27/3/2021

The weekend has come at last and Beeston Film Festival has more to offer than ever. Five screening sessions, one day. From animation to crime, the wide variety of genres and moods in our selection for today surely offers something to everyone. Our early animation screening is perfect for kids to tag along and have their traditional weekend cartoons embellished by some great animated short films. Followed by the screening of the first half of our comedy picks, it gives a great opportunity to turn the screenings into a bit of a family day as no one can say no to some good comedy.

Next up, our crime selection is a breath of fresh air from your regular crime dramas which might be on TV on a Saturday. The Pride category comes up next, with a diverse collection of shorts, ranging in genre from horror to documentary. The penultimate day of Beeston Film Festival ends with the last of our drama selection, and perhaps we were saving the best for last.

“The End”, the highlight from animation, is a stunning visualisation of a cowboy at the end of his good ol’ cowboy duties. This Dutch animated short is its own serene and captivating world of beautiful, rich colours and a simple story that hardly feels foreign to anyone. With a peaceful score standing behind the eye-catching visuals, The End feels like a warm blanket after a hard, long day.

“Manasanamaha” is an Indian comedy that feels fresh and modern, never really dull. Telling the story of a young man trying to make sense of love and recollecting his older relationships, the film has much more to offer than just a simple laugh. The course of love is akin to that of nature and with a bit of humour, this film offers way more artistically than one would think.

“HOLD”, a British crime drama/thriller, is dark and grim yet very human. Character-driven, it has a flawed main character who is tormented over a secret possibly being exposed. Stylistically familiar yet unique in context, it will keep you on the edge of a seat and won’t bore you with vapid and shallow genre-typical violence.

The Pride category has a lot to offer. From documentaries like ‘My Friend Artemis’ to one of our best shorts altogether ‘Manchester Pride Parade: The Movie’, the category is varied and tells different stories from across the world. Better described in a full article about the category as a whole, make sure to give it a read before Saturday’s screening.

“ANNA” is a British drama set in Eastern Ukraine, following recent conflicts with Russia. Awarded with a BIFA, nominated for a Palme d’Or and shortlisted for a BAFTA, this film is not to be missed. Following Anna, a single mother who’s getting older and aching for a change, she decides to take a chance and spice up her life with a bit of partying. All is not what it seems to be and this film touches upon a deep problem of men preying on vulnerable women in not ideal situations.

With our five great screening choices, your Saturday can throw lockdown boredom in the bin and you can turn your living room into a tiny cinema. If just for an afternoon, your longing for cinema can be quenched without even having to leave your house.

Written by Sara Jakubcova