Alan in Belfast: Belfast Film Festival

Belfast Film Festival has released it programme with back to back films showing during the fifteen day festival running from 31 March to 14 April. Last year’s festival featured some excellent films.

I’ve listed some highlights below that stand out from a first quick flick through this year’s programme.

Thursday 31 March at 7pm – Locally shot Killing Bono is opening the festival and is sure to sell out quickly.
Saturday 2 April at 3.30pm – Dougal and the Blue Cat is the English language dub of the 1972 French film based on The Magic Roundabout. Dougal is watching the every move of Buxton, the snarky blue cat who is visiting the garden.

“What really makes this film a delight is its attitude [and] an English eccentricity of a serious subplot about a missing moustache, or an upper-class scarecrow with an irrelevant army background. The English version of Dougal And The Blue Cat is a successful, unconventional blend, a French art movie with a British comedy script, and would be a hit with children and adults even if its stars weren’t characters we all grew up loving.”
Sunday 3 April at 2pm – Doctor Who fans will want to book their free ticket [not yet available at time of posting] for the showing of the classic Tom Baker story City of Death which is showing in BBC Broadcasting House.
Sunday 3 April at 5pm – Beijing Taxi follows on from last year’s Chinese cinema season at the Belfast Film Festival. Follow the lives of three Beijing taxi drivers in the run up to the 2008 Olympics.
Monday 4 April at 7pm – Sound of Noise is a Swedish comedy in which an anarchic band of musical malcontents break into public buildings to play compositions using the surroundings as their instruments. But then they attract the attention of the tone-deaf policeman son of a famous musical family.
Thursday 7 April at 7pm – Matching Jack looks at complicated and frayed family relationships and the bond between a parent and her sick child. Stars James Nesbitt.
Sunday 10- Tuesday 12 April at 7.30pm – Raiders of the Lost Story Arc is an original drama created and directed by Stephen Hackett and Paula McFetridge – a collaboration between Belfast Film Festival and Kabosh. Imagine the scene: “in 1978 three bearded men called Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan met in room somewhere in LA. For 5 days they talked, after 5 days they had their story straight. Raiders of the Lost Ark was born”. Performed by Paul Kennedy, Frankie McCafferty and Alan McKee.
Monday 11 April at 9.15pm – How I Ended This Summer is set in a remote polar station where the cast of two are isolated together for months on end. An important radio message arrives, followed by fear, lies and suspicions start poisoning the atmosphere in this tense film.
Wednesday 13 April at 7pm – Build Something Modern is a documentary looking at Irish architects in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Special preview screening in the Ulster Museum.
Wednesday 13 April at 7pm – TT3D takes a three dimensional look at the thrills and spills of the Isle of Man TT race.