Borderlines Film Festival 2021

Tom Grieve, Contributing Writer

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Borderlines Film Festival

26 March-11 April 2021

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Borderlines Film Festival
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Borderlines 2021 is a virtual festival featuring 32 feature film previews, along with director and talent Q&As for you to watch from home. The stacked programme features some of the biggest and most anticipated titles from the world of independent film, from Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan in Francis Lee’s bracing period romance Ammonite to Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman in Florian Zeller’s adaptation of his own stage play, The Father.

Our picks of the fest include Kelly Reichardt’s quietly astounding frontier fable First Cow and Minari, a gentle depiction of childhood and the immigrant struggle as a Korean-American family stakes its claim on the American Dream in 1980s rural Arkansas. Away from the big names, The Salt in Our Waters is a startling, well-observed tale of culture-clash which sees a worldly, modern artist journey to a small fishing village on a mangrove isle on the Bangladeshi Delta.

You’ll want to book passes or individual tickets quickly for this one, as there is a limited allocation of virtual seats for each title.

Where to go near Borderlines Film Festival 2021

Grafton Arms
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Grafton Arms

Classic pub just off Oxford Road, newly revamped into a standout live venue and drinking destination.

Proloco
Manchester
Restaurant
Proloco

Honest Crust’s Richard Carver and Rainy Heart’s Dan Hope join forces at Proloco, a music-led Ancoats restaurant serving 18-inch pizzas and seasonal plates.

City Centre
Restaurant
GiGi Gusto Griglia

GiGi is a lavish Italian restaurant just off Deansgate, with 1950s décor and a menu that sticks to the classics.

Blackburn
Restaurant
Northcote

Northcote’s Michelin-starred restaurant is the jewel in the crown of the Ribble Valley. We get a first look at the new autumnal menu.

Cumbria
Restaurant
Pentonbridge Inn

Pentonbridge Inn is a Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms in north Cumbria. Eight courses of bunkum-free fine dining from head chef Chris Archer.

Manchester
Restaurant
Dahlia Stereo

Dahlia Stereo is a Latin American-inspired open-fire kitchen and bar off the Northern Quarter’s Stevenson Square, with a pitch perfect soundsystem.

Balance Taproom
Manchester
Restaurant
Balance Taproom

Manchester has a glut of taprooms, and Balance Brewing’s is far and away the best. Drinks, decor, service – all a cut above.

Richard Hards ‘Strangeways’
Manchester
Gallery
Moon Grove

A Georgian front room in Rusholme houses Moon Grove, an independent gallery with an unusually ambitious international programme.

In Focus: Chinese Contemporary Art.
Manchester
Gallery
New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery

New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery opened in 2016, providing a permanent space to showcase the University of Salford Art Collection within the New Adelphi School of Arts and Media.

Cumbria
Restaurant
1863 Restaurant

1863 offers a seven-course Lake District tasting menu that overdelivers at every turn. Cumbrian ingredients, clever ideas and classical cooking techniques.

City Centre
Bar or Pub
Schofield’s Bar

Schofield’s could be Manchester’s most grown-up bar. Very precise drinks in an upmarket city centre venue. It’s not cheap, hey, but true class costs.

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