Spirit of Independence Film Festival 2024

Spirit of Independence Film Festival returns to the Showroom for its sixth year, celebrating the best in diverse, independent cinema from around the world. The event showcases feature and short films, industry-focussed talks, Q&As and special events.

Friday 27th is opening night! Starting at 6:30pm there is a 40th anniversary screening of the cult classic Trancers followed by the 80s throwback animation Dinonauts.

Saturday sees a combination of short films, features, talks and special events. The festival’s short film representation include a showcase of the best established and emerging talent in it’s Independent Spirit sections and a special screening of shorts from colleges and universities as part of Screen Yorkshire’s Connected Campus scheme in our Youthful Spirit. There will also be a special themed block of shorts centred around representation of health and disability on screen in the Enduring Spirit section.

Features screened include the U.K. premiere of the heartwarming ode to low-budget filmmaking Zombie Film with Grandpas and Grandmas, the German single-take horror Home, Sweet Home and the charming relationship comedy-drama Late Bloomers.

The event will host a live podcast event with The Directors’ Take on Saturday afternoon with special guest producer Chris Hees talking about navigating awards ceremonies and what the Oscars are really like.

Sunday sees the festival open up with the gritty northern crime-drama Reputation a showcase of northern-made films in the Northern Spirit section and our celebration of emerging talent with the Rising Spirit section. Features screening that day include the Laos-based drama Satu - Year of the Rabbit and the sci-fi rom-com Molli and Max in the Future.

Both Saturday and Sunday will feature industry-based talks on subjects such as casting, film finance, costume design, fight choreography and going to the Oscars…! Further details can be found at www.soifilmfestival.com.

See the festival passes available here.

Upcoming films & events

Spirit of Independence: Trancers (40th Anniversary) 15: English; Obsessive cop Jack Deth travels through time in pursuit of an evil criminal who transforms innocent people into mindless… Trancers! 40th anniversary screening

Spirit of Independence: Dinonauts 18: English; Labour of love tribute to 80s animation in which prehistoric dinosaurs in possession of advanced technology explore the vastness of space on a daring mission.

Spirit of Independence: Special Events: Sat 28 Sep 00:00; Spirit of Independence Film Festival will be holding a series of industry-based talks, Q & As and special events during the weekend. All events will take place in Showroom 5 except where specified.

Spirit of Independence: Youthful Spirit - Shorts 18: Youthful Spirit showcases the best student films from Screen Yorkshire’s Connected Campus scheme.

Spirit of Independence: Enduring Spirit - Shorts 18: Enduring Spirit explores disability and illness through creative, optimistic, and challenging stories, including the documentary The Other 90 Percent, heartwarming Us and In Between, dramedy Ecstasy, and drama Fly Free.

Spirit of Independence: Director's Take - Podcast CTBA: The festival is delighted to be welcoming the popular ‘Director’s Take’ podcast, hosted by Oz Arshad and Marcus Thomas for a very special live podcast.

Spirit of Independence: Independent Spirit - Shorts 18: Independent Spirit collection highlights experienced indie filmmakers, displaying their unique storytelling and creative possibilities with larger budgets. Featured films include Sister Wives starring Mia McKenna-Bruce.

Spirit of Independence: Zombie Film Grandpa and Grandmas 18: Mandarin; Documentarian Tza-Juo Hsu attempts to offset her Grandma’s encroaching dementia by staging an epic zombie movie featuring residents of her retirement village.

Spirit of Independence: Late Bloomers 18: English; An aimless Brooklynite meets a cranky elderly Polish woman who speaks no English leading to a job caring for her. Neither likes it, but it's time to grow up.

Spirit of Independence: Home Sweet Home - Where Evil Lives 15: German; Chilling one-take thriller in which heavy pregnant Maria is alone in a remote country house with an unnatural presence… and then her contractions begin.

Spirit of Independence: Rising Spirit - Shorts 18: The festival celebrates micro-budget filmmaking with the Rising Spirit showcase on Sunday.

Spirit of Independence - Festival Passes 18: All different passes for the festival are available here, including full weekend, and individual day passes.

Spirit of Independence: Reputation 18: English; Reputation. It’s everything. For drug dealer Wes, it’s something which will push him to the limit.

Spirit of Independence: Northern Spirit - Shorts 18: Sunday also honours the best northern-based filmmakers in the Northern Spirit section, curated by the Showroom-run Young Programmers.

Spirit of Independence: Satu - Year of the Rabbit 18: 2024; Bo flees Laos in pursuit of a life in photojournalism. Along the way, she encounters Satu, a Buddhist orphan who might just have the story she's looking for

Spirit of Independence - Awards Ceremony: Prior to the screening of Molli and Max in the Future, the festival will be hosting it’s award ceremony where awards will be presented for the Northern Spirit and Youthful Spirit categories as well as best short, feature and performances.

Spirit of Independence: Molli and Max in the Future 18: English; When Harry Met Sally meets Futurama as Molli and Max fall in and out of love against a background of flying cars, time travel dates and dubious space cults.