Just like the Renegade Master, Manchester Film Festival (MFF) is back once again, and for the 10th time!

Taking place at the Odeon, Great Northern, until Sunday, 24 March, this celebration of cinema features an incredible lineup of films from across the globe.

Read more about the official selection here on the MFF website.

Having previously never made opening night, thanks to a past repeated bout of being away mid-March, 2024 was my year. I was in situ and primed to tram it to my Deansgate destination, ready for some day 1ing.

Two pass holders, one film (plus one industry pre-opening drinks), the evening of Friday 15 March was here and we were coming for you Odeon screen 11.

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The Convert

Starring Guy Pearce, the festival kicked off with the UK Premiere of The Convert.

THE CONVERT is directed by Lee Tamahori and tells the story of a preacher who arrives at a British settlement in 1830s New Zealand.

His violent past is soon drawn into question and his faith put to the test, as he finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Maori tribes.

• Year:2024
• Runtime:119 minutes
• Language:English

• Director:Lee Tamahori
• Screenwriter:Lee Tamahori, Michael Bennett, Shane Danielsen
• Producer:Robin Scholes, Andrew Mason, Troy Lum, Te Kohe Tuhaka
• Executive Producer:Anne Sheehan, Maria Logan
• Cast:Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Antonio Te Maioha
• Editor:Luke Haigh

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Now first things first.

There was a drumroll moment when actress Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, in her Zoom interview for the festival (played out after end credits), clarified that this was Manchester Film Festival, before advising that her (and please forgive me as I can’t recall how many ‘greats’ so I’m estimating), great great great great great Grandfather emigrated to New Zealand from (duh duh duhhhhh) the one and only…Stalybridge!

Good old Stalybridge. An appreciative and amused intake of breath and chuckle emanated from us crowd of film-goers, not least from my plus 1 who’d grown up in said dwelling.

In its depictions, the film doesn’t hold back. The juxtaposition between shots of the beautiful land full of vegetation and bird life and bloody, unapologetically violent scenes of battle between the Māori tribes and indeed the British, certainly keep the senses on their toes. So to speak.

In his Zoom interview for the festival, Director Lee Tamahori, relayed the challenge in finding a location in New Zealand to reflect the shores of the New Zealand back in the 1830s. To find somewhere deplete of not only built structure, but sheep and farmed land and grass.

When the company did find and negotiate use of the land where filming took place, certain conditions were understandably applied, such as any wooden structures created for the set had to be built elsewhere and helicoptered in and out from the land.

We also learned from the Director that there was interesting balance that had to be achieved, between being careful to reflect the Māori women, not through a deliberately strong, empowering 21st century lens but accurately. But that said, the accurate depiction was certainly that women would be involved in battle alongside the men.

And the two female protagonists, Rangimai (Ngatai-Melbourne) and Charlotte (Jacqueline McKenzie) are, just that; protagonists. Depictions of strong women, both Māori and British, in amongst the warring factions, driving forward action and change.

Guy Pearce (Preacher, Thomas Munro), always presents a steady hand on the tiller of any role, never knowingly giving anything other than a quietly strong performance, providing gravitas to his characters and bringing just the right amount of confident presence to his role, allowing space for the story and other characters to shine through.

A strong start to the festival and as Director, Tamahori, indicated himself – whilst he understands the necessity and practice of film releases having early, it not exclusive, presence on streaming services (contractually The Convert had to be given cinematic releases both in New Zealand and Australia), there is something different and special about big screen depictions of sweeping landscapes and battle scenes such as those offered up by The Convert itself.

And another reason why film festivals are becoming ever more important in providing a platform not only to indie productions and filmmakers to audiences in general, but for providing opportunity for even bigger-budget films to be shown on the big screen, where there may otherwise be none.

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Visit https://manchesterfilmfestival.com/ for tickets, passes and the schedule for the next week.