The 16th Viva! Spanish & Latin American Film Festival will be hosted at the Cornerhouse, (70 Oxford St, Manchester, M1 5NH) from Saturday 6th to Sunday 27th March 2010.

Although full details are not available at the time of writing, highlights will include:-

Paraguayan comedy Mal Día Para Pescar
La vergüenza, a Spanish family drama
Catalan coming-of-age tale Little Indi
Guest appearances from award-winning writer-director Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón and short filmmaker Luis Arambilet

The festival has been extended to include Spanish and Latin American art with an exhibition of the work of Mexican artist Carlos Amorales who will be presenting his inter-media installations Psicofonias (2008) and Discarded Spider (2008).

You can find out more about the festival, get up to date details about whats on and join the Viva! mailing list on the Viva! festival website.

The Sixth Salford Film Festival will take place this year from Friday 20th until Sunday 29th November 2009. This is a real treat for Salford film fans as well as film buffs in the region. The four day festival offers a fantastic variety of new and classic cinema.

Salford has had a long history of involvement in television and film making and this continues through to the present day with the location of the state of the art new media development Media City UK, in Salford.

While a lot has changed since the first ever Salford Film Festival was held at Red Cinemas in 2003, some things have stayed the same. The festival continues to celebrate the rich talents of Salford’s film makers, and acting, writing and producing skills and talents of people from Salford.

Some of the films being shown are classics you may have heard of before, such as Goodbye Mr Chips, The 38 Steps and Gregory’s Girl, however, the vast majority are newer and potentially far more interesting. The organisers explain that,

“……..The focus may be local, but the view is widescreen, the perspective is international, and we extend an open invitation and a warm welcome to all.

There’s something for everyone to enjoy, from local community films and cutting-edge new shorts, to international premieres and difficult to see cult classics…..”

More than fifty films are being shown at venues across Salford including The Lowry (Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ) and the Salford Arts Theatre (Kemsing Walk, off Liverpool Street, Salford, M5 4BS), and seven new films are making their debut at the festival.

Tickets are mostly free and can be booked in advance, through Quay Tickets, on 0844 815 4874, or by following the details, here.

exposures is the UK’s largest festival of student image work and takes place annually in Manchester. From modest beginnings in 1994, the festival has grown to what it is today – a festival consisting of a total of 48 films produced by students from all over the UK. Productions from students studying at Manchester institutions are:-

Behind The Eyes; Jameel Kazmi;
Elton’s Coming; Harry Farnham;
I Wear His Shirt; Jim Morgan;
Kokiri; Daniel McPake;
Lift; Nathan Rae;
Sanctury; Kris Walker;
Tape; Eleanor Marechal;
The land on which we stand; Becky Payne;
Wishful Expectations; Richard Webb;

Two venues are being are participating in the Festival – the Cornerhouse, (70 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 5NH) and Urbis (Cathedral Garden, Manchester M4 3BG).

The organisers describe the festival as follows

“…………..exposures is a truly unique festival: its administrative home is at Cornerhouse; its creative heart at Cornerhouse and University of Salford; and its body is a collaboration across creative, cultural, commercial and academic organs……”

This is just one of many great film festivals in Manchester over the next 12 month. Find out more about the festival and the films being shown by visiting the festival website, ExposuresFilmFestival.co.uk.

Day’s Hotel, is a modern, hotel and conference center located in central Manchester. The Day’s Hotel, also known as the Manchester Conference Centre, is located close to many of the City’s retail, cultural and entertainment venues and is easy to get to by public transport and by car.

The Festival of Fantastic Films is, of course, about the cream of science fiction, fantasy and horror film. Its amazing to think that Manchester has been home to such a prestigious event. There is a great line up of movie personalities scheduled to appear over the three days of the festival, who include Derren Nesbitt, Emily Booth and Jenny Handey.

Top quality film highlights include “Night of the Living Dead 3D”, “Meatball Machine” and “Embodiment Of Evil”. There will also be a diverse range of other films being shown over the course of the festival. Add to this movie related auctions, discussions and panels and you can see why this is so popular amongst fans of the science fiction, fantasy and horror film genres.

Visit the festival website to find out more about whats on during the event, ticket price and directions to the festival location, Days Inn (Manchester Conference Center), in Manchester. fantastic-films.com/festival

7th – 16th August 2009
Family Friendly Film Festival
Various venues

The Family Friendly Film Festival includes a wide range of children’s cinema, special events and workshops, in venues across Greater Manchester. Visit the festival website for more information about whats on.

16th – 18th October, 2009
The Festival of Fantastic Films 2009
Day’s Hotel, Sackville St., Manchester

This is the 20th Annual Convention of the Society of Fantastic Films, which is based in Manchester. It includes a variety of guest of niche industry professionals, discussions, special events, presentations as well as a variety of fantastic films. Find out more about the event here.

November 2009
Salford Film Festival
various venues

The 6th Salford Film Festival will be taking place in November 2009. More details will be available shortly. Visit the Festival website for the latest information.

14th and 15th November 2009
Version
Cornerhouse, 70 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 5NH

Version is a film festival of short films commissioned and adapted from literary texts published in Manchester/ North West. Details about this Festival are available on Manchester City Council’s events listing, here.

17th November 2009
Exposures Film Festival
Venue(s) To Be Confirmed – Poss Cornerhouse and Urbis(!)

This festival, in its 15th year, is the UK’s largest festival of student image work. This is an opportunity to see work by new and promising talent. Keep up to date here.

23rd – 28th February 2010
Manchester European Short Film festival

This will be the 11th year of the KINOFILM Festival which is also called the Manchester European Short Film festival. Find out more about this festival, here.

……and of course there is the Viva Spanish and Latin American Film Festival to look forward to, probably in March 2010.

moves09, which started in 2004, is a national exhibition of experimental short film and video.

The events taking place in Manchester are part of a wider Festival which includes events taking place in Liverpool, Chester and London.

According to moves09’s press release…………….

moves09 will be looking at stories beyond movement, exploring the narrative possibilities of movement on screen through screenings, installations, special events and a conference showcasing international keynote speakers.

Manchester venues participating in moves09 include:-

Cornerhouse
70 Oxford Street, M1 5NH

greenroom
54 – 56 Whitworth Street West, M1 5WW

Instituto Cervantes
326 Deansgate, M3 4FN

Link Gallery
Manchester Metropolitan University
Chatham Walkway, Chatham Building, All Saints Campus, off Oxford Road

Contact Theatre
Oxford Road, M15 6JA

Odder Bar
14 Oxford Road, Southern Quarter, M1 5QA

Odd Bar
30 – 32 Thomas Street, Northern Quarter, M4 1ER

Although there is a charge for entry to most screenings and performances, entry to many film installations and exhibitions are free of charge (check website for details).

The festival website movementonscreen.org.uk has up to date details of all festival events (including those free of charge), both in Manchester and elsewhere in the UK, event ticket prices and the site explains in more detail what moves09 is all about.

Are you going to any moves09 events? What would you like to visit? Share your thoughts about moves09 in the comments section, below.

On 6th – 14th March 2009 Manchester’s Cornerhouse will be home to the 15th ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival.

Manchester’s Cornerhouse (70 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 5NH) is a contemporary visual arts and film centre which includes art galleries, cinemas, a bar, café and bookshops.

This annual celebration of Spanish and Latin American film is the largest in the UK. Films shown are a mixture of popular, independents, documentaries and short films.

The ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival website is going to be updated shortly but gives visitors an idea of some of this year’s exciting highlights……….

“Highlights will include Mexican sci-fi sleep DEALER, Columbian thriller PERRO CON PERRO and a special focus on Cuban cinema to mark the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution.”

You can also join the Festival mailing list, here.

To give you an idea of what to expect, more than 10 000 people came to the 2008 festival and 60 features were shown. There were also informative and entertaining Q&A sessions and education events. This is going to be a popular event and I will try to update this page when I find out more about the plans for the festival.

Update, 13th Feb: Public bookings open Friday 13 February, 12noon. See ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival website for more details.