LATEST NEWS & FEATURES
A new horror short film has been completed by a Leicestershire-based group of filmmakers and has been released online just in time for the spookiest time of the year.
Mockingbird Cinema is in the running for BIFA’s Cinema of the Year award after making the 15-venue UK longlist. Voters praised the Digbeth independent for its film programme, staff, events and support for filmmakers, with one calling it “the beating heart of Digbeth”.
The Case Next Door is a new short film from student filmmaker James Rowland who explores the noir detective genre through our very own streets of Coventry.
Written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker John Williams, a new horror anthology has launched a crowdfunder and is taking a step back in time in its production approach
Halloween season is fast approaching and Leicester Film Club are bringing the classic monster mash-up The Monster Squad (1987) back to the cinema for one night only.
Twin brothers from Herefordshire are heading to Los Angeles after their video production company, JRNVisuals, was shortlisted for Best Independent Film at the International Motor Film Awards 2026.
The Worcester Film Festival is now an established event amongst the Midlands festival scene and with a programme ranging from independent shorts to full-length features, it aims to showcase the best films to audiences, critics and industry professionals.
Arch Model Studio is a multi award winning stop motion puppet. marionette and set fabrication workshop whose founder Andy Gent is an acclaimed model-maker hailing from Derbyshire.
LATEST MIDLANDS REVIEWS
John Williams is turning into a prolific director for the Midlands horror scene, having completed his third feature in the space of two years. His 2025 found-footage film Beyond the Witching Hour cranked up the horror, while this year’s Beast of Riverside Horror settled into a slightly sillier horror/comedy. A more sla
The tricky world of power balances, unspoken signals and communication exchanges are the themes of new local comedy short Meet-Cute from Nadine O’Mahony.
If you haven’t heard of Black Annis then you’re missing out on one of the most intriguing tales of Midlands folklore. Often depicted as a blue-faced witch with metal claws, Annis is a lady said to haunt the Leicestershire countryside with a taste for children’s flesh
After the excellent sci-fi The Programme and horror satire The Pause, Midlands director Sam Grierson returns to the local indie movie scene by dipping a toe into another film genre with emotional drama How To Daughter.
LATEST CINEMA & HOME RELEASES
This adaptation of David Gilbert’s novel marks the first English-language film from Argentine director Pablo Trapero, working from a script by Sarah Polley
O'Shea Jackson Jr. and Dave Franco star in this new crime farce from writer-director Macon Blair, which sees a couple of inexperienced life losers attempt to make some bank escorting a young man to rehab.
Ray Winstone and Sir Ben Kingsley star in this turn of the millennium Brit-flick which, next month, gets a sexy new Second Sight Special Edition home release.
The Robin Hood legend has more than its fair share of adaptations and it’s definitely been a bit of of a Robin Hood year for me with a rewatch of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), a visit to Sherwood Forest to watch Prince of Thieves (1991) and now this new incarnation heading to cinemas
Watch the trailer for Midlands short HOW TO DAUGHTER
"You cannot choose your mother, only the daughter you become."
How to Daughter is a British short film written and directed by Sam Grierson, starring Georgie Glen and Louise Osbourne, with Bethany Milner and River Davies Upright. A dramatic fantasy with dark humour, the film explores the complicated relationship between mothers and daughters, intergenerational trauma, memory, ageing and the human need to be truly seen. Watch the new trailer above and find out more about the production at
www.socrocodile.com/howtodaughter
