Manchester Film Festival: ‘Santosh’, ‘The Penguin Lessons’ & ‘Last Swim’ Among Titles Set To Screen

EXCLUSIVE: This year’s Manchester Film Festival is set to run from March 14 – 23 and will open with a screening of The Penguin Lessons, directed by British filmmaker Peter Cattaneo and starring Steve Coogan.

Based on the best-selling memoir, the film tells the story of an Englishman’s personal and political awakening during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history, brought about by his unlikely adoption of a penguin.

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Manchester will screen 37 features, including 15 UK premieres and 4 world premieres. All films will be screening in Manchester for the first time. This includes the Manchester premiere of the UK’s Oscar selection Santosh from Sandhya Suri, Sundance, and Cannes hit Good One directed by India Donaldson, and South by Southwest Audience Award Winner My Dead Friend Zoe from Kyle Hausmann-Stokes.

Other highlights include the UK premieres of Y2K, A24’s latest horror comedy starring Fred Durst and directed by Kyle Mooney, the latest film from Mother Schmuckers directors Harpo and Lenny Guit and Cazzie Davids’s directorial debut I Love You Forever.

“We are looking forward to introducing a wonderful selection of films to audiences at the 11th edition of the Manchester Film Festival,” Neil Jeram-Croft, Manchester festival director said. “We are so excited to be based at HOME, which feel like a perfect fit for our festival, our audience, and the Manchester film community. We look forward to celebrating in March for an exciting 10 days filled with thrilling premieres on the big screen and inspiring Q&As with filmmakers.”

Check out the full line-up below:

World Premieres

Phase – Jessica Vogt/UK

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Two Big Feet – Noah Stratton-Twine/UK

Departures – Neil Ely & Lloyd Eyre-Morgan /UK

Kid – Ryan J. Smith/UK

UK Premieres

Aontas – Damian McCann/Ireland

Bang Bang – Vincent Grashaw/United States

Foul Evil Deeds – Richard Hunter/UK

Heads or Fails – Leny and Harpo Guit/Belgium

Hostages – Jim Owen/UK

I Love You Forever – Cazzie David/United States

McVeigh – Mike Ott/United States

Meta: The Dazzling Girl – Prasanth Mambully/India

Night Call – Michiel Blanchart/Belgium

Near Miss – Jamie Rafn/UK

Pet Shop Days – Olmo Schnabel/United States/United Kingdom

Quiet Life – Alexandros Avranas/France/Estonia/Sweden/Greece/Germany

Silent Notes – Toni Comas/United States

Transamazonia – Pia Marais/France/Germany/Switzerland/Taiwan/Brazil

Transplant – Jason Park/United States

The Line – Ethan Berger/United States

The Penguin Lessons – Peter Cattaneo/UK

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Y2K – Kyle Mooney/United States

Manchester Premiere

Aïcha – Mehdi M. Barsaoui/France/Tunisia/Italy

Good One – India Donaldson/United States

In Our Blood – Pedro Kos/United States

Last Swim – Sasha Nathwani/United Kingdom

Motel Destino – Karim Aïnouz/Brazil/France/Germany

My Dead Friend Zoe – Kyle Hausmann-Stokes/United States

Red Path – Lotfi Achour/Tunisia/France

Santosh – Sandhya Suri/India/United Kingdom

Sebastien – Mikko Mäkelä/United Kingdom

Solo – Sophie Dupuis/Canada

The Draw – Tom Ruddock/United Kingdom

The Severed Sun – Dean Puckett/United Kingdom

Treading Water – Gino Evans/United Kingdom

Universal Language – Matthew Rankin/Canada

The Accident Spy – Anthony Wonke

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