Kinofilm Manchester European Short Film Festival

After closing in 2007 because of funding cuts, the Kino Film Festival is back. It's got a longer title (the Kinofilm Manchester European Short Film Festival) but the emphasis on that niche but often surprising form, the short, remains. The festival organisers have sifted through 1000 or so films from across Europe and come up with 200 shorts that should keep you glued to your seats for, say, five or six minutes.

If the idea of short films sends you to sleep, you might still find something that interests you here – the organisers have put together a programme that has plenty to tempt film fans more used to feature-length movies than three minute wonders.

Highlights include Oscar nominated animation Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty, plus Rabbit a la Berlin (Oscar nominated for Documentary Short) and a special screening of this year’s BAFTA Best Short Film nominees. If you like your films 'edgy and challenging' the Kino Extreme programme will give you all the discomfort you need. Gentler souls might prefer the Love Stories programme – highlights include Modern Life is Rubbish with rising stars Rafe Spall and Rebecca Night.

If the idea of short films immediately sends you to sleep, you might still find something that interests you here – the organisers have put together a programme that has plenty to tempt film fans more used to feature-length movies than a three minute wonder.

Alongside the mini masterpieces will be six feature length films from directors who cut their teeth in the short form. David Whitney’s Kandahar Break is a topical, tense drama following a mine clearer in late 1990s Southern Afghanistan. Horror fans will have a chance to see local filmmaker Lawrence Gough’s Salvage, in which a sleepy cul-de-sac is plunged into fear when a mysterious ship container washes up nearby. Some of the directors will be at the festival, sharing their wisdom on making the leap from short to full length film.

There will also be a programme of workshops and masterclasses, including a day course on Cinematography in Animated Film by leading cinematographer Tristan Oliver (Fantastic Mr Fox and Chicken Run). And BAFTA-winning visual effects company Redvision (Touching the Void, Ocean’s Thirteen, and The Day After Tomorrow) are running a masterclass for professionals called Visual Effects for a 3D Generation.

All the films and events will take place at either AMC Great Northern Cinema or the Instituto Cervantes Manchester from 27 April to 2 May. The full programme will be announced on 9 April. Go to www.kinofilm.org.uk for details.