Chester Film Society

Archives: CIFF Years

Chester International Film Festival 2023
The festival featured:
- Full Time
- Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (*Audience Award*)
- Prayers for the Stolen
- Sick of Myself
- Tori and Lokita and
- The Blue Caftan
The 2023 CIFF also included the 9th Chester Animation Festival the Audience Award for which went to “The Smile”.
17th July 2026
Chester International Film Festival 2024

The 2024 Chester International Film Festival, highlighting the very best in international cinema (including pre-release previews) took place from 1st March to 8th March 2024. The winner of the audience award for 2024 was Green Border, Agnieszka Holland’s intense, intelligent broadside against injustice and terror on the borders of the EU.

The Chester International Film Festival 2024 (incorporating the Animation Festival) was curated by Chester Film Society in partnership with Storyhouse and The University of Chester. Drinks Receptions were kindly sponsored by VAIN Hair and Beauty, Chester.

The Festival took place from 1st March to 8th March 2024.

The winner of the Audience Award for 2024 was Green Border.

The Chester Animation Festival Audience Award went to The Curse of Dracular.

You can read more about the festival on the Storyhouse website by clicking here or click the link below to see the full programme of feature films.

1 March 2024

Monster (preview)

When her son Minato starts to behave strangely, Saori suspects that there is something wrong. Hearing that one of his teachers is responsible, she confronts the teacher and school admin. The truth is revealed to be more complex from the perspectives of not only Saori, but also the teacher and Minato.

More here…

2 March 2024

Totem

Sol, a seven-year-old girl, goes to her grandfather’s home, where her aunts Nuri and Alejandra are throwing a surprise birthday party for her father. It is probably his last, so in a sense it is also a farewell ceremony. With the onset of dusk, an unfamiliar and unrestrained atmosphere takes over, breaking the family bonds. For Sol, the world is about to change as she learns the essence of letting go and feels the breath of life.

More here

3 March 2024

Animation Festival

Chester International Animation Festival 2024 has welcomed entries from animators across the world. Come and join us for a screening of the competition finalists, then vote for the Audience Award winner for this year’s competition

More here…

5 March 2024

Io Capitano (preview)

An African refugee survival story inspired by true events, it tells the story of two young Senegalese men, Seydou and Moussa, who embark on a harrowing and brutal journey from Dakar to Europe in search of a better life. A trek that increasingly more people find themselves forced into making.

More here

6 March 2024

Tarrac

A woman returns to her hometown to care for her father in this Irish drama and finds herself drawn back into the local rowing team. A gentle film punctuated by outbursts of language, and a recurring theme of grief.

More here

7 March 2024

The Green Border (preview)

In the treacherous and swampy forests of the “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the EU are caught in a geopolitical crisis triggered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. To provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian refugee family intertwine.

More here

8 March 2024

The Teacher’s Lounge (preview)

When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.

More here…

The 2025 Chester International Film Festival ran from 21st March to 3rd April 2025 at Storyhouse. It was produced in partnership with the University of Chester and Storyhouse. Opening and closing receptions with thanks to VAIN.

The winner of the Audience Award for 2025 was Four Mothers.

The Chester Animation Festival Audience Award went to The Pearl (Let’s Make Peace) by Abdollah Alimorad from Iran.

For more information, click here to go to the Storyhouse web page.

15th July 2026
Chester International Film Festival 2025
The 2025 Chester International Film Festival ran from 21st March to 3rd April 2025 at Storyhouse. It was produced in partnership with the University of Chester and Storyhouse. Opening and closing receptions with thanks to VAIN.

The films featured were:
- La Cocina
- From Hilde, With Love
- Holy Cow
- Solo
- Last Swim
- Happyend
- When the Light Breaks and
- Four Mothers (*Audience Award*)
The 2025 CIFF also included the 11th Chester Animation Festival for which the Audience Award went to The Pearl (Let’s Make Peace) by Abdollah Alimorad from Iran.

For more information, including details of the Documentary Section and other film events during the Festival, click here to go to the Storyhouse web page.
15th July 2026
Chester International Film Festival 2026
The 2026 Festival took place at Storyhouse between Friday 13th March to Sunday 22nd March 2026 and incorporated the 12th Chester Animation Festival 2026.

The films featured, and audience scores, were:
- DJ Ahmet (8.45)
- Rose of Nevada (7.09)
- Primavera (8.73)
- La Grazia (8.26)
- The Stranger (7.10)
- Orphan (6.63)
- Romería ( 7.25)
- Orwell 2+2=5 (8.21)
- Miroirs No. 3 ( 7.71)
- The Blue Trail (7.04)
- Exit 8 (7.73)
- Our Land (7.52)
- Colours of Time (9.22 *Audience Award*) and
- Father Mother Sister Brother (6.57)
In the Animation Festival, the Leaping Boar Award for best short animation was won jointly by:
- Cell Buddies by Studio Brute Beesten (Netherlands) and
- Small Hours by Oscar Wyndham Lewis (UK).
For more details, click here to go to the Storyhouse web page.
14th July 2026