Belfast Film Festival have announced that Andrew Haigh’s All Of Us Strangers will open and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things will close the 2023 programme this coming November.

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Both films have been receiving rave reviews during the latest film festival circuit, leading to whispers of potential Oscar, BAFTA and SAG nominations in their futures.

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OPENING GALA: ALL OF US STRANGERS

One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbour Harry, which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As a relationship develops between them, Adam is preoccupied with memories of the past and finds himself drawn back to the suburban town where he grew up, and the childhood home where his parents, appear to be living, just as they were on the day they died, thirty years before. The film boasts Irish actors Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, with the film written and directed by Andrew Haigh. This will be the third time Haigh has brought a project to Belfast, from his debut film Weekend in 2011, to the Oscar nominated 45 Years in 2015.

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CLOSING GALA: POOR THINGS

Poor Things is the filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest feature that tells the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman bought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter. Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderurn, a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation. Hotly tipped as a contender for Oscar nominations, Poor Things recently won the Golden Lion at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. The film features a cast that includes Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo.

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WRITERS’ STRIKE

Standing in solidarity with all those writers who have just ended their strike for fair wages, the festival has chosen this year to champion the recent Writer’s Guild of America strikes by screening a host of films about screenwriters and will host a talk with world-renowned screenwriter John Sayles and producer Maggie Renzi. The festival will also screen a selection of their work.

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Michele Devlin, Director of Belfast Film Festival, released a statement sayng:

We are thrilled to present a fantastic line-up of new international film, an impressive selection which includes titles from every continent across the world. In this year’s programme we are focusing on the current industrial action in the entertainment sector particularly the WGA and SGA strikes. We are so pleased to welcome Oscar nominated screenwriter and director John Sayles and producer Maggie Renzi who will be jointly presented with the festival’s prestigious Réalta award for Outstanding Contribution to Film.

With a nod to the season for those who enjoy a fright, there will be a special one-off screening of Haunted Ulster Live. Hailing from Belfast filmmakers Dominic O’Neill and Will McConnell, the film has been a hit at FrightFest 2023. The one-off screening will be held on Halloween night.

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Belfast Film Festival will also be partnering with the new Avenue Cinema to bring the glitz of Hollywood to its Screenwriters on Screen Retrospective with screenings of Barton Fink, Sunset Boulevard and Adaptation, remastered and returning to the big screen.

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Belfast Film Festival is funded by Northern Ireland Screen, Belfast City Council, the Department for Communities, Film Hub NI, and Arts and Business NI, and proudly sponsored by Yellowmoon, Birra Moretti and Hastings Hotels.

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Pre-sale tickets for the films and conversations mentioned in this article will go on sale via the Belfast Film Festival website on Friday 29th September. The full festival programme will be announced on the 12th October.