Manchester, 11th July 2024 – This August, the City of Manchester will welcome SCENE, a new and glittering LGBTQ+ Film and TV festival. The weeklong event will kick off with an exclusive opening night featuring a celebration panel and after-party to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the influential drama Queer as Folk. The series, which spotlighted Manchester’s Canal Street, will be celebrated with appearances from writer Russell T Davies, executive producer Nicola Shindler and actress Denise Black, with more names to be announced.
Showcasing the magic of LGBTQ+ Film and TV, SCENE will light up the city from Friday 16th August to Thursday 22nd August, extending the vibrant spirit of Manchester Pride Festival. A diverse array of events will be hosted in iconic venues across the city, including HOME, The People’s History Museum, New Century Hall, and the Gay Village.
SCENE Film and TV festival is a Manchester Pride Festival official partner event produced by Manchester Accommodation BID and will feature screenings of beloved classics, recent queer content, and exclusive premieres of new series, features, and shorts. The festival lineup includes Q&As, interviews, special guests, and parties.
The week will see a whole host of sparkling, star-studded events, including a special screening of BBC hit drama, Lost Boys & Fairies, made by Leeds-based production company Duck Soup Films, a heartbreaking tale of couple Gabriel and Andy’s journey of self-discovery and fixing fractured family relationships before they can truly begin their parenting journey. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with writer Daf James and star of the series Sion Daniel Young.
Festival partner HOME will honour the legendary John Waters with screenings of Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble, with a glamourous sick bag provided for the faint of heart. On Saturday evening “The Filthiest Carnival Alive” will take over HOME with raucous drag queens, circus performers, DJs, and side stalls inspired by the films of “The Pope of Trash”.
Pop along to The People’s History Museum to catch Striking With Pride: United at the Coalface, a brand-new powerful feature documentary from Sky exploring the unlikely alliance forged between the gay men and lesbians of London, and the striking miners of South Wales, between the 1984 and 1985 London Prides.
Other highlights include Emmy Award nominee and longtime activist David Weissman in residence at SCENE for special screenings, Q&As and events discussing his seminal documentaries about San Fransisco in the 70s and 80s, We Were Here and The Cockettes. The Pink Screening Room at YES will showcase the best features and shorts of the year alongside Q&As and panels from the top LGBTQ+ creatives behind them. Additionally, Manchester’s “last lesbian bar” Vanilla will screen The Lesbian Bar Project: FLINTA, followed by an unmissable Q&A with filmmaker Erica Rose, and a party featuring Mancunian sapphic DJ talent.
Further screenings and events will be announced in the coming weeks.
All events at SCENE are £15 or under with many being £5 or free including a free outdoor screen on First Street.
SCENE will be donating ticket profits to Manchester Pride Charity and ticket partner Skiddle will also donate the booking fee for any events booked through their site meaning attendees are directly supporting work in the LGBTQ+ community in the city.
Head of Events at CityCo (producers of SCENE Festival), Gary Williams, said: “We are excited to bring this celebration of LGBTQ+ Film & TV to Manchester as part of Manchester Pride’s festivities. SCENE promises a week of solidarity, diversity, and enjoyment. LGBTQIA+ representation on screen allows us to share our stories, break down barriers, and grow our community. We can’t wait to champion queer content and celebrate together this summer.”
Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Pride, added: “As the programme for Manchester Pride Festival expands, we’re pleased to welcome this fresh, new event. There are many different ways that LGBTQ+ people like to celebrate Pride. And, having consulted with our communities we recognise the potential for this exciting showcase and celebration of LGBTQ+ Film & TV and the incredible talent involved in the creation of these important stories.”
SCENE is supported by the Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (BID).
Kumar Mishra, Chair of the Manchester Accommodation BID, said, “Manchester Pride Festival’s annual celebrations are a testament to our city’s unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion. Pride not only enriches our cultural landscape, but also serves as a powerful economic driver, attracting visitors from around the world and showcasing Manchester as a must-visit destination for LGBTQIA+ travellers.
“The Manchester Accommodation BID is proud to play a part in helping to expand Manchester Pride Festival going forward with the launch of SCENE Manchester LGBTQIA+ Film and TV Festival. Alongside Superbia, the festival will add another important cultural aspect to our annual Pride celebration, but once established, we hope becomes a great reason in itself for LGBTQIA+ visitors to extend their trips to Manchester throughout August.”
Ticket partner Skiddle said: Skiddle are extremely proud to announce our partnership with the LGBTQ+ Film Festival, becoming the official ticketing partner for this year’s vibrant and culturally inspiring event. As an official partner of Manchester Pride, we are privileged to contribute to their mission and support the important charitable work carried out by the event’s organisers. To strengthen our commitment, we will donate 100% of all booking fees collected from the film festival’s tickets to Manchester Pride, highlighting our dedication to inclusivity and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole.
Tickets are on sale now at www.scenefestival.com. Keep up to date on more programming announcements by visiting the website or follow SCENE on social media at @scene_festival on Instagram and SCENEFestival on X & Facebook for future news on the festival programme and booking information.
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For more information, please contact:
Premier – scene@premiercomms.com
About SCENE
SCENE: Manchester LGBTQIA+ Film and TV Festival celebrates Manchester’s rich legacy as the birthplace of extraordinary LGBTQIA+ talent on and off screen, from Sir Ian McKellen, Layton Williams to Tony Warren, the creator of Coronation Street, and Yasmin Finney, star of Heartstopper. As the home of MediaCity, Queer as Folk, and innovative series like the lesbian witch drama Domino Day, Manchester is the perfect setting for a festival that honours queer film, TV, and new media.
The week-long festival will run from Friday, 16th August to Thursday, 22nd August 2024, celebrating both new and classic LGBTQIA+ cinema and television. Screenings will be categorized into three sections: Classic, showcasing timeless queer and camp films and TV shows; Best of the Year, featuring works released in the UK over the past 12 months, complemented by Q&As and events; and New, presenting premieres and previews of fresh content, including series, features, and shorts. The festival will offer a mix of ticketed and free events with a portion of the festival’s profits donated to the Manchester Pride charity, supporting the LGBTQ+ community. www.scenefestival.com
Social links
https://www.instagram.com/scene_festival/
https://www.facebook.com/SCENEFestival
About the Manchester Accommodation BID
The Manchester Accommodation BID is a ground-breaking initiative led by the city’s hotel and serviced apartment providers to help create new events and additional activities that will attract more people to visit and stay in Manchester and Salford.
At its core, the Manchester Accommodation BID aims to deliver better visitor experiences and additional activity to drive more staying visitors. It allows Manchester to better compete in a global market and grow overnight visits at a time when an unprecedented level of supply is set to join Greater Manchester’s accommodation market, with an additional 6,000 confirmed new bedrooms incoming across the city-region in the next three years.
Manchester Accommodation BID activities are be funded by the City Visitor Charge; a supplementary £1 Charge per room/unit per night for guests, added to final accommodation bills. The Charge is collected from all paid accommodation establishments that fall into the Manchester ABID zone.
Funds are used to: amplify marketing campaigns that drive overnight stays; help secure large-scale events, conferences, and festivals in low-season months; improve guest welcome and street cleanliness; and provide opportunities to futureproof the city’s growing accommodation sector and wider visitor economy.
CityCo, The City Centre Management Company, is a delivery partner of Manchester Accommodation BID alongside Marketing Manchester. CityCo is delivering on public events and ‘city welcome’ work streams.
About Manchester Pride
Manchester Pride is one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ charities. Its work aims to challenge discrimination in relation to homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. Through its grant-giving the charity supports, enriches and empowers LGBTQ+ community groups, events and causes in Greater Manchester.
The organisation fundraises by staging events throughout the year, including the award-winning Manchester Pride Festival. Since 2003, Manchester Pride has raised and distributed over £1.8million.
Why Manchester Pride?
Manchester Pride is part of a global Pride movement celebrating LGTBQ+ equality and challenging discrimination. Whether you’re attending Pride to protest, party, or both, some benefits of the festival include:
- Manchester Pride’s August Bank Holiday events make a £27.5 million impact and contribution to the economy of the city of Manchester.
- Manchester Pride creates opportunities for LGBTQ+ people and allies to gain skills. Each year, the charity trains more than 250 volunteers to be a part of the celebrations.
- The festival provides a platform for LGBTQ+ artists from Greater Manchester, giving them access to a large audience.
- Services and supplies are procured from LGBTQ+ owned businesses across the region.
- Visit www.manchesterpride.com for more information and resources.
- For media enquiries, please contact: harry@wearejam.agency or call 0161 850 0565
- To apply for Manchester Pride Festival accreditation, please fill out this form by 26th July 2024.
*All tickets are subject to a 10% booking fee, fee is applied to the ticket only and not the £2.50 fixed donation.
About Skiddle
A company built by fans, for fans, Skiddle is an independent primary ticketing outlet housing the biggest range of events in the UK, across music, comedy, food + drink, festivals, attractions, theatre and more. With over 14m tickets sold and over 4m happy customers, Skiddle is rated 4.5* on Reviews.io and Trustpilot. Skiddle’s easy-to-use mobile ticketing app (available via Apple & Google Play) is a top 5 free music app and the top rated ticketing app in the UK.
About Home
HOME is Manchester’s centre for international contemporary culture. Since opening in May 2015, HOME has welcomed over four million visitors to its five cinemas, two theatres, art gallery, shop and restaurants. HOME’s five screens showcase the best new independent film releases alongside a unique programme of film seasons, festivals, and special events. HOME works with international and UK artists and partners to produce extraordinary experiences, creating an exciting mix of thought-provoking film, drama, dance and visual art with a strong focus on international work and artist development.
HOME produces a specially curated, original programme of film seasons and special events and is committed to supporting UK film talent. HOME also invites established and emerging filmmakers to participate in Q&A events with audiences, including: Florence Pugh, Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, Don Letts, Mike Leigh, Nana Mensah, Francis Lee, Asif Kapadia, Ken Loach, Peter Strickland, Thelma Schoonmaker, Andrea Arnold and Joanna Hogg.
The patrons of HOME are filmmakers Danny Boyle and Asif Kapadia, actress Suranne Jones, playwright and poet Jackie Kay MBE, artists Rosa Barba and Phil Collins, and actress and author Meera Syal CBE.
homemcr.org |Instagram @HOMEmcr|Twitter @HOME_mcr | Facebook HOMEmcr
FUNDED BY:
Did you know that HOME is a charity? We need your support to bring the best film, theatre and art to Manchester and inspire the next generation. Get involved at www.homemcr.org/support