Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) will bring an array of international talent to the city’s screens as it returns this November for its 36th edition. Running from 3-17 November, the festival will present over 250 features and shorts from 78 countries around the world.
LIFF is bookended by two remarkable new British films: Living (dir. Oliver Hermanus) and Aftersun (dir. Charlotte Wells) will open and close the festival respectively. The Official Selection includes some of the top prize-winners and celebrated new films of the last year, such as Alcarràs and Broker. Audiences will also be treated to restorations of two cinematic classics: 1952’s Casque d’Or and 1867’s Brief Encounters.
As part of LIFF’s endeavours to support new filmmaking talent, they have launched a New Directors Competition as part of the Official Selection. This will see UK premieres for eight first or second-time filmmakers, six of whom are women.
For documentary fans, Cinema Versa highlights the best of the genre this year. The Venice Golden Lion winner Laura Poitras’s All the Beauty and the Bloodshed promises to be a must-see. Elsewhere, the long-running Fanomenon strand will focus on not only fantasy, horror and sci-fi flicks but also comedies, thrillers, anime, cross-genre films and more.
Short films are a highlight of the agenda at LIFF and this year, 110 shorts from 50 countries will be presented to audience. The Leeds Short Film Awards 2022 will toast the best international work across four programmes.
There are three ‘Spotlights’ strands at this year’s LIFF. Films Femmes Afrique: Women Creators of the Future is created in collaboration with Films Femmes Afrique Festival in Senegal to showcase films by and about women from across Africa and the diaspora. Disability Futures puts an important spotlight on both disabled filmmakers and films involving disabled participants. Finally, One Love from Jamaica, in partnership with the Jamaica Society Leeds’ Out of Many Festival, will celebrate the cultural impact, beauty and depth of Jamaican cinema.
Tickets to feature films at all venues are £9.50 (concessions £7.50) and short film programmes at Everyman Leeds are £8 (concessions £6).
Find the full programme and more information about ticketing at www.leedsfilm.com
