Film Hub Fortnightly – February 2022 (Part 2)
Northern Irish cinemas will be very busy in the latter half of February, with one festival and a host of new and special releases.
Film Hub NI’s run of Wildfire (2020) continues its travels with two screenings on the 17th, at the Flowerfield Arts Centre in Portstewart and the Ormeau Community Cinema will be bringing it to the Pavilion Bar. The 25th will see another twofer, in the Nerve Centre in Derry and the Subterranean Community Cinema will be showing it in the Omagh Community House.
Newcastle Community Cinema’s programme consists of New York set musical In The Heights (2021), showing on the 19th, and kids animations The Snail & the Whale (2019) and Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021) on the 26th and the 27th. The Snail & the Whale screening will be followed by an ‘Interactive Seashore Adventure’ hosted by Beach Schools NI, in collaboration with the NI Science Festival.
NI Science Festival are hosting a multitude of events all across Northern Ireland, as part of their 2022 edition which runs from the 17th to the 27th of February. Its packed film line-up includes screenings at the Nerve Centre of Disney superhero animation Big Hero 6 (2014) on the 17th, beloved sci-fi homage The Iron Giant (1999) on the 18th, Walking with Dinosaurs – The Movie (2013) on the 19th and time-travelling adventure Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) on the 20th. The Playhouse Theatre in Derry will show Meat The Future (2020), a documentary on sustainable meat farming, on the 19th.
At the Ulster Museum, you can see anatomical action-animation Osmosis Jones (2001) on the 17th, Pixar’s Inside Out (2015) on the 18th, David Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror tragedy The Fly (1986), starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, on the 18th, another screening of Walking with Dinosaurs – The Movie on the 19th, and a double bill of human body-set spectacles with Innerspace (1987) and Fantastic Voyage (1966) on the 20th.
At the Strand Arts Centre, you can see polar documentary Arctic Tale (2007) on the 19th and comedy Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989) on the 26th. The Wilderland Film Festival, a programme of natural history themed short films, will show at the Crescents Arts Centre on the 19th.
The Black Box will play host to AI themed documentary A.rtificial I.mmortality (2021) on the 21st (where it will screen in the venue’s Green Room) and a documentary search for the elusive Tibetan snow leopard, The Velvet Queen (2021), on the 24th. An Open Door - An Insight Into Men’s Shed Northern Ireland (2022), a NI Science Festival production, will show in The Bank community hub in Portglenone on the 21st, and Back to the Future (1985) will show on the 25th in the Alley Theatre in Strabane.
On Saturday 19th, up on the Falls Road in Belfast, Áras Uí Chonghaile/James Connolly Visitor Centre have a rare screening of ‘Hush-a-Bye-Baby’, Margo Harkin’s seminal 1990 exploration of young motherhood in Derry in the 1980s. The director herself will take part in a post-show Q&A on the evening.
At the Queen’s Film Theatre, you can currently see new releases Belfast (2021) and Belle (2021), both of which are playing up until the 17th. From the 18th to the 20th, there will be a short run of The Beatles: Get Back – The Rooftop Concert (2021), a substantial slice of the ambitious Peter Jackson directed archival documentary, while from the 18th to the 22nd there will be showings of Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021), an exciting triptych and the 2nd film in one year from the great Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi.
From the 18th to the 24th there’s a diverse pair of new releases: Here Before (2021), a Northern Ireland-set psychological thriller starring Andrea Riseborough, and The Real Charlie Chaplin (2021), a documentary centred on a 1966 interview with the great filmmaker and comedy icon. The QFT will also be home to a travelling series, curated by the Japan Foundation, throughout the months of February and March. The February line-up includes romantic drama Will I Be Single Forever? (2021) on the 26th, and Shrieking In The Rain (2021), a retrospective look at the Japanese film industry in the 80s, showing on the 27th.
At the Movie House Cinema’s locations, there are showings of Belfast, Nightmare Alley (2022), Death on the Nile (2022), Uncharted (2022) and Marry Me (2022). You can also see Jackass Forever (2022), a reunion of the legendary pratfall and stunt TV and film series, and Cyrano, starring Peter Dinklage will also play from the 23rd.
At the Strand Art Centre, you can also see Belfast and Belle, as well as other new releases: Sing 2 (2021), Nightmare Alley (2021), Death on the Nile (2022), Uncharted (2022) and Marry Me (2022). From the 18th there will be showings of Dog (2022), a comedy starring Channing Tatum and a canine companion, and Cyrano (2021), a period musical starring Peter Dinklage, opens on the 23rd.
The 2000 drama Billy Elliot, starring Jamie Bell and Julie Walters, will be shown on the 17th and the 24th with the screening on the 17th accompanied with a special live performance by the NI dance group Ajendance.