Paracnema is back for 2024

QUAD’s festival of films outside the mainstream, Paracinema, returns to the venue from the 3rd-6^th May with a packed long weekend of horror, sci-fi and cult cinema, featuring a range of feature films, UK premieres, short film showcases, talks and more with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery.

Paracinema will be presenting a number of classic screenings over the weekend, with a 25^th Anniversary Screening of found-footage horror classic The Blair Witch Project. Cult Film Club will also be returning to the festival with an underground favourite, the gothic rock musical Repo: The Genetic Opera.

Similarly, the festival will be loaded with a series of fresh features and short films, including our day of British movies on Sunday 5^th May, featuring the noir-thriller Burnt Flowers, the horror anthology The Pocket Film of Superstitions, the Derbyshire-shot crime drama Nothing Goes and the innovative dystopian movie Interlopers. This will be followed by a panel discussion with all four directors about their work and the UK film industry at large.

As always, Paracinema will be presenting plenty of horror, with imaginative US feature The Activated Man featuring horror stalwarts Kane Hodder and Tony Todd, as well as a fresh adaptation of HP Lovecraft’s The Old Ones. This year, the event will be presenting the UK premiere of Earthbound, USA exploring the curious background of one of the best-known video games of all time.

As well as all these screenings, there will be guest talks on found footage movies (with director Sarah Appleton) and the many rip-offs of Star Wars (with film historian Darrell Buxton), along with the ever-popular Paracinema Quiz. The festival will also be offering three short film showcases, bringing together some of the best from 2 to 25 minutes from around the world.

A spokesperson from QUAD said: ‘We’re really excited to welcome Paracinema back for another great year. We’d encourage all film fans to pop to QUAD during the May bank holiday to check out a film or two to broaden their movie horizons!’

Festival co-ordinator Alex Davis said: ‘This year’s line-up for Paracinema is vibrant and varied, and with both individual tickets and passes available people can either dip their toe into the waters or take the splash and join us for all four days! We’ve got some fascinating movies that you’re not likely to see on the big screen elsewhere, and I can’t wait to get stuck in!’

Paracinema begins at QUAD on the evening of Friday 3^rd May and concludes on the evening of Monday 6^th May. For more information on Paracinema, and to book your tickets, visit https://paracinema.co.uk/.