EXCLUSIVE: This year’s Manchester Film Festival is set to run from March 14 – 23 and will open with a screening of The Penguin Lessons, directed by British filmmaker Peter Cattaneo and starring Steve Coogan.
Based on the best-selling memoir, the film tells the story of an Englishman’s personal and political awakening during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history, brought about by his unlikely adoption of a penguin.
Manchester will screen 37 features, including 15 UK premieres and 4 world premieres. All films will be screening in Manchester for the first time. This includes the Manchester premiere of the UK’s Oscar selection Santosh from Sandhya Suri, Sundance, and Cannes hit Good One directed by India Donaldson, and South by Southwest Audience Award Winner My Dead Friend Zoe from Kyle Hausmann-Stokes.
Other highlights include the UK premieres of 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 and Cazzie Davids’s directorial debut I Love You Forever.
“We are looking forward to introducing a wonderful selection of films to audiences at the 11th edition of the Manchester Film Festival,” Neil Jeram-Croft, Manchester festival director said. “We are so excited to be based at two new venues in the city centre in 2025 – HOME and AVIVA Studios – both of which feel like a perfect fit for our festival, our audience, 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.”
Check out the full line-up below:
World Premieres
Phase – Jessica Vogt/UK
Two Big Feet – Noah Stratton-Twine/UK
Departures – Lloyd Eyre-Morgan/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 Accidental Getaway Driver – Sing J. Lee/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 Draw – Tom Ruddock/United Kingdom
The Severed Sun – Dean Puckett/United Kingdom
Treading Water – Gino Evans/United Kingdom
Universal Language – Matthew Rankin/Canada
