Flatpack Festival returns to Birmingham this May, marking the nineteenth edition of the popular film festival.

Running from Fri 9 May – Sat 17 May, organisers promise a lineup filled with ‘a wealth of experiences to stimulate the eyes and ears’.

The festival programme pairs new commissions with rare archival finds and boundary-pushing audiovisual performances with ‘uncategorisable animated music features’.

The 2025 lineup features an eclectic mix of special guests, ranging from film composer Graham Reynolds to musical legend Noddy Holder.

In total, there are more than 80 events being held across various Birmingham venues. Highlights include a new BFI restoration of Slade in Flame, a wonderfully grubby, offbeat snapshot of the British rock icons, with a special appearance from Mr Holder himself.

Other archive gems will screen with new live scores, including the Soviet-era gothic fantasy film Viy, which will have its soundscape reimagined by UK multi-instrumentalist Rusty Sheriff.

Brand-new works include an immersive audiovisual experience from visual artist Guri Bosh and experimental electronic jazz trio un.procedure, which will open the festival. Inspired by the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts (the expo that spurned the term ‘Art Deco’), the piece blends architecture, cinema and sound.

Also new, The Dark Mirror is a beautifully thoughtful film by artist Moira Salt. Salt uses archive footage to explore the displacement of people and geographies caused by the construction of canals and the eco-human relationships shaped by the waterways. The film will be accompanied by a new soundtrack by Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman.

María Trénor’s new animated feature Rock Bottom also gets its UK premiere at Flatpack, marking the 50th anniversary of Robert Wyatt’s iconic album of the same name.

Elsewhere, multitalented musician and composer Graham Reynolds returns to Flatpack to accompany a masterpiece of silent cinema, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger.

Evoking the gilded nights of 1960s Paris, Polish audiovisual artist Ela Orleans’ La Nuit Dorée is a nostalgic, audiovisual exploration of haute couture.

For more information on the full Flatpack Festival lineup, or to book tickets, click the button below.

Featured image credit: Jacky Law