Le Havre (The Manchester International Crime and Justice Film Festival 2025)

The Manchester International Crime and Justice Film Festival 2025
May 7 @ 5:00 pm – June 27 @ 5:00 pm

Welcome to the 2025 festival sponsored by the Department of Sociology 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 free films from three continents, in an eclectic mix of crime classics and lesser-known gems chosen by crime experts and film enthusiasts.

Our experts will be on hand to introduce their movie choices and to answer your questions at Q+A sessions after each screening.

***

Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki, 2011)
With Benedicte Brahic, Isabelle Vanderschelden and Manchester City of Sanctuary
Friday 27th June – 17:30 to 20:00 – FREE
At the Grosvenor East Building, Cavendish Street, Manchester, M15 6BG
In the Normandy port of Le Havre, Marcel Marx, a bohemian dropout who makes ends meet by shining shoes, spontaneously befriends Idrissa, a newly-arrived African migrant, and is soon caught up in shielding him from the authorities. Marcel’s world is shaken further when his wife Arletty suddenly falls ill.

In Le Havre – a name which literally means ‘the haven’ – Finnish auteur Kaurismäki confronts the vital contemporary issue of irregular migration, but does so in a distinctively heightened style: there’s accordion music in the cafés, the cars are vintage and the detectives all wear trenchcoats.

Cinematic callbacks – to French nouvelle vague classics and even to silent film – emphasise the artificiality of what we’re watching, but the paradoxical effect is to highlight the humanity of the central characters and the reality of the situations they face. And who wouldn’t want stories like this to have happy endings?

> “It tells a good story with clear eyes and a level gaze, and it just plain makes you feel good.”
> – Roger Ebert

In French, with English subtitles.

***

Le Havre will be introduced by Dr Benedicte Brahic, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University, who co-leads the university’s Migration Research Group.
Benedicte will be joined for the post-screening Q&A by Dr Isabelle Vanderschelden, co-founder of FILTA (Film in Language Teaching Association) – www.filta.org.uk – and refugee and asylum seeker charity Manchester City of Sanctuary and Professor Ramón Spaaij, the university's newly appointed Global Chair.
This event is in partnership with Alliance Française de Manchester (Registered Charity n° 1068084).

***

With the Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA) and the Media Trust, we are showing a selection of short films before the main feature.
Created by professional volunteer filmmakers and CJA member organisations, these films are crafted to inspire change, elevate voices too often unheard and advocate for a fairer, more effective justice system.
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, just a five-minute 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 and Phil Edwards

Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/le-havre-pg-crime-and-justice-film-festival-2025-tickets-1280776359569?aff=oddtdtcreator