STORYTRAILS VIRTUAL REALITY

TOWN HALL
Sunday 26 March
​10.30 AM until 5.30 PM

​Book your half-hour session at the Festival Desk FREE (no ticket or pass needed)

Come and engage with a digitally created world. Just by putting on a headset, you can see what 50 years into the future might look like, dive into the world of punk music in the 1980s or see Blackpool through the creations of a local artist.
TOWN HALL
Sunday 26 March
​Doors 10:55 AM | Session 11:15 AM | End 1:50 PM​
An incendiary, Oscar-nominated portrait of art and activism, documenting artist Nan Goldin’s extraordinary struggle to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid addiction crisis.

Director: Laura Poitras | 2022 | USA | 122 mins | 18 | Documentary
Q&A with gallerist and curator John Marchant

DESTINY

PICTURE HOUSE
​Sunday 26 March
​Doors 11:00 AM | Session 11:30 AM | End 1:15 PM
Teenage Sahar, recently motherless, cares for her beloved and
intellectually disabled father. Desperate for an education, she
has to choose between staying with her father and going after
a better future.

Director: Yaser Talebi | 2022 | Iran | 79 mins | 12A | Documentary |
Persian with subtitles​ | Q&A with Yaser Talebi (director) and Saeed Zeydabadi-Nejad (SOAS)

​Co-presented by:

MASTER CLASS - EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES WITH FILM

TOWN HALL
​Sunday 26 March
Doors 1:25 PM | Session 1:30 PM | End 3:00 PM
Masterclass with Anne Marie Carty

AILEY

TOWN HALL
​Sunday 26 March
Doors 2:20 PM | Session 2:40 PM | End 4:20 PM
​A hypnotic, immersive portrait of the visionary choreographer Alvin Ailey, told through his own words and a dance inspired by his life.
Dir. Jamila Wignot | 95 mins | Documentary

POLITE SOCIETY

PICTURE HOUSE
Sunday 26 March
Doors 2:30 PM | Session 3:00 | End 5:15 PM
Featuring a Q&A with Syima Aslam and special guests
Ria Khan practises martial arts and plans to become a stunt woman – but when her sister drops out of art school to marry, Ria must use all her skils to pull off the ultimate wedding heist.
Director: Nida Manzoor | 2023 | UK | 103 mins | 12A
Co-presented by:

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

TOWN HALL
​Sunday 26 March
Doors 5:15 PM | Session 5:35 PM | End 8:05 PM
Ten short films including one world premiere, followed by Q&A with filmmakers

THE BLUE CAFTAN

Picture
PICTURE HOUSE
​Sunday 26 March
Doors 5:45 PM  | Session 6:15 | End 8:55 PM
Q&A with special guests
This beautiful, convention-defying love story explores the relationship between a couple who run a traditional Moroccan caftan store and their new apprentice.
​
Director: Maryam Touzani | 2022 | Morocco | 118 mins | 15 | Arabic with subtitles
Co-presented by: