May was a month full of wonderful cinema screenings, workshops, and awards.
FLATPACK FESTIVAL
Flatpack Festival took place over 16th – 21st May across Birmingham, celebrating not only festival no. 17, but also twenty years as an organisation. The festival programme was split into 10 sections, ranging from their Colour Box films for children to their Time Machine archive films. The events were in over 13 locations through the city, including the iconic Moseley Road Baths and the beautiful Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
The festival’s 2023 winners were The Shimmering Extraordinary for the Screendance Award, Birdsong for the Optical Sound Short Film Award, Hardly Working for the WTF Award, Princess Aubergine for the Colour Box Award, and Green Space for the Short Film Award.
WOLVERHAMPTON FILM FESTIVAL
Wolverhampton Film Festival, co-founded by local talents Gurjant Singh and Arun Kapur, was 3 days of magic. From the 26th – 28th May there were fantastic screenings, panel discussions, and networking events in the Newhampton Arts Centre. The awards ceremony at the Molineux Stadium, home of the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C, was a brilliant atmosphere, with many winners taking home their glass trophies.
BIRMINGHAM PRIDE FESTIVAL
Pride month has now begun, with Birmingham celebrating early with our Pride Festival kicking off on the 27th May. The celebrations continue through the city, with local community cinemas like Journey Film Club doing LGBT+ screenings. The BFIs new release Pretty Red Dress, debut feature from writer and director Dionne Edwards, will also be screening at The Mockingbird Cinema from 16th June.
UPCOMING FESTIVALS
There are many more festivals to come over June, with Fighting Spirit Film Festival staring off with their The Bruce Lee Marathon. The 7th Midlands Movies Awards red carpet ceremony will be on the 10th June at Y Theatre. The Windrush Caribbean Film Festival will continue celebrating the Windrush Generation at the Midlands Art Centre from 13th – 15th June.
Birmingham Indian Film Festival will also be at the MAC and The Electric from 23rd June – 2nd July, screening international festival successes alongside the ever-popular Too Desi Too Queer and new Brit-Asian Shorts programmes. The SAFAR Film Festival is the largest festival in the UK dedicated to cinema from the Arab world, which will be screening at the MAC from 5th – 9th July.
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