Special Online Treats for the 20th Belfast Film Festival

01st April 2020 5 Minute Read

Today would have been the opening of the 20th Belfast Film Festival. BUT! No time for maudlin! Instead they want to mark this occasion by offering audiences a whole heap of online events to feast your peepers on!

Jeremy Thomas in Conversation with Mark Cousins

COMING SOON! BFF are very excited to announce a very special online 'In Conversation' event with Jeremy and Mark as part of BFF20's online events series.

Jeremy Thomas is a very British maverick, many film producers make money, some even win Oscars, but few make great art.

Oscar-winning producer Jeremy Thomas has worked on some of the world’s finest independent films, probably some of your favourite movies. Look him up on IMDB and see.  His C.V. covers an extraordinary range of distinctive films from The Last Emperor (Bernardo Bertolucci) and Bad Timing (Nic Roeg), through to the recent High Rise (Ben Wheatley) and A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg). The list of directors he has worked with reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of world cinema, it includes Nagisa Oshima, Bernardo Bertolucci, Terry Gilliam, Takashi Miike and Stephen Frears amongst others.

Now's your chance to ask Jeremy a question! Click here to submit a question.

Maybe you want to know ....

How Ray Winstone got into his speedos in ‘Sexy Beast’?,

What was it like to have lunch with David Cronenberg and William S. Burroughs?

How did he find filming ‘High Rise' in Northern Ireland'?

​Deadline to submit questions is this Friday 3rd April.

BFF20 Online Events

BFF are also excited to announce some further online treats which were part of their official BFF20 programme. These include:

WELCOME TO NORTHERN IRELAND - (NI Independent Film) A down-on-his-luck expat returns to Northern Ireland after many years away. Upon arrival he is struck by the prosperity and throngs of tourists he sees. Filled with optimism and with the help of some public funding administered through a local business man and evangelist, he embarks on becoming a tour guide. Thanks to Director Michael McBroom for allowing us to show a 15 minute edit of his film.

COLIN MCKEOWN - Filmmaker Colin McKeown presents his personal history of the stories told by us and about us. He will include selections from his new essay film: ‘Bad News & Good Vibrations: NI on Screen’ as well as previewing ‘Never Forget’ - his tribute to Alan Clarke’s ‘Elephant’.

THE SHAPE BETWEEN US - Whether it was in fields in the middle of North Antrim and Down, or how the scene lives on in today’s superclubs, dance music in Northern Ireland changed the way young people engaged with their own lives and with each other. Curated by Second Chance Cinema, in partnership with Film Hub NI, we will see a short collection of archive films that takes us back to a time when strange new words entered the Northern Irish teenage lexicon; words like peace, unity, love.

SPIN OFF - (NI Independent Film) Underfunded, unsupported (and unfit), the Skyway Club rally together to unleash talents they didn't even know they had, and find a perfect match in table-tennis! By keeping the humor rooted in the performaces, the Skyway Club manage to create a refreshing film, with a social commentary about friendship, community and an Olympic challenge. It's like the Karate Kid but with balls. This is a specially cut excerpt from the film to be screened later in the year.

Director: Michael McNulty

TO SEE A LIGHTHOUSE - (NI Independent Film) A man steals his deceased friend's laptop and starts to explore it's contents. So begins a poetic meditation on the meaning of friendship, loss, mourning and humanity in the digital age. An innovative and experimental short, comprising elements of drama, arthouse and 'screen cap' genre. Director: Will McConnell

All of these and more will be available on their website throughout the festival period 1st  - 9th April. Keep checking their website. They will be announcing more online treats as and when they are confirmed.

BFF20 Sofa Shorts Day

Join BFF on Saturday 4th April to celebrate the best new Northern Irish/Irish fictional short films from the comfort of your own home.

Each year the BFF Short Film Competition, supported by Queen’s Film Theatre ,showcases the island’s best new fictional short films. To ensure audiences don’t miss out they are taking the competition online!

Visit www.belfastfilmfestival.org between 10am and midnight on Saturday 4th April to view all 14 ‘in competition’ shorts and 7 ‘official selection’ shorts at your leisure.

Join us on twitter, facebook and instagram throughout the day on Saturday 4th April to share your thoughts about the films, meet the filmmakers and share in a collective experience using the hashtag #bffsofashorts.

The winner of the ‘in competition’ programme will be announced by our judging panel on Sunday 5th April at midday.

Belfast Film Festival is also delighted to partner with Queen’s Film Theatre’s new young brand LUMI to award one film from the BFF Sofa Shorts for it’s fresh ideas.

BFF Online Archive

As its the 20th year, they will revisit some of most favourite special events from recent years. 'In Conversations' with John Cusack (2017), Ken Loach (2018), Aamir Khan (2019) and Robert Carlyle (2019) to name but a few. Mark Kermode interviews the filmmaking team behind Ordinary Love (2019), Neal Hughes film 'The Kiosk' and there is even a live read of The Big Lebowski (2015) with Adrian Dunbar as 'the dude'.

Thanks to QFT for supporting the BFF Sofa Shorts Day.

Support your local independent cinema by becoming a member. This is a great way to support QFT during it's closure. You will receive 3 months of MUBI and your membership expiry date will be set at 12 months from the QFT reopening so you won't miss any benefits.

Support QFT

Visit the website www.belfastfilmfestival.org from tomorrow and over the next 9 days (1st - 9th April). Remember to join them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram also!

Click to access the login or register cheese