Mansfield Town Film Festival is back for 2025, bringing an exciting and unique programme of independent films from around the world.
Across three days at Mansfield Palace Theatre, the festival will showcase over 160 short films curated into16 themed strands, all featuring powerful storytelling from bold new voices.
The festival which is supported by the council’s status as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, brings together a stunning mix of filmmakers with a strong focus on diverse, working-class talent from across the country.
Festival Director Jay Martin said: “This year’s programme is without doubt our most ambitious yet. We’ve curated over 160 films across 16 strands that reflect the rich diversity, talent, and imagination of filmmakers from across the world.
“From thrilling animations to deeply personal documentaries and daring narrative shorts, there’s truly something for everyone.
“Our mission has always been to champion independent voices – especially those from working-class, underrepresented, and marginalised backgrounds. We’re proud to keep creating space for these stories to be seen and celebrated here in Mansfield.
“Whether you’re a film fanatic or just film-curious, we invite you to take a chance on something different and join us for what promises to be an unforgettable three days of cinema, connection and community.”
Cllr Stuart Richardson, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth, added: “Mansfield Town Film Festival is fast becoming a must-attend destination for anyone serious about screen culture.
“It has been made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England which is really making a significant impact in putting Mansfield on the map as an important cultural destination.”
After an opening ceremony, there will be live screenings, an in-person awards evening, masterclasses, Q+As, workshops, and guest panels.
Tickets are:
£4 per session
£9 for three sessions in one day
£10 for a day pass
£25 for a full festival pass.
View available screenings. All screenings are rated for an 18 and above audience.
Find out more about the festival.
Festival schedule
Friday 25 July
1pm to 2.30pm: A Drop In The Ocean – A series of eight short films ranging in length from 19 minutes to two minutes that bring together intimate, emotionally rich stories exploring identity, trauma, and transformation—proof that even the smallest moments can make waves that change everything.
4.15pm to 5.45pm: Between The Cracks – Six bold, imaginative short films ranging from 11 minutes to 24 minutes that aim show life doesn’t always follow a straight path.They explore identity, illness, resilience and inner turmoil—spotlighting the moments, people and truths that fall between the cracks.
7.45pm to 9.30pm: From Mansfield, With Love – Eight warm, energetic and unforgettable short films ranging in length from 2 minutes to16 minutes about stories of imagination, identity and heart—from football fields to fantasy, imaginary friends to final dances.
Saturday 26 July
11.30am to 1pm: Drive It Like You Stole It – Seven high-octane shorts films, ranging in length from seven to 20 minutes packed with stories that punch hard, run fast, and never look back. The protagonists include reformed criminals to grieving superheroes, teenage rebels to unlikely war romances.
11.30am to 1pm: Rising Stars (Directors Lounge). More information to come.
2.45pm to 4.15pm: Quiet Revolutions – Eight short stories of subtle courage and everyday upheaval—where love, loss, identity, and defiance intersect in ways that whisper change into the world, one deeply human moment at a time. They range in length from three minutes to 25 minutes.
2:45pm to 4.15pm: Petit But Powerful (Directors Lounge) - Celebrating bold French storytelling that ignite resilience, humanity, and unexpected hope with five short films featuring neurodiverse ambition to working-class grit, fractured fatherhood, eerie obsessions, and sun-starved solitude. Ten to 24 minutes in length.
6pm to 7.30pm: A Few Strong Women – Seven short female focussed films championing resilience, vulnerability and audacious strength from athletic triumphs and queer awakenings to cosmic crises and raw relational truths. Four to 23 minutes long.
6pm to 7.30pm: Kaleidoscopic Minds (Directors Lounge) – Bringing together together a vibrant collection of nine short films that explore the intricate layers of self, society, and a surreal kaleidoscope of perspectives, where identity, imagination, and introspection collide. One to 19 minutes long.
8pm to 9.30pm: Unhinged & Unearthly – nine short films that dive into deliciously twisted tales of sinister secrets and absurd encounters. From vampiric mummies to guilt-haunted gravediggers, vengeful wolves to slapstick nudists, they are gleefully macabre. Two to 18 minutes long.
Sunday 27 July
11am to 12.30pm: Real Lives, Surreal Twists – Nine short films that celebrate the messy beauty of human connection. From hidden identities and vanishing daughters to dog-boyfriends and resilient theatre troupes, this strand finds humour, heart, and hope in life’s strangest corners. Three to 18 minutes long.
11am to 12.30pm: Midnight Visitors (Directors Lounge) - From ghostly visitations to accidental truth-telling, this strand of seven short films explores the wonder tucked inside life’s quiet corners—where humour, healing, and magic unfold when you least expect them. Four to 25 minutes long.
2.15pm to 3.45pm: Love Will Tear Us Apart - Love’s chaos takes centre stage with eight short films featuring estranged dads, dystopian bonds, whispered goodbyes, a child’s innocence, a farm girl’s crush, and a joyful wedding. One to 19 minutes long.
2.15pm to 3.45pm: Globetrotters (Directors Lounge) - Go around the world in six short films! From a Danish wedding meltdown and Albanian marital schemes to Tehrani black-market dilemmas, flirty museum antics, and a French caterpillar coma—this whirlwind tour serves heartbreak, humour, and humanity. Nine to 25 minutes long.
5.30pm to 7pm: Rebels Without A Pause - Navigate life’s chaos through dark comedy, stoner misadventures, and biting societal critiques. From unskippable dystopian ads to animated existential quests, this strand of eight shorts tears into taboos with defiant humour and unflinching heart. Four to 20 minutes long.
5.30pm to 7pm: Uncharted Roads (Directors Lounge) - From rebellious driving tests to breaking social barriers in 1980s Ontario, this strand of nine short films explores personal revolutions—quiet, loud, and surreal—through characters who dare to rewrite their stories and reshape the rules. Four to 22 minutes long.