Flatpack

Dissimilated Visions

Thu 21st March — Sat 23rd March

Located in the Film Bug Hub, Dissimilated Visions is a single screen installation of some of the finest ...

Victorian Magic Lantern Show

12:00 — 13:30 Thu 21st March

Join the University of Birmingham for this experience in time travel back to the 1890s, with exciting ...

Pedal-powered cinema

12:00 — 16:00 Thu 21st March

If you’re seeking entertainment and exercise on your lunchbreak, here’s both in one handy ...

A Taste of Flatpack

17:30 — 18:45 Thu 21st March

If you’re dipping your toes into the Flatpack bath for the first time then this is the screening ...

Kopf Kino

Thu 21st March — Sat 23rd March

A converted shopping trolley that projects your face onto the nearest building.

Safety Last!

20:00 — 22:00 Thu 21st March

Great Western Arcade becomes a cinema for the evening, playing host to a rip-roaring Harold Lloyd comedy ...

Sol Cinema

Fri 22nd March — Sat 23rd March

A caravan converted into a solar-powered picturehouse - easily the smallest cinema at this year's ...

Songs and Dances of Death

13:00 — 16:00 Fri 22nd March

Over the course of three weeks Birmingham Opera Company are presenting a series of pop-up performances ...

Musictube

16:00 — 17:00 Fri 22nd March

Some of the best of 2012's music videos from all over the world.

Secret Screenings

16:00 — 20:00 Fri 22nd March

Behind the hidden door you’ll find a delightful little cinema, but how to find it?

Subterraneans

17:30 — 19:00 Fri 22nd March

Beneath our feet, the city is riddled with miles of underground roads, abandoned subways, service ...

Grey Gardens

18:00 — 20:30 Fri 22nd March

One-of-a-kind documentary by the Maysles Brothers, selected and introduced by Alice Lowe (Sightseers).

Chasing Ice

18:00 — 20:00 Fri 22nd March

Established in early 2010 The Birmingham Co-operative Film Society and The Co-operative ...

While it Lasts

18:00 — 20:00 Fri 22nd March

David Raymond Conroy / Benedict Drew / Matthew Ferguson Joanne Masding / Hannah Perry / Matthew Noel-Tod ...

Oh To Be in England

18:00 — 21:00 Fri 22nd March

Launching a bricolage of sounds, documentary films and memorabilia, exploring the anarchic spirit of the ...

Keyhole

20:30 — 22:00 Fri 22nd March

World cinema purveyors, Birmingham International Film Society present Guy Maddin’s Keyhole.

Good Vibrations

21:00 — 23:00 Fri 22nd March

This biopic of Terri Hooley sparkles with 70s fashion, oodles of charm and a brilliant soundtrack.

Colour Bugs: Animal Magic

11:00 — 11:55 Sat 23rd March

A spinoff from our Colour Box programme delving deep into the animal kingdom.

Invisible Architecture

12:00 — 13:30 Sat 23rd March

Birmingham is a city known for its stark public buildings, planning misadventures and fervent commercial ...

Colour Bugs: Creature Features

12:00 — 12:55 Sat 23rd March

From playful pigeons to gormless goats, this shorts programme continues on the animal theme.

Short and Swede

12:00 — 13:40 Sat 23rd March

Lo-fi, crass and genuinely funny truncated versions of popular feature films.

8mm Cine Club

12:30 — 16:00 Sat 23rd March

Set up last year at Wednesfield Community Centre, 8mm Cine Club is a place to screen old film reels ...

Cityscapes

13:00 — 13:55 Sat 23rd March

Filmmakers explore the notion of the ‘city’ using animation, documentary, and abstract film in this ...

Surreal Enigmas

14:00 — 15:00 Sat 23rd March

Screening to mark his recent centenary, Surreal Enigmas (dir: Silvano Levy, UK 1995, 15 mins) features an ...

Nightlife

14:00 — 15:15 Sat 23rd March

A selection of short films and archive gems celebrating the joys of a night on the tiles.

Six Men featuring John Madin

14:00 — 14:30 Sat 23rd March

A fascinating portrait of architect John Madin in 1964, with the city in the palm of his hand and Central ...

The Name’s not Bond

14:00 — 15:30 Sat 23rd March

NBCQ presents a panel celebrating a new era in our rich British film culture whilst asking - how do we ...

Urbanized

14:20 — 16:00 Sat 23rd March

The third and final installment in Gary Hustwit's design trilogy.

KINO 10: ROFLOL

15:00 — 16:45 Sat 23rd March

Well, maybe not rolling on the floor, but there’s sure to be plenty of lolz in this selection of shorts ...

Flying Blind

16:00 — 18:00 Sat 23rd March

A post-9/11 take on the paranoid thrillers of the Cold War, with a dash of sexual drama.

Re-Animating a Dead Python: Animation Forum Talk

16:00 — 17:30 Sat 23rd March

We’re joining forces with Animation Forum West Midlands again this year, and they’ve invited two ...

The Passion of Joan of Arc

18:30 — 20:00 Sat 23rd March

Dreyer's timeless marvel in Birmingham Cathedral, with live piano by Paul Shallcross.

The Gatekeepers

19:30 — 21:30 Sat 23rd March

A documentary like nothing else at this year's festival with insights into Israel's security agency from ...

NBCQ hosts New British by Night

20:00 — 0:00am Sat 23rd March

Don your stiff upper lip and join us for a party to celebrate a smorgasbord of all things new, British ...

The Queen Ant Made Me Do It!

20:30 — 22:30 Sat 23rd March

Little Earthquake present cult insect horror classic Empire of the Ants.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

16:00 — 17:30 Sun 24th March

Lotte Reiniger's spell-binding 1927 animation, with live dulcimer score by Geoff Smith.

Babeldom

18:00 — 20:15 Sun 24th March

Using footage and visual data gathered from all over, Paul Bush constructs a vision of a future city that ...

Consuming Spirits

20:30 — 22:45 Sun 24th March

Beautifully detailed 16mm animation about a rust-belt town, fifteen years in the making.

Spring Breakers

18:30 — 20:15 Mon 25th March

Harmony Korine brings his particular vein of controversy to this tale of a quartet of restless college ...

Son of Man

19:00 — 21:00 Mon 25th March

A rare screening of Dennis Potter's original telvision play telling the story of Christ.

Picture Houses: exhibition opening

18:00 — 20:00 Tue 26th March

Photographer John Fallon has spent a number of years tracking down former cinemas in varying degrees of ...

One Mile Away

18:30 — 20:45 Tue 26th March

A fascinating documentary from Penny Woolcock on negotiations between rival gangs in Birmingham.

Departure Lounge: Strings

20:30 — 22:30 Tue 26th March

Rob Savage will join us for a screening of his much praised debut about the love -stumblings of four ...

Edgeless Shapes

18:30 — 20:00 Wed 27th March

The first of our animation programmes concentrates on the more hypnotic side of the art with an ...

Celluloid Nights

19:00 — 23:00 Wed 27th March

An evening of analogue film antics at Thinktank, in the birthplace of celluloid.

Unpacked

10:00 — 16:30 Thu 28th March

**Unfortunately this event has been cancelled. All advance ticket holders will be refunded in full.** ...

Birmingham Arts Lab Sessions

Thu 28th March — Sat 30th March

An atmospheric audio installation featuring rare interviews with key players from the Birmingham Arts Lab ...

Lithuanian Animation Retrospective

18:00 — 19:45 Thu 28th March

A lovingly curated programme featuring puppet, hand-drawn, cutout, shadow theatre techniques and computer ...

Opening of Kjersti G. Andvig & Lars Laumann: 999321

18:00 — 20:00 Thu 28th March

999321 is the first collaborative exhibition in the UK by Kjersti G. Andvig and Lars Laumann. The video ...

Shynola: Collected Works

18:15 — 20:30 Thu 28th March

A chance to take stock of Shynola’s terrific back-catalogue, peek inside their sketch-books, and get a ...

Renga

20:30 — 22:00 Thu 28th March

**This event has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control. Apologies for any inconvenience ...

Flatpack Palais Opening

20:30 — 22:30 Thu 28th March

After a week of exciting events in equally exciting places Flatpack is coming home to the Flatpack ...

Eastern Lo-Fi

20:30 — 22:00 Thu 28th March

Dir: Various, 80 mins There are some trailers which make viewing the complete film a new life-priority. ...

Prometheus’ Garden & Other Twisted Tales

21:00 — 22:45 Thu 28th March

A rare opportunity to see legendary underground animator Bruce Bickford's 1988 solo project.

Animation Station: Make Some Movies

11:00 — 16:30 Fri 29th March

HAND-DRAWN ANIMATION WORKSHOPS A chance to make your very own animated film with Peter Millard and Ben ...

Gangs of Digbeth

11:00 — 12:45 Fri 29th March

Later this year the BBC screen a new six-part drama by Steven Knight called Peaky Blinders, about the ...

Basha

Fri 29th March — Sun 31st March

Barbara ‘Basha’ Baranowska was part of the famed Polish Poster School that began in the late 1950s. ...

Pick n Mix 1

11:30 — 13:00 Fri 29th March

Your first chance to see some of the best of this year's submissions.

Colour Box: Flying Colours

13:00 — 14:15 Fri 29th March

Taking the aerial route, these shorts take us on a trip high up into the clouds with animals, people, and ...

Back to the Lab

13:30 — 15:30 Fri 29th March

Barring a Wikipedia entry you can barely find a trace of Birmingham Arts Lab online, but its influence on ...

Tilted Axis

13:30 — 15:00 Fri 29th March

Exploring their subjects with somewhat of a shifted perspective, things aren’t always as they seem in ...

Consuming Spirits (repeat)

13:30 — 15:45 Fri 29th March

Beautifully detailed 16mm animation about a rust-belt town, fifteen years in the making.

Moomins and the Comet Chase

15:00 — 16:30 Fri 29th March

Those delightful little hippo-like creatures are back and in delightful puppet-form.

After the Flood

15:30 — 17:00 Fri 29th March

A whistlestop tour of 1970s Birmingham.

Lars Laumann works

16:00 — 17:00 Fri 29th March

Grand Union and Flatpack present a brief introduction to Lars Laumann’s moving image work. Morrissey ...

Edgeless Shapes (Repeat)

16:00 — 17:30 Fri 29th March

Another chance to see our first animation programme.

IdeasTap Shorts

17:30 — 18:30 Fri 29th March

A chance to see the best of the latest shorts from IdeasTap members.

Possession

17:30 — 20:30 Fri 29th March

Zulawski's psycho sexual break-up melt-down movie mingles horror, tragedy and humour in an unprecedented way.

The Lebanese Rocket Society

17:45 — 20:00 Fri 29th March

The incredible story of the Lebanese space race.

Natural Habitats

18:30 — 19:50 Fri 29th March

Our second animation programme promises both joyous and sombre takes on life.

International Space Orchestra

20:30 — 22:15 Fri 29th March

A group of space scientists from NASA form an orchestra, to perform a piece based on the Apollo 11 mission.

The Bruce Lacey Experience

20:45 — 22:30 Fri 29th March

A chance to delve deeper into the world of Bruce Lacey with this off-beat portrait.

Demdike Stare + Lee Gamble

21:00 — 2:00am Fri 29th March

Live AV sets by two of the best electronic acts around. Expect VHS horror, mangled jungle, fuzzed-out ...

MondoManila

22:45 — 0:20 Fri 29th March

This delirious, trashy slum voyage has emerged from a wave of fresh, street-level filmmaking coming out ...

The Mad Magician

23:00 — 23:59 Fri 29th March

Vincent Price in 3D, complete with whirring buzzsaws!

Animation Station: Make Some Noise

11:00 — 16:30 Sat 30th March

SOUND EFFECTS WORKSHOPS Laura Kloss and Adam Mendez (Foley Sound Recordist ‘Fantastic Mr ...

Cyclomania

11:00 — 16:00 Sat 30th March

A celebration of the two-wheeled velocipede, featuring pedal-powered films, the Cyclotrope, bike polo and ...

Cartoon Rock

11:00 — 12:30 Sat 30th March

Get Saturday started off on the right track, with free films and free cereal, as we turn the Palais into ...

The Posters Came From the Walls

12:00 — 13:45 Sat 30th March

The impact of Depeche Mode is told through the quirky tales of the group's fans in this enjoyable documentary.

Screen-printing workshop

12:30 — 16:00 Sat 30th March

In the thirty years since the Arts Lab press closed down we’ve seen the rise of digital printing, and yet ...

Colour Box: Bugs and Beasts

13:00 — 14:15 Sat 30th March

Cunning birds, wriggly insects, and singing monsters light up this selection of animated shorts.

Piercing Brightness

13:00 — 14:30 Sat 30th March

A tale of alien emissaries and interracial love... in Preston.

The Mind of Evil

13:00 — 16:00 Sat 30th March

The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and his companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning) visit Stangmoor prison to see the ...

Brummies, Boozers and Bruisers

14:00 — 15:30 Sat 30th March

Join Friction Arts and local resident Ray O’Donnell for a kebab and a scuffle. As part of ...

Bicycle Dreams

14:30 — 16:15 Sat 30th March

Stephen Auerbach's magnificent documentary charts the epic challenge of the Race Across America.

The Phantom Tollbooth

15:00 — 16:30 Sat 30th March

The late, great Chuck Jones' only full-length feature comes in the form of this charming oddity.

Soviet Animation in 3D

15:30 — 16:45 Sat 30th March

A rare chance to see some almost-lost 3D treasures from the Soviet Union.

The Quiet Pioneer

16:00 — 17:00 Sat 30th March

An insight into the life and work of the founder of Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sir Barry Jackson.

Pick n Mix 2

17:00 — 18:30 Sat 30th March

Here comes the second helping of the best of this year's submissions.

The Polish Poster and Film

17:15 — 18:45 Sat 30th March

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in graphic, non-photographic film poster art. The ...

Vanishing Waves

18:00 — 20:30 Sat 30th March

This distinctive Lithuanian sci-fi follows a scientist through neural transfer into the consciousness of ...

At the Table

18:30 — 19:30 Sat 30th March

A live multidisciplinary event fuelled by a love of food and feasting.

Only The Young

19:00 — 20:30 Sat 30th March

A beautifully composed snapshot of two teenage Christian skaters in Suburban California played out to old ...

Sarah Angliss

19:00 — 21:00 Sat 30th March

An extraordinary performance from Sarah Angliss in the spirit of Bruce Lacey. Sarah will be performing ...

3D Party

20:00 — 1:00am Sat 30th March

Stereoscopic Saturday night hijinks.

The King

20:30 — 22:10 Sat 30th March

A familiar story is told in an unfamiliar way in this Italian film about Jesus' last days.

Kabaddi

11:30 — 12:45 Sun 31st March

Before Shipwrecked and Popworld, way back before Football Italia, Channel 4′s Sunday morning ...

Making Music with Objects

12:00 — 12:45 Sun 31st March

Videomusician Gabriel Shalom discusses his approach to audiovisual composition and his theory of hypercubism.

Out of the Inkwell

12:30 — 17:00 Sun 31st March

Hailed as the master of Chinese animation, Te Wei (1915–2010) was a pioneering animator and cartoonist. ...

Natural Habitats (Repeat)

13:00 — 14:20 Sun 31st March

Another chance to catch our second animation programme.

Ernest and Celestine

14:00 — 15:30 Sun 31st March

Charming, funny animated tale about a forbidden friendship between a bear and a mouse, by the duo behind ...

Bring Out Your Dead Easter Special

14:00 — 17:30 Sun 31st March

A subsidiary of independent Birmingham label First Fold, Bring Out Your Dead (BOYD) is an AV collective ...

Tilted Axis (Repeat)

16:00 — 17:30 Sun 31st March

Exploring their subjects with somewhat of a shifted perspective, things aren’t always as they seem in ...

Wadjda

18:00 — 19:45 Sun 31st March

Wadjda arrives weighed down not just with festival plaudits but plenty of history too, as the first film ...

The Echo of Astroboy’s Footsteps

18:00 — 19:30 Sun 31st March

An affectionate documentary looking at the career of sound designer Matsuo Ohno in the 1960s.

Eyes on the Prize

19:00 — 23:00 Sun 31st March

As Flatpack 7 slips through our fingers, we gather in the Palais once more to bid farewell to the whole ...

WR – Mysteries of the Organism

20:00 — 21:30 Sun 31st March

If you were looking to mainline the spirit of the late 60s counter-culture you could do a lot worse than ...

A Hijacking

20:30 — 22:20 Sun 31st March

A high quality Scandinavian drama with a woolly jumper nowhere to be seen? Surely not!

Eastern Lo-Fi (Repeat)

22:00 — 23:30 Sun 31st March

There are some trailers which make viewing the complete film a new life-priority.