See what's coming up in LIFF Presents, our year-round programme of screenings in venues...
LIFF Presents: The Duke
Weds 23 February, 18:00. Vue in The Light
Filmed on location in Leeds, Bradford and Harrogate, and starring Academy Award winners Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren,The Duke is a remarkable true-crime caper and underdog tale from the late BAFTA winning director Roger Michell (Notting Hill). In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old taxi driver, stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and remains the only) theft in the Gallery’s history. Kempton sent ransom notes saying that he would return the painting on condition that the government invested more in care for the elderly. What happened next became the stuff of legend.
LIFF Presents: Great Freedom
Weds 23 February, 20:15. Vue in The Light
The exquisite latest film from writer-director Sebastian Meise, Great Freedom paints a stirring portrait of gay resistance and resilience in post-war Germany. Sensual yet arresting, Austria’s official submission to the 2022 Academy Awards turns a humanist eye towards a heartrending past. Unfolding across three decades, this drama traces the repeated imprisonment of one man under Paragraph 175 — a law criminalizing homosexual activity. After being “liberated” by Allied forces in 1945, Hans is transferred directly from a concentration camp to prison to finish out his sentence. There, he forms an unlikely connection with his cellmate Viktor, a convicted murder.
LIFF Presents: The Phantom of the Open
Weds 9 March, 18:00. Vue in The Light
Mark Rylance shines as the hapless golfer Maurice Flitcroft in Craig Roberts’ big hearted comedy drama, The Phantom of the Open. In a classic British underdog scenario, Simon Farnaby’s script is based on the true story of a crane operator from Barrow-in-Furness who blagged his way into the British Open in 1976, only to get (by far) the worst score in that tournament’s history. Enraging the uptight golfing authorities, Flitcroft went on to win a considerable fanbase with his naïve charm. Also starring Sally Hawkins as his long-suffering wife and Rhys Ifans as the stuffy club secretary.
LIFF Presents: Red Rocket
Weds 9 March, 20:15. Vue in The Light
Sean Baker follows up his hit films Tangerine and The Florida Project with another vivid, spiky and unaffected comedy-drama set on the margins of modern American society. Red Rocket boasts a horribly compelling central performance by Simon Rex as Mikey, a self-centred and opportunistic ex porn star who returns to his hometown of Texas City for a new start after being down and out in California. No-one is particularly pleased to see him and when he meets a young woman named Strawberry working at a doughnut shop, he falls right back into his old habits.
LIFF Presents: Murina
Weds 23 March, 18:00. Vue in The Light
Winner of the Camera d’Or at Cannes 2021, Murina is the outstanding debut feature by acclaimed shorts writer-director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (Into the Blue - LIFF 2017), executive produced by Martin Scorsese. 16-year-old Julija lives a picturesque yet isolated existence on a sun-soaked Croatian Island, under the watchful eye of her controlling father Ante. A visit from Ante’s wealthy friend, Javier, provides a taste of liberation but also reveals a hidden past. Tensions swell as Julija begins to test the waters of rebellion, flirtation and freedom, putting her on a violent collision course.
LIFF Presents: The Worst Person in the World
Weds 23 March, 20:15. Vue in The Light
Renate Reinsve won the best actress award at Cannes Film Festival last year for her stunning performance as the restless young woman Julie, torn between early adult life choices in The Worst Person in the World. A successful change of direction for Joachim Trier, the confrontational director of films like the searing drug addiction drama Oslo, August 31st, this romantic drama resonates with its emotional depth and lightness of touch. We follow Julie through four turbulent years in her early twenties as she struggles to navigate her love life and career choices.
