So to day three, and another packed 24 hours, with an emphasis on films that highlighted the struggle of activists around the world.
Over at the Ulster Museum, there was a continuation of the festival’s retrospective of BBCNI’s ground-breaking series Spotlight. The Museum was also home to another set of shorts, curated under the title Made of Truth: Visions from the UK. Commissioned by the British Film Institute from young filmmakers, it offered a multitude of insights into life in the UK today.
One of the most high-profile titles of this year’s selection has been Roadrunner – A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021), a portrait of the late and much beloved celebrity chef and writer. Demand for tickets was high, screen 1 sold out in record breaking time, and a second screen was needed.
At the Queen’s Film Theatre a trio of politically engaged movies lit up the screens. A Worm in the Heart (2020) took the Trans-Siberian Railway as its guide for building a detailed record of LGBTQ+ life in six Russian cities. While Writing with Fire (2021) telling of India’s only newspaper run and written by Dalit women. Though the filmmakers of the latter film were not able to join us here in Belfast, they participated in a Q&A with the brilliant journalist Amanda Ferguson, you can access the Q&A with them via our virtual programme, which is accessible throughout the duration of the festival.
The day’s screenings concluded with Bank Job (2021), a playful but committed documentary about community led movements in creating new, popularly owned currencies and banks in the wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis.
Stay tuned for more.