๐Œ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐…๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐…๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ•
We launch the careers of filmmakers and screenwriters.

๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ ๐ง๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ž๐๐ข๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ง๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐š๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค๐ž๐ญ๐ฌ. ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ'๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐š๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ก ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐š๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐›๐š๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ.

๐‡๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฐ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐›๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐š๐ญ๐žโ€ฆ

๐ŸŽฅ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐›๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐š๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ข
picked up by Netflix (and later the BBC) via Lift-Off's Film Market Representation

๐ŸŽฅ ๐“๐ž๐ž๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž ๐‹๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐› ๐›๐ฒ ๐Œ๐š๐๐ฌ ๐„๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ก๐ฌ๐ž๐ง
Distributed by California Pictures via Lift-Off's Film Market Representation

๐ŸŽฅ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐“๐ซ๐š๐๐ž ๐›๐ฒ ๐Œ๐š๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ
Distributed to Amazon Prime by Indie Rights, Santa Monica. Via Lift-Off's Film Market Representation

๐ŸŽฅ ๐Š๐ž๐ง ๐…๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐›๐ฒ ๐‰๐จ๐ฌ๐ก ๐‹๐š๐ง๐ž๐ซ
Picked up by Devilworks Via Lift-Off's Film Market Representation

๐Ÿ† ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐–๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ˆ๐ง๐œ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ž:
Oscar Winners Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton for the Silent Child, Brian Jordan Alveraz for You Are What I Want and The Gay and Wonderous Life of Caleb Gallow, Stephanie Koenig for The Gay and Wonderous Life of Caleb Gallow, and Charlotte Le Bon for Judith Hotel.

๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿโ€™๐ฌ ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ๐œ๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐จ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐š๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐–๐ก๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐Ž๐ฌ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ข๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ง๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐€๐ฅ๐ฏ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ณ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Š๐จ๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ . ๐“๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐š๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ง๐ข ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿโ€™๐ฌ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ž ๐š๐ฌ ๐›๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐š ๐ฅ๐š๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ก ๐ฉ๐š๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐š ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ.

๐Ÿ”ด ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐˜-๐—ข๐—ณ๐—ณ ๐—š๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ง๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—น...
youtube.com/liftoffglobalnetwork?sub_confirmation=1

"๐‘จ๐’ ๐’‚๐’Ž๐’‚๐’›๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‡๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’—๐’‚๐’ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’๐’†๐’•๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’๐’• ๐’“๐’–๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’š ๐’‚ ๐’‘๐’‚๐’”๐’”๐’Š๐’๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’† ๐’•๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’Ž-๐’๐’๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’” ๐’˜๐’‰๐’ ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’…๐’†๐’…๐’Š๐’„๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚ ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’‘๐’†๐’“ ๐’‘๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’‡๐’๐’“๐’Ž ๐’•๐’ ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’‚๐’Œ๐’†๐’“๐’”. ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’Œ๐’” ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’˜๐’†๐’๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Ž๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’•๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š, ๐‘ณ๐’Š๐’‡๐’•-๐‘ถ๐’‡๐’‡!" โญโญโญโญโญ
๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—™๐—ถ๐—น๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ

โญ Lift-Off Season Awards Qualifying
โญ Screenings, Networking, Workshops & Events
โญ In-Competition Online Screenings
โญ Network Hub Access, Focus Groups & more...!

Learn more about the Lift-Off Season
๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/season

For over ten years, Manchester Lift-Off has showcased some of the most exciting national and international newcomers to indie film from the beating heart of North West England.

๐Œ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฅ๐š๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ฉ๐š๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ.
In this leg of The Season, Lift-Off Global Network showcases outstanding filmmaking talents during a month-long event comprising online screenings & in-person networking events in the heart of Manchester.

๐ŸŽฅ ๐Ž๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐…๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ ๐Œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก
All selected films are screened online during the festival month, allowing a global audience to view and engage with the content.

๐ŸŒ†๐ˆ๐ง-๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ-๐๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ & ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ 
During the festival, filmmakers can participate in city-based physical screenings, where they pitch their projects and network with industry professionals.

๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ๐‰๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฒ & ๐€๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐•๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐
Both a jury and the online audience vote for the top films, determining which films move forward to the Network Round.

๐Ÿ’ฌ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ (๐…๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐)
Films that advance to this stage receive valuable audience feedback and have the chance to be seen by more decision-makers and professionals in the industry.

๐Ÿ† ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ž๐ฌ ๐’๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ž๐
From the Network Round, top films are chosen as Season Award Nominees, showcasing the best of the best from all participating films.

๐ŸŽฌ ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฐ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐’๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฌ
Season Award Nominees are then screened at the prestigious John Barry Theatre in Pinewood Studios, offering further exposure to key industry players.

๐Ÿ… ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐„๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ & ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐“๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ
At the grand finale, the Season Awards Event, the winning films are screened, and the filmmakers are awarded the coveted Lift-Off Trophy, marking the peak of the festival journey.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Join us at the famous Lift-Off Networking-Speed-Date session, followed by drinks and a party! Can't attend live? Don't worry - there are plenty of online events and networking opportunities.

Festival Winners are placed on the shortlist for the Lift-Off Season Awards Nominations to be considered by the Lift-Off Jury. Season Award Nominations are screened at the prestigious John Barry cinema in Pinewood Studios. The Season Awards recognise the best films from across the Lift-Off Season.

Find out more about the Season Awards
๐Ÿ‘‰liftoff.network/seasonawards

You'll find free content on our YouTube Channel, such as live workshops, interviews with filmmakers, news updates, and more. Subscribe!
๐Ÿ‘‰ https://www.youtube.com/c/liftoffglobalnetwork

๐†๐„๐“ ๐…๐‘๐„๐„ ๐’๐”๐๐Œ๐ˆ๐’๐’๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’ ๐“๐Ž ๐€๐‹๐‹ ๐‹๐ˆ๐…๐“-๐Ž๐…๐… ๐…๐ˆ๐‹๐Œ ๐…๐„๐’๐“๐ˆ๐•๐€๐‹๐’ ๐–๐ˆ๐“๐‡ ๐๐„๐“๐–๐Ž๐‘๐Š ๐Œ๐„๐Œ๐๐„๐‘๐’๐‡๐ˆ๐:

โญ Fee waivers to all Lift-Off Festivals & Showcases (worth $300)
โญ Apply for representation at international film markets, including Cannes, EFM, and AFM
โญ Access to international film jobs
โญ Networking, Workshops & Online Events

Find out more about Lift-Off Network Membership
๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/membership

Awards & Prizes

๐€๐–๐€๐‘๐ƒ๐’:
๐Ÿ†๐Ÿš€ Various Season Award Nominations from the Network Round

๐‹๐ˆ๐…๐“-๐Ž๐…๐… ๐๐„๐“๐–๐Ž๐‘๐Šโ€™๐’ ๐‚๐Ž๐Œ๐๐„๐“๐ˆ๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐ & ๐€๐–๐€๐‘๐ƒ๐’ ๐’๐“๐‘๐”๐‚๐“๐”๐‘๐„
The Official Selections are reviewed by the Judging Panel and receive scores from the attending audience throughout the festival. After the festival closes, the weighted scores are combined, and the top-scoring films are promoted into the internal 'Network Round'.

The Network Round is hosted on the Lift-Off Network Hub, where the Lift-Off Jury and Network Hub Members score the films and vote for the winners.

After the festival closes, prizes are awarded, and winning projects are placed on the Season Award Nominations Shortlist. Lift-Off Season Award Nominations are allocated by the Jury based on merit within each category.

๐’๐„๐€๐’๐Ž๐ ๐€๐–๐€๐‘๐ƒ ๐๐Ž๐Œ๐ˆ๐๐€๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’
The Lift-Off Season Awards honour the very best projects from across the entire Lift-Off Season.

At the end of the season, all long-listed films are reviewed by our Season Awards Jury, who select the final nominations. These films are then screened at our headquarters, the prestigious John Barry Theatre at Pinewood Studios.

This exclusive event is attended by Lift-Off filmmakers, judges, jury members, Pinewood industry professionals, and invited reviewers, who cast their final scores live during the screenings.

For more information ๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/seasonawards

The season concludes in February with our Season Awards Night, where the winners from these screenings are honoured with our iconic Lift-Off trophies.

Find out more about our awards & judging process:
๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/awards

Rules & Terms

๐’๐”๐๐๐Ž๐‘๐“ & ๐‘๐”๐‹๐„๐’:
All support queries must be sent via. support@liftoff.network
All submissions are to be sent digitally via FilmFreeway
Project feedback (where applicable) is sent shortly after the festival closes.
If you pay a submission fee, we will screen your work. Our online programmes are separated into categories based on your content's level of storytelling, production value, impact and acting.
We have two separate voting committees during the festival - the official judging panel & the general public
The official jury allocates Season Award Nomination
Proudly, we have no other restrictions for screening your work. This includes your work's premier status, age, and/or whether your work is available online.

๐๐„๐“๐–๐Ž๐‘๐Š๐ˆ๐๐† & ๐„๐•๐„๐๐“๐’: Lift-Off creates opportunities for filmmakers to connect, showcase their work, and celebrate their achievements.

Our in-person networking events run when there is enough demand, with a minimum of 10 confirmed attendees. If we cannot host due to costs or low uptake, those who register will be invited to the following yearโ€™s event or to another Lift-Off festival of their choice. At the same time, we are doubling down on our online events, which remove barriers, increase accessibility, and connect filmmakers worldwide.

Each season concludes with the Lift-Off Season Awards and our prestigious nomination screenings, where selected films are celebrated on the big screen and recognised within the Lift-Off community.

๐ˆ๐Œ๐๐Ž๐‘๐“๐€๐๐“ ๐๐Ž๐“๐„:The online festivals are NOT pay-for-vote platforms. Whilst participating filmmakers may invite their team, friends and family to participate & vote, it is encouraged that ALL attending audiences engage with as much of the content as possible and vote accordingly. We are doing our best to invite new and exciting audiences to genuine indie content - if you can encourage your audiences to do the same, we will build a wonderful network of opportunities for all, no matter where you are starting your career.
92 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • ๅˆทๅ ด ไพ‘็ด€

    Thank you so much for selecting my work for the festival!!
    I had a blast!!

    May 2026
    Helpful
  • Sampatkumar Subramanian

    I did not attend this festival

    April 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    You need to check your spam regularly. There will be more emails from others festivals in there we're sure.

  • Jermaine Muir

    A big thank you to Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival for selecting my animated short, 'A Merry Wellington Rabbit Christmas' to be part of their event. Much appreciated!

    April 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    We loved your project and cannot wait to see what you do next Jermaine!

  • Rebecca Phillipson

    I did enjoy being part of this festival, it was very professional and the communication was good. My film made it all the way to the finals and I loved receiving my feedback, scores and official laurel. It would have been nice to attend a screening, but maybe one day this festival will have that facility. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

    April 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Hi Rebecca - we screen our final nominations at Pinewood Studios each and every year. Our online city based events are part one larger network that feeds into this. All information is on our FilmFreeway and webpages www.liftoff.network

  • Illya Rudkin

    From the Festivals I have entered the Manchester Liftโ€”Off is way above the rest with it model to get you involved and and the opportunities it may bring, however itโ€™s voting model does not suit my network of zero people - friends and the public pay to vote for winners. The number and quality of the entries is high. I did get any feedback on how my did (like many other festivals).

    April 2026
    Helpful