Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival Is Coming To Chapel Town Picturehouse

Burn on Arrival

Lift-Off Global Network will be returning to Manchester with an array of live events for the fifth edition of the Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival. The festival will run the week commencing 21st March, with screenings held at Chapel Town Picturehouse, the Mancunion home of indie and cult film!

In addition to private members screenings, there will be a series of public events, containing some of the Lift-Off Global Network Season Award winners from 2021, as well as a showcase solely dedicated to screening local British talent. All of the screenings conclude with networking and a meet a greet with the festival organisers!

Limited tickets are still available. See the programme here: liftoff.network/manchester

Lift-Off is the launchpad for indie filmmakers, focusing purely on emerging talent. For this reason we love to have events for local creatives to encourage networking and collaboration. Standout films in this festival’s Local Filmmaker Showcase programme include Burn on Arrival directed by Owen Gower, Who’s Counting? directed by Ben Lankester and The Rebirthing Club directed by Valentina Carrasco Thayer.

Written and directed by Owen Gower, the critically acclaimed Burn on Arrival is a gripping, dark fairytale, set in the wake of the industrial devastation that gripped Scotland in the mid-90s. Beautifully shot on 35mm, advocacy drama Who’s Counting? tells the story of a couple as they endure the pain and trauma of successive miscarriages. The filmmaking team partnered with pregnancy charity Tommy’s to create this powerful 5 minute short. Director Valentina Carrasco Thayer’s experience in theatre is evident in this theatrical, “musical fable” wonder that is The Rebirthing Club. The short follows David, a young man who has voluntarily closed his eyes to avoid heartbreak. He decides to face his trauma by undergoing a particular therapy that takes place in a swimming pool…

TRAILERS