Official Selection: How Do You Do?

Our fourth strand, How Do You Do?, considers the ties that bind: from fleeting acquaintances and everyday encounters to lifetimes of devotion, affection, and kinship. Whether you’re looking to laugh, find thrills or dip into documentary, there will be something to inspire and elate you here. This selection includes feature-length Korean drama Mother Midnight, the story of a grief-stricken twenty-something whose life is imploding.

Various times and locations

The Future of Storytelling: Ridley Scott Associates

Ridley Scott Associates is a global production company founded by the iconic directors Ridley and Tony Scott. Their best-known films include Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982) and The Martian (2015). In this session, director Tom Dream, ECD Christine Jones and social media executive Yelita Ali discuss translating ideas from the commercial to the personal.

11:30-12:30 | Yorkshire Museum

Networking: Casting Independent Film

The casting process remains one of the most crucial elements of any film or television production. To facilitate this, agents, casting directors and filmmakers regularly turn to Spotlight, an incredible platform that helps connect performers with exciting new ventures. Join Spotlight’s team of casting consultants with BIFA-winning casting director Carolyn McLeod, whose work includes the acclaimed Boiling Point, to unpack the finer points of the casting process.

12:00-13:30 | York Theatre Royal Upper Foyer

Acquisition and Audiences: Channel 4 on Feature Film

Over the years, Channel 4’s feature film department has produced some hugely acclaimed award-winners, from Slumdog Millionaire to 12 Years a Slave. Dan Borgonon, Editor for Acquired Feature Film at Channel 4, is responsible for the negotiation and purchase of some of the most exciting content to make it to our screens. He leads a masterclass on the changing role of the moving image in the expanding online sphere.

14:30-15:30 | Yorkshire Museum

Diversifying Cinema: Levelling the Playing Field

Who is being represented in the films being made? Who makes these decisions? How can we change this? Delphine Lievens is a freelance distribution consultant, focusing on uplifting marginalised voices. In this session, she invites us to raise our expectations of the film industry to create a more representative distribution and exhibition model.

14:30-15:30 | York Explore

New Wave: Understanding The Body as a Creative Site

This showcase celebrates the future of the fashion media, communication and performance industries through a shared understanding of the body as a creative site. These 16 short films bring to life complex themes of identity and culture, embracing new and innovative ways of rethinking practice and process. Ariel’s Freedom, an innovative take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Roomies, an absurdist fashion film inspired by Miu Miu, are amongst the selection.

16:00-17:00 | City Screen

Writing Real Life: Tony Schumacher

Long before he became an actor (in shows like Shameless) and a screenwriter, the Liverpool-born Tony Schumacher worked as a jeweller, a bouncer, a roofer, a barman and a binman, before crucially taking up a role as a response policeman. He poured those experiences into his acclaimed BBC police drama The Responder, starring Martin Freeman. Here, he talks to BBC Writersroom’s Chantelle Lunt about the process of adapting real life into drama.

17:30-18:30 | Yorkshire Museum

VR & 360 Soirée

The VR and Tech Soiré is the ideal destination for those working in new technologies, offering guests the opportunity to congregate and contemplate the future of immersive filmmaking. Generate ideas about the future potential for VR entertainment at York Theatre Royal, where a free welcome drink will get you in the mood for mingling.

17:30-18:30 | York Theatre Royal Upper Foyer

We Are Parable: Seeing Ourselves

These six films explore what happens when we pause and understand who we are. From estranged friends coming together to true-life interventions to a stranger in a café delivering an eerie message, these stories encourage us to look deeper in ourselves. Flight and Sugarcake are two Jamaican-made films receiving their UK premieres after being shown at We Are Parable’s first international event, The Shot List.

19:30-21:00 | Friargate

Friday Night Party

Head to 1331 on York’s vibrant Grape Lane for our renowned Friday Night Party, as the 12th Aesthetica Short Film Festival moves into a weekend of social events and inspiring cinema. This is a great chance to hook up with new friends, connect with industry members and get ready for the busy days ahead.

20:00-23:00 | 1331