Northern Ireland youth film festival offering over 5,000 free places at cinema screenings for kids

The largest youth-focused film festival in the world is now underway with more than 5,100 free places at special screenings for children in Northern Ireland.

The Into Film Festival 2024 is a UK-wide celebration that puts film at the heart of children and young people’s education by helping educators bring learning to life for 5-19-year-olds. The 2024 Festival will run until 29 November and includes 45 Northern Ireland screenings at 17 cinemas and community venues.

Sean Kelly, Into Film’s Northern Ireland Programme Lead, said: “The Festival aims to inspire young people not just to watch a film but to use it in new, creative ways and to also make their own films.

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"Into Film in Northern Ireland has pioneered new and innovative ways to do this including creating learning tools for teachers and home educators including Story Builder, a special pack that gives an understanding of the building blocks of film including story, character and setting to create imaginative narratives using their creative and English skills.”

In addition, there is a review writing competition running alongside the festival to bring literacy and cinema together.

The festival includes a curated programme of the best, hand-picked films for young people and there will be a number of accessible screenings including autism friendly and subtitled shows for those who may be deaf or hard of hearing.

A few highlights include:

• Windsor Park’s press room is being turned into a cinema for a special event geared to young female football enthusiasts. The audience members will get to tour Windsor Park followed by a screening of Copa 71: The Lost Lionesses, the story of the 1971 Women’s Football World Cup followed and a very special Q&A with a member of the NI Women’s Football team.

• At the Imaginarium in Newry young people can enjoy Into Film’s Replay Video Game arcade – a chance for pupils to play on games consoles from across the decades, then enjoy a screening of the Super Mario Bros Movie.

• There will also be an Irish language screening of Puffin Rock in the Duncairn Arts Centre.

Screenings will be held at key cinemas including QFT, Movie House, Omniplex, Odeon and Cineworld. In addition, there will also be screenings in community venues such as Newcastle Community Cinema, Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre, Flowerfield Arts Centre, The Alley Theatre, Portico Arts & Heritage Centre.

For more information about all screenings and events, go to https://www.intofilm.org/events/festival

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