as the Odeon Great Northern. 

The festival will also be supporting regional films by showing the World Premieres of Departures and Kid, plus the Manchester premiere of Treading Water. All from North West filmmakers.  

“We are looking forward to introducing a wonderful selection of films to audiences at the 11th edition of the Manchester Film Festival,” said Neil Jeram-Croft, Festival Director.

“We are so excited to also be based at HOME this year which feels like a perfect fit for our festival, our audiences and the Manchester film community. We look forward to celebrating in March for an exciting 10 days filled with thrilling premieres on the big screen and inspiring Q&As with filmmakers.” 

The Festival’s Annual Awards Ceremony will take place on Sunday 23 March.

Full list of films:

World Premieres

Phase – Jessica Vogt/UK

Two Big Feet – Noah Stratton-Twine/UK

Departures – Lloyd Eyre-Morgan and Neil Ely /UK

Kid – Ryan J. Smith/UK

UK Premieres

Aontas – Damian McCann/Ireland

Bang Bang – Vincent Grashaw/United States

Foul Evil Deeds – Richard Hunter/UK

Heads or Fails – Leny and Harpo Guit/Belgium

Hostages – Jim Owen/UK

I Love You Forever – Cazzie David/United States

McVeigh – Mike Ott/United States

Meta: The Dazzling Girl – Prasanth Mambully/India

Night Call – Michiel Blanchart/Belgium

Near Miss – Jamie Rafn/UK

Pet Shop Days – Olmo Schnabel/United States/United Kingdom

Quiet Life – Alexandros Avranas/France/Estonia/Sweden/Greece/Germany

Silent Notes – Toni Comas/United States

Transamazonia – Pia Marais/France/Germany/Switzerland/Taiwan/Brazil

Transplant – Jason Park/United States

The Line – Ethan Berger/United States

The Penguin Lessons – Peter Cattaneo/UK

Y2K – Kyle Mooney/United States

Manchester Premiere

Aïcha – Mehdi M. Barsaoui/France/Tunisia/Italy

Good One – India Donaldson/United States

In Our Blood – Pedro Kos/United States

Last Swim – Sasha Nathwani/United Kingdom

Motel Destino – Karim Aïnouz/Brazil/France/Germany

My Dead Friend Zoe – Kyle Hausmann-Stokes/United States

Red Path – Lotfi Achour/Tunisia/France

Santosh – Sandhya Suri/India/United Kingdom

Sebastien – Mikko Mäkelä/United Kingdom

Solo – Sophie Dupuis/Canada

The Accidental Spy – Anthony Wonke/ United Kingdom/United States

The Draw – Tom Ruddock/United Kingdom

The Severed Sun – Dean Puckett/United Kingdom

Treading Water – Gino Evans/United Kingdom

Universal Language – Matthew Rankin/Canada

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