What's On

Join nasty boys Tom Lawrinson and Sam O’Leary for an exclusive screening of four brand new comedy shorts. Special guests, mad laughs, gorgeous singing voices. All of our screenings are 18+ unless otherwise stated, and the event start time is as advertised above. Content Warnings: Two very nasty boys

Interference strikes back once again with some mid-week monster mayhem - presenting a rare screening of the stone-cold cult classic PUMPKINHEAD!! Pumpkinhead marks the late Stan Winston's directorial debut, he was probably better known for his make-up and SFX work on legendary films such as Aliens, Terminator 2, Predator 1 &2 and Jurassic Park to name bit a few...this time however, he decided to ...

“ I imagined a summer peach with its perfect colors, and inside, there is a worm. ” - Agnès Varda Young carpenter François and his wife Thérèse lead an seemingly idyllic life with their two children in a small suburb outside of Paris. When François meets an attractive post office employee while working in the next town over, he casually begins an affair that he believes can only supplement his ex...

UrbanArtistry Presents... Painting Dhaka A film by Lukas Zeilinger An art project in the slums of Bangladesh — and a question: How corrupted is our view of a corrupt country? What begins as a cinematic accompaniment to a children's graffiti workshop in the poorest quarters of Dhaka, unfolds over the course of the film, into a fully-fledged documentary thriller about the real swamp of the nation:...

Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of a handful of films that punctuate the very life-blood of cinematic history. Intensely brutal with very little reprieve or consideration for the audience, it came...

A provocative and acclaimed synthesis of historical melodrama, murder mystery and gothic ghost tale. One of the most personal films by Guillermo del Toro, The Devil’s Backbone is also among his most frightening and emotionally layered. Set during the final week of the Spanish Civil War, it tells the tale of a twelve-year-old boy who, after his freedom-fighting father is killed, is sent to a haunt...

Sleep all day, party all night, never grow old. It's fun to be a vampire. When a single mother and her two sons move to the sleepy seaside California town of Santa Carla, they discover much more than they anticipated. Sam and his older brother Michael are all-American teens with all-American interests but things mysteriously begin to change and the boys become convinced that Santa Carla is home to...

Every Family Has It's Dark Secrets... Director Kim Jee-woon (A Bittersweet Life, I Saw The Devil) made his international reputation with this richly conceived, stylishly shot, and genuinely scary chiller, one of the key films of the Korean New Wave. Released from a mental institution, Su-mi returns to their country home with her father and her younger sister, Su-yeon, only to face her cold stepm...

From the visionary mind of Ari Aster comes a dread-soaked cinematic fairytale where a world of darkness unfolds in broad daylight. Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the my...

THE ROAD OF EXCESS is a raw, moving, and often humorous feature documentary that explores the pitfalls of celebrity culture through the eyes of Welsh skate legend and ex-Dirty Sanchez star, Mathew Pritchard. After a decade of extreme stunts, substance abuse, and the chaotic whirlwind of MTV fame, Pritchard finds himself at a crossroads. Seeking redemption and a way to quiet his inner demons, he ...

The year is 2013. Its been 16 years since Snake Plissken's legendary rescue of the President from the prison island of Manhattan. In the years since a new President has taken power and declared the United States to be a land of moral absolutes: no smoking, no red meat, no alternative religious beliefs, no unapproved marriages - no freedom. A massive earthquake – The Big One – has hit Los Angeles, ...

Membrana is the Latin word for film, and we are incredibly excited to bring the Membrana Film Festival to you, and to dig deep into the roots of the magic that is filmmaking. Our opening session presents a selection of short films from around the world, curated to take you on a journey. And we are honoured to present several UK Premieres within this screening session. We open with the tender a...

Cheryl is a twentysomething black lesbian, living in Philadelphia and struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful and elusive 1930s black film actress popularly known as “The Watermelon Woman.” While uncovering the meaning of Fae Richards’ life, Cheryl experiences a total upheaval in her own personal life. Each answer Cheryl discovers about the Watermelon Woman evokes a flurr...

Dream of Liberation (narrative feature) and When The Tiger Roars (short) The Membrana Film Festival invites you to enjoy a narrative short film and feature film. The short When The Tiger Roars has had a strong festival run, including selection at 4 Oscar-qualifying Film Festivals. Its Director, Lam Can-zhao, won the Special Prize of the Generation Kplus International Jury at Berlinale in 2024 f...

Jamie Babbit's audacious feature debut But I'm a Cheerleader has earned its place as a bona fide LGBTQ+ cult classic. Initially dismissed by critics upon its release in 1999, the film has since been rightfully celebrated for its pioneering lesbian representation, razor-sharp satire, and gleeful dismantling of gender stereotypes and conversion therapy. Set in the candy-coloured world of True Direc...

The Membrana Film Festival is a big advocate of Experimental filmmaking, and it gives us great pleasure to present 2 short films, and a feature film from the Experimental genre. These films truly push the boundaries of the filmmaking process, and are a real credit and homage to the Experimental genre – if that’s your thing, then don’t miss the chance to see these films on the big screen. Rather t...

Leaning all the way into the bad taste accusations of melodrama, (what else would you expect from the Pope of Trash?) filth maestro John Waters took advantage of his biggest budget yet to allow his muse Divine to sink his teeth into a role unlike any he had played before: Baltimore housewife Francine Fishpaw, a heroine worthy of a Douglas Sirk melodrama. Blessed with a keen sense of smell and cur...

Ezequiel & Estevão (narrative feature), and The Immigrant (short) You are in for a real treat with these selections. The Immigrant is a short animated film by Nilram Ranjbar, who made the film at the young age of 12, to make animation of this quality at any age is an achievement, to make it at that age deserves a special round of applause. Our feature film in this session is Ezequiel & Estevão, ...

The Membrana Film Festival presents a second selection of short films from around the world. Let us take you on a curated journey across narrative, documentary, and animation. These films are heavy, with deep and important messaging, and are a reflection on lived experiences from different corners of the planet. And we are honoured to present several UK Premieres within this screening session. H...

Cartapesta: Carnival of Fano - The Movie (documentary feature), and Papa Carlo Theatre (special screening short) It doesn’t get any more special than Papa Carlo Theatre, directed by Rao Heidmets. It’s an animated film made with stop-motion and puppetry that was nominated for the Cannes Palme d’Or in 1989. Rao’s film Idyll won Best Short Film and Best Animated Film at last year’s Membrana Film Fe...