M (Fritz Lang 1931, PG): Crime and Justice Film Festival

M (Fritz Lang 1931, PG)

In German with English subtitles

An unnamed city is rocked by a series of murders of children. An anonymous letter warns that there will be more. The police flood the city with agents, leading the criminal underworld to start its own manhunt so as to make the child-killer face a rough form of justice. The audience knows the identity of the killer from the start; Hans Beckert, a mild-mannered young man played (in a career-defining performance) by Peter Lorre. The question is not ‘who done it’, but who will get to the killer first – and what will happen to him.

The career of Fritz Lang (1890-1976) ranged from silent films in the German Expressionist style (Metropolis) to Hollywood thrillers for stars like Spencer Tracy (Fury) and Gloria Grahame (The Big Heat). One of only two sound films he made before fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933, M was Lang’s personal favourite among his works. A cinematic classic, celebrated as much for its innovative use of sound and music as for its dramatic and often grotesque visual design, Malso raises enduringly troubling questions about the meaning of justice and criminal responsibility.

We will be joined for the post-screening Q&A by Dorit Fellner-Whitgreave of the University of Manchester and the Goethe Institute.

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ALL EVENTS ARE FREE – PLEASE BOOK TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT

Welcome to the 2026 festival sponsored by the School of Sociology & Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University and curated by the university’s Policy Evaluation and Research Unit.

Since 2019 we’ve had a consistent mission – screening great films which provoke debate and provide an alternative take on crime, justice and punishment in the 21st century.

This year’s programme brings you an eclectic mix of international crime classics and lesser-known gems from a century of cinema, with settings ranging from the Scottish islands to the south of Chile. Our experts will be on hand to introduce the movies and to answer your questions at Q+A sessions after each screening. Selected screenings will also feature short films documenting creative projects delivered in prisons, in partnership between artist Faye Claridge,learners from each establishment and our partner Novus.

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Upcoming Films in the Festival:

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Thursday 7th May, 5.30-8.00pm

Grosvenor East Building, Cavendish Street, Manchester, M15 6BG

A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson 1956)

Cert U, 102 minutes

French with English subtltles

Fontaine, a member of the French Resistance, is captured by the Nazis and held in Montluc military Pr*son. Through the weeks and months that follow, his determination to escape never wavers. Robert Bresson’s austere direction has been cited as an inspiration by directors ranging from Paul Schrader to Yorgos Lanthimos.

Post-screening discussion with Jamie Bennett of HM Pr*son and Probation Service, Annette So of Pr*son charity Hardman Trust and Isabelle Vanderschelden, co-founder of FILTA (Film in language teaching association).

Booking Link: A Man Escaped

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Tuesday 12th May, 5.30–7.00pm

Geoffrey Manton Building, Rosamond St West, Manchester, M15 6EB

Crime Documentaries with Louise Malkinson

No Cert - suitable for general audiences

Filmmaker Louise Malkinson in conversation with Rebecca Askew

In a wide-ranging discussion illustrated with clips from her work, TV documentary maker Louise Malkinson will be talking to Rebecca Askew about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking on the criminal justice frontline, and the issues that her work has helped bring to light.

Booking Link: Crime Documentaries: Crime and Justice Film Festival 2026

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Saturday 16th May, 12.00–1.15pm

Grosvenor East Building, Cavendish Street, Manchester, M15 6BG

Scouting, Skating, Hanging Around: Youth on Film

No Cert - suitable for general audiences (NOT SUITABLE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN)

Society’s relationship with its young people is complicated. We all want young people to flourish, but there’s also a permanent undercurrent of concern about boys and girls’ involvement in crime, as victims and perpetrators.

Will McTaggart of the NWFA has curated a selection of clips drawn from the last 100 years, including girls skateboarding in Cumbria, the Salford Lads Club enjoying the fresh air of Aberystwyth and a Chaplinesque fable about the Scouts. Will, together with Glyn Potts, CEO of Greater Manchester Youth Federation and Kevin Wong of the Festival team, will explore these films’ depictions of young people, their aspirations and how society responds to them.

Booking Link: Scouting, Skating, Hanging Around: Crime and Justice Film Festival 2026

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Saturday 16th May, 1.30–3.30pm

Grosvenor East Building, Cavendish Street, Manchester, M15 6BG

That Sinking Feeling (Bill Forsyth 1979)

Cert 15, 90 minutes

A heist movie with a difference: a group of unemployed teenagers hatch a plan to steal a vanload of stainless steel sinks. Bill Forsyth's directorial debut was made with a minimal budget and a cast of non-professional actors, many of whom would go on to work with Forsyth on Gregory's Girl.

Booking Link: That Sinking Feeling (15): Crime and Justice Film Festival 2026

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wednesday 10th June, 5.30–8.15pm

Grosvenor East Building, Cavendish Street, Manchester, M15 6BG

Los Colonos (The Settlers) (Felipe Gálvez Haberle 2023)

Cert 15, 97 Minutes

Spanish with English subtitles

Chile, 1893. A group of three men – two British, one Chilean and part-Indian – set out for Tierra del Fuego in the far south, aiming to stake out land granted to businessman José Menéndez for his sheep-farming concern. The indigenous people living there will simply have to be removed – by any means necessary.

Booking Link: Los Colonos (15): Crime and Justice Film Festival 2026

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Saturday 13th June, 1.00–4.00pm

Grosvenor East Building, Cavendish Street, Manchester, M15 6BG

Z (Costa-Gavras 1969)

Cert 15, 127 minutes

French with English Subtitles

A popular left-wing politician in an unnamed Mediterranean country is killed in a seemingly random attack. The dead man is hailed as a martyr and conspiracy theories begin to circulate. The General who heads the country’s authoritarian government sets up an inquiry into the affair; he appoints a conservative judge to chair it, trusting that he will reach the right conclusions...

Booking Link: Z (15): Crime and Justice Film Festival 2026

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Friday 19th June, 5.30–8.15pm

Grosvenor East Building, Cavendish Street, Manchester, M15 6BG

Limbo (Ben Sharrock 2020)

Cert 12, 104 minutes

On a remote Scottish island, four asylum seekers – Syrian Omar, Farhad from Afghanistan, Wasef from Nigeria and Abedi from Ghana – wait for their claims to be decided. And wait, and wait. Barred from taking paid work, they fill their days by watching DVDs, attending wince-inducing “cultural awareness” sessions and arguing among themselves.

Booking Link: Limbo (12) : Crime and Justice Film Festival 2026

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The Festival is supported by our partners:

• Instituto Cervantes Manchester

• Alliance Française de Manchester (Registered Charity n° 1068084)

• Greater Manchester Youth Federation

• North West Film Archive

• Novus

• Goethe-Institut UK

• Breaking Barriers

• In Place of War

Screenings will take place at Grosvenor East Building, the university’s Arts and Creative Hub. Grosvenor East is on the corner of Oxford Road and Cavendish Street, five minutes’ walk from Oxford Rd train station. We also have a joint screening with our partners at Instituto Cervantes Manchester.

We look forward to welcoming old friends and new audiences alike, from the UK and internationally.

See you at the movies!

Your festival team:

Kevin Wong, Gavin Bailey, Anton Roberts, Katie Hunter, Phil Edwards and Benedicte Brahic

Film notes by Phil Edwards

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Host or Publisher Manchester Centre for Linguistics Research