EXCLUSIVE: The 2026 Manchester Film Festival will run from 19–29 March, with Psychopomp, a short directed by Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) in his debut behind the camera, set to screen.
Manchester will screen 52 feature films, including 9 UK premieres and 8 world premieres. All films in the programme will be screening in Manchester for the first time.
Harington’s Psychopomp stars Harry Melling and is said to follow Harry, a desperate man who decides to end his own life with the help of a hired assassin, Liam.
Other highlight titles include Erupcja, directed by Pete Ohs (Jethica) and starring Charli XCX; Rose of Nevada, directed by Mark Jenkin (Bait) and starring George MacKay (1917) and Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald); and the Manchester premiere of The Souffleur, directed by Gastón Solnicki (Kékszakállú) and starring Willem Dafoe (Poor Things).
Additional Manchester premieres include Our Hero Balthazar, directed by Oscar Boyson (The Calling) and starring Asa Butterfield (Sex Education) and Jaeden Martell (It); The Last Viking, directed by Anders Thomas Jensen (Everything) and starring Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round); Honey Bunch, directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli (Viola) and starring Jason Isaacs (The Death of Stalin); and Lady, directed by Samuel Abrahams (Shadows) and starring Sian Clifford (Fleabag).
Manchester will also screen a selection of 2025 festival favorites, including Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, Alice Winocour’s Couture starring Angelina Jolie, and László Nemes’s Orphan.
Neil Jeram-Croft, Festival Director of Manchester, described this year as the festival’s “biggest and most ambitious year to date.”
“This year’s line-up brings together an exceptional range of films and filmmakers, with screenings taking place across more venues than ever before, reflecting both the growth of the festival and the appetite for independent cinema in the city,” Jeram-Croft said.
“We are especially looking forward to welcoming filmmakers from across the UK and internationally, as well as welcoming back our brilliant volunteers, whose support is vital to bringing the festival to life. We can’t wait to welcome audiences this March for ten days of powerful storytelling, standout premieres, and inspiring conversations.”
Narrative Films
World Premieres
Chatlines
Dir. Neil Ely, Lloyd Eyre-Morgan / UK
Finding My Voice
Dir. Arabella Arabia Burfitt-Dons / UK
Littermates
Dir. Michael Woloson, Scott Tinkham / United States, UK
Mutt Cat
Dir. Shay Kelly / UK
One of Us
Dir. Stefan van de Graaff / UK, USA
Synthesized
Dir. Christopher Green / UK
The Cure
Dir. Nancy Leopardi / Canada
Visceral Images
Dir. Ed Palmer / UK
UK Premieres
Afrodite
Dir. Stefano Lorenzi / Italy
Five Kinds of Fear
Dir. Bruno Bini / UK
LifeHack
Dir. Ronan Corrigan / UK
Magic Hour
Dir. Katie Aselton / United States
Maricel
Dir. Elias Demetriou / Cyprus, Greece
Ride or Die
Dir. Josalynn Smith / United States
Sophia
Dir. Dhafer L’Abidine / Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom
The Model
Dir. Marcus Flemmings / UK
Manchester Premieres
A Magnificent Life
Dir. Sylvain Chomet / France
Couture
Dir. Alice Winocour / France, United States
Eagles of the Republic
Dir. Tarik Saleh / Sweden, France, Denmark, Finland
Erupcja
Dir. Pete Ohs
Exit 8
Dir. Genki Kawamura / Japan
Father Mother Sister Brother
Dir. Jim Jarmusch / United States
Hen
Dir. György Pálfi / Hungary, Germany, Greece
Honey Bunch
Dir. Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli / Canada
I’ve Seen All I Need to See
Dir. Zeshaan Younus / United States
Lady
Dir. Samuel Abrahams / UK
Love Me Tender
Dir. Anna Cazenave Cambet / France
Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)
Dir. Joel Alfonso Vargas / United States
Misper
Dir. Harry Sherriff / UK
Mortician
Dir. Abdolreza Kahani / Canada
My Father’s Island
Dir. Vladimir de Fontenay / UK, Norway, France
Once Upon a Time in Gaza
Dir. Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser / Palestine, UAE, France
Orphan
Dir. László Nemes / Hungary
Our Hero Balthazar
Dir. Oscar Boyson / United States
Rebuilding
Dir. Max Walker-Silverman / United States
Rose of Nevada
Dir. Mark Jenkin / UK
Satisfaction
Dir. Alex Burunova / United States, UK
Small Gods
Dir. Asher Rosen / UK
Solitary
Dir. Eamonn Murphy / Ireland
Surviving Earth
Dir. Thea Gajic / UK
The Curse
Dir. Kenichi Ugana / Japan
The Fence
Dir. Claire Denis / France
The Last One for the Road
Dir. Francesco Sossai / Italy
The Last Viking
Dir. Anders Thomas Jensen / Denmark
The Souffleur
Dir. Gastón Solnicki / Austria, Argentina
The Stranger
Dir. François Ozon / France
Think of England
Dir. Richard Hawkins / UK
Documentary Films
UK Premiere
Never Get Busted!
Dir. David Anthony Ngo, Erin Williams-Weir / United States
Manchester Premiere
Are We Good?
Dir. Steven Feinartz / United States
Rhino
Dir. Tom Martienssen / UK
The Old Man & The Sea
Dir. Colin Offland, Marc Ingham / UK
Ultras
Dir. Ragnhild Ekner / Sweden, Denmark, Finland
Short Films
World Premiere
Baby Steps
Dir. Hannah Owen / UK
Birder
Dir. Emma Kay / UK
Don’t Worry About Me
Dir. Jamie Yuan / UK
Fawn
Dir. Emily Everhard / United States
Hide and Seek
Dir. Fatah Minoobakhsh / UK
How to Wash a Body, How to Cleanse a Soul
Dir. Luke Bather / UK
Inflicted Kindness
Dir. Gaia Dzhahinian / UK
Insulate
Dir. Mark Geoffrey Parham / UK
K-9INE!
Dir. Elliott Power / UK
Killingsworth
Dir. Josh Brine / United States
NightCap
Dir. Jack Hartley / UK
No Faces
Dir. Louis Michael McCourt / UK
Pissnchips
Dir. Turkina / UK
Rainy Day
Dir. Jack Hartley / UK
Safe Space
Dir. Matthew Eyre / UK
Sun Valley
Dir. Kate Ryan Brewer / UK
The Pigs Underneath
Dir. Charlie Dennis / UK
The Truth About Space
Dir. Jeremiah Towolawi / UK
Three Little Words
Dir. David Haddock / UK
Trigger Hunt
Dir. Colin O’Toole / UK
Uncle Artoo
Dir. Zoë Whittaker / UK
We Were Here Once
Dir. Veras Fawaz / Netherlands
Yugen
Dir. Nayelli Ojeda / Mexico
UK Premiere
Beast of the Seine
Dir. John Portman / United States
Being Bublé
Dir. Dan Perlman / United States
Blue For You
Dir. Sebastian Ortiz Wilkins / Canada
From Sidney, With Love
Dir. East Elliott / UK
Gap
Dir. Stephen Colfer / Ireland
God Dam
Dir. Abigail Hill / United States
How Brief
Dir. Kelly McCormack / Canada
Icarus
Dir. Christos Kardana / Belgium, France, Greece, United Kingdom
Jackie Is Lost
Dir. Maximillian King / UK
Little Pains
Dir. Milda Baginskaitė / UK
Ratols & Ransom
Dir. Ali Habib / Pakistan
Something In The Air
Dir. Niamh Barry / Ireland
Spray Me
Dir. Christopher Chuky / UK
Swimmer
Dir. Helen Warner / United Kingdom
The Knight
Dir. Lotte Sweeney / Australia
The Last Snow
Dir. Sotera Kupinaitė / Lithuania
Whim Rules the Child, and Weather the Field
Dir. Katla Sólnes / Iceland
Selected Manchester Premieres
A Death in the Family
Dir. Yasmin Hafesji / UK
A Mustard Seed
Dir. Femi Oladigbolu / UK
Ackee and Saltfish
Dir. Jasmin Nunes / UK
Acts of Kindness
Dir. Ben Strebel / UK
Coyotes
Dir. Said Zagha / France, Jordan, Palestine, UK
Flint
Dir. Naqqash Khalid / UK
Good Behaviour
Dir. Dan Sloan
Gowk
Dir. Ryan Pollack / UK
Jealous People Are Ugly People
Dir. Theo James Krekis / UK
Largo
Dir. Charles Meunier / UK
Mango
Dir. Joan Iyiola / France, UK
Pigs
Dir. Julia Jackman / UK
Psychopomp
Dir. Kit Harrington / UK
Swim Sistas
Dir. Catherine Joy White / UK
