‘BIFA PRESENTS’ AT PICTUREVILLE CINEMA
BIFA is excited to be partnering with National Science and Media Museum and Pictureville Cinema on Bradford: A City of Film, a programme of independent film across the Bradford District.
We’ll be digging into the archives to present BIFA-winning and nominated films which complement selected film seasons throughout the year, as well as showcasing the best new British cinema from 2025’s BIFA nominees.
‘BIFA Presents’ kicked off with MOON on Sunday 4th May and continues with EAST IS EAST on Sat 7th June. Watch this space for more programme updates.
PAST EVENTS
SAT 7 JUNE 6.30pm
pictureville Cinema, National Science and Media Museum, Bradford BD1 1NQ
BIFA PRESENTS: EAST IS EAST 15
WINNER: BEST SCREENPLAY / NOMINATED: THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD (BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR) 1999
Our second film with Pictureville is the debut feature of Damien O’Donnell, a wry comedy-drama following a Pakistani chip shop owner’s efforts to raise his kids amid cultural tensions in 1970s Salford.
For the seven kids of George Khan, life is one long compromise. Tomboy Meenah prefers playing football to wearing a sari, hippie Saleem pretends to be studying engineering when he’s really at art school, heart-throb Tariq has got a reputation as a local Casanova, and Sajid hasn’t even been circumcised yet. For George Khan (‘Ghengis’ to his kids), life is an uphill battle to get his family to conform to traditional Pakistani values. But this is Salford in the 1970s: George’s English wife Ella is Lancashire born, and his kids have got minds of their own.
Tickets: £8.50/£6.50 concessions
northern youth
Northern Youth is a celebration of northern young identity in cinema. Bradford is one of the UK’s youngest cities with a significant portion of its population under 25, and this season champions the bold and blistering spirit of youthful northern characters, actors, film-makers, writers, and mavericks. Punky and poetic, powerful and punchy, this season celebrates northern youth in all its glory.
The season is curated for Bradford 2025 by Dominic Leclerc, the Bradford-born, raised and based director of Sex Education, Skins and Shameless, and the upcoming Bradford-set feature Flesh and Flamingos about queer northern youth. His passion for complex and daring stories about youth drive this rebellious and raw season.
The selections in Northern Youth span several decades, from a ’60s British New Wave classic celebrating teenage rebellion, to a provocative contemporary film debut about consent. The stories transport us from the back streets of Salford, to the majestic Yorkshire moors; from the Liverpool of a teenage boy’s lyrical imagination, to the underbelly of Nottingham’s council estates. The stories are unique and bursting with youthful spirit: from a group of ’80s skinheads exploring their collective and individual identity, to a teenage girl in Yorkshire pushing at the realms of her sexuality, from a young northern rebel boldly defying authority, to a group of adolescents navigating their bodies and emotions on their first clubbing holiday. Together, these films celebrate northern youth in all its complexity—championing diversity, the individual experience, and both the frailty and wonder of being on the cusp of adulthood. Find out more….
Sun 4 MAY 6.10pm
pictureville Cinema, National Science and Media Museum, Bradford BD1 1NQ
BIFA PRESENTS: moon 15 (35mm)
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM 2009 / THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD (BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR) 2009
Kicking off our screening partnership with Bradford: A City of Film we are delighted to present Moon, the BIFA-winning 2009 debut of director Duncan Jones at Pictureville Cinema in original 35mm.
Astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet’s power problems.
BEYOND EARTH
Moon is part of Beyond Earth, Bradford’s beloved season of sci-fi. From 2 to 5 May film fans can journey far from home with a collection of classic films that define the genre. Featuring archive prints, family favourites, and the jaw-dropping spectacle of Pictureville’s curved Cinerama screen, your front-row seat to an interstellar journey awaits. Find out more here
BRADFORD: A CITY OF FILM
Bradford: A City of Film is co-produced by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and National Science and Media Museum with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery. You can find more information about the programme of events here
