These stories continue the tale, the titan, the cinematic feast that has been Manchester Film Festival 2026.

For Psychopomp, The Good Boy and Father, Mother, Sister and Brother, see Manchester Film Festival 2026 – the stories so far…(part 1)

Day 3 – North West Shorts 1

Love me a Short, I do, and this package didn’t let anyone down on the eclectic, the bold, the funny, the dark and the downright dramatic of it all.

Picking out a couple of highlights…

• How to Wash a Body, How to Cleanse a Soul

[Directed by Luke Bather, starring Ralph Ineson and Lewis Gribben)…the first time Jack ever meets Richard, his biological Dad, is two hours before Richard’s funeral, where he’s been asked to wash and dress the body.

When Richard’s lifeless body starts talking back to him, Jack realises he’s got a second chance at a first meeting.

Interestingly enough, it came to be that this was the first of two films I was to see at the festival to feature the spiritual washing of the deceased.

Moving and surreal in equal measure,

And with the inimitable tones of Ralph Ineson, there was no mistaking that there was still life on the old body yet. What follows is a bittersweet and moving first hello and last goodbye between late father and son. A ‘what could have been’, perhaps ‘was at one point’, could even be ‘actually taking place right there’, relationship between a man and his boy.

Shot and presented simply in both narrative and production, it is for us, the audience, to decree why the son had grown up without a father, whether the insights ‘provided’ by the father were based on unlocked memories or overheard anecdotes from relatives, and whether the unanswered calls from the mother bookending the film would eventually be accepted and what the conversation would he that would ensue?

The greatest shorts for me are those that leave you craving more before and after story, but also that leave you satisfied in the form just experienced.

And so onto…

• The Robinsons’ Family BBQ

I imagine that there are those who would complain that this should come with a trigger warning.

[Produced by Ross Thompson & Ward J. Harries, directed by James Longman & Ross Thompson, written by Ward J.Harries & James Longman, starring Karen Henthorn, Sonya Nisa et al… Set in the 2018 World Cup, England v Croatia. The Robinson’s have their annual BBQ. This one shot, short film is a slice of British life, does a vegan lasagne ruin a bbq?

It’s the mess that is the on mass familial gathering. When those who love each other, collide with those who are driven mad by each other, where gritted teeth and passive aggression are the tools used to negotiate and survive the bonds that tie. None of this prose is autobiographical at all of course. Or biographical about anyone I know in life.

Of course.

This one-shot film (think Boiling Point, Adolescence) is so styled that it takes you right into the action. The unseen, uninvited guest that is just there to ‘enjoy the show’. The show being that inevitable group of beings that make up the family, the extended family, the old and the not so old, and the son’s wife who brings a vegan lasagne that despite warnings from her husband that it will bomb and confuse, indeed causes her upset when it bombs and confuses.

In fact the Q&A afterwards revealed that the working title was indeed Vegan Lasagne, but was changed with the hope of turning this short into a series of Robinson Family event chronicles. I would happily gatecrash to witness more of the dynamics that make up this insufferable group. As long, of course, that the means for Irish Goodbye are firmly in place the moment it all gets a bit tasty and the selfie stick comes out…

Day 4 – The Oldham Man & The Sea

When Frank Rothwell is in the building, you know that Frank Rothwell is in the building.

And I mean this with all the positivity in the world.

At 70 years old, Frank takes on the Atlantic Ocean alone, because why make things easy now? In a small rowing boat and with no one to answer to, he sets out to break a world record and quietly defy everything society expects of age, sense, and self-preservation. What unfolds is a brutal, often beautiful battle between one very stubborn man and a vast, indifferent sea.

A tour de force, Frank Rothwell didn’t need a microphone when he stood up front to introduce his documentary, alongside Directors Colin Offland and Marc Ingham. A living, breathing preview of what we were about to see on the big screen, an emotional Frank paid tribute to clearly the love of his life, wife, Judith, and entertained us all with a rousing rendition of The Wanderer.

Inspirational, Aspirational, all the ationals, I could watch Frank on his boat for hours and hours. This film is a lesson in bravery, belief and downright bloody-mindedness. As Frank’s Dad told him, and Frank told us,

You’re never too old

Setting out to raise money for Alzheimer’s break a record or two, all whilst completing the small matter of rowing 3000 miles unassisted across the Atlantic Ocean, we witness Frank preparing physically and practically for the event, making new friends along the way, and finally with a self-operated camera, the everyday gruel of what it is to set sail alone, with only the ocean (and an elf) to keep you company.

It’s a brilliantly sweet, sweary, empowering show-stopping film about a powerhouse attitude and determination to show the world what you can do when you put your mind to it.

And in the Q&A afterwards (started single-handed by Frank himself as he bounded down from his cinema-seat and stood at the front asking ‘who’s got a question!’ (as festival organisers trailed in his wake with a microphone and a redundantly prepared introductory speech.

And he delighted as he delivered a monologue which proactively volunteered the answers to any questions we all may have had. But the biggest and best revelation of the session was that the best fuel for such an endeavour is…the legendary food staple that is the pot noodle (which is what I always suspected, to be quite honest…).

Day 6 – The Curse

It was time some good old horror. And this Japanese cinematic offering fed my soul.

[Starring Ray Fan, Yukino Kaizu, Mimi Shao Riko], a beauty salon receptionist notices her friend Shu-fen’s strange social media posts. As horrific deaths occur, she travels to Taiwan and unravels community horrors and desire with her ex and Shu-fen’s sister…

I mean. A horror film opening up with scenes of a screaming woman running from an unknown force isn’t a unique affair. But I will tell you know, what the hand of fate was to deal this poor soul in terms of final breaths and discarded body parts was like nothing I’ve ever seen. I did gasp in delight but that’s something for me and my therapist to dissect.

Social media horror is or should be a genre in its own right. The scariest set-ups for me are in the context of the ordinary and of the familiar.

And whilst, granted, there are quite a few users within the world of insta that could quite easily be described as possessed, it’s a little more worrying when prior to their insane rants and attention-seeking posturing they posted only inspirational quotes and pictures of their cats.

Demonic possessions and curse-ridden communities are a well-trodden trope which makes it even harder to sell and to scare to the horror fan and aficionado. But done well and with a clever cocktail of social media, bleeding eyes, decapitation(s), dog-eating (stay with me) and chanting, you can have 94 minutes of sheer poetry and jump-scares.

And so began my love affair with Japanese horror.

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What a mix, eh? And so much more rewarding than your regular weekly menu of offerings at the pictures.

Film festivals are a gift and a wake-up call from the vanilla experience that regular cinema-going can offer.

And with that, there’s actually one additional film that I took myself off to on the final day that was Day 11. But I’ll leave that for what will now be part 3 of my Manchester Film Festival blog series (part 3 just nudged it into series status).

For more details, a retrospective of this year’s and submission information for next year’s, visit Manchester Film Festival