PLAY on Big and Small screens at Showroom this July

Showroom is inviting audiences to come PLAY at a brand-new festival this summer.

With a packed programme of film and events, PLAY festival will welcome families and their grown-ups to enjoy over 12 days of film and creativity.

As a hub for cinema and creative industries in the city, Showroom has a long history of growing and supporting new festivals, from DocFest to Sheffield Adventure Film Festival. PLAY will be a new addition to the line-up and will give young people the chance to experience exciting new films and events during the summer holidays.

The idea for the festival has grown from a wish to share the venue and its film programme with a wider audience, and to build upon Showroom’s year-round activity for toddlers, families and young people. There will be a packed line-up of films from across the globe celebrating play and creativity, alongside workshops and digital events reflecting the world’s rapidly evolving relationship with screens big and small.

There will be films from around the world including vibrant and colourful animation Hola Frida! which explores the childhood of the visionary artist Frida Kahlo (from Friday 31 July); the paper-crafted Maya, Give Me a Title from cult filmmaker Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) (from Thursday 6 August), and a day celebrating The Muppets complete with a gig by The Puppet Folk Experience (Sunday 9 August).

Interactive activities include WiFi Wars (Wednesday 29 July at 6pm), which will see audience members compete against each other on the big screen, using their smart devices as controllers. Video game music aficionados can experience favourite soundtracks performed live in the interactive video game concert Extra Lives (Thursday 30 July at 6pm), which blends live performance with role-playing gaming.

There will be opportunities to gain hands-on experience with Computer Xplorers Sheffield (Monday 3 August 10am and 1pm) who will be delivering digital workshops which combine retro game design with Minecraft. For those looking for more lo-fi experiences, expert model-makers from plasticine pioneers Aardman will be running sessions to make characters you can take home, and there will be drop-in crafts throughout the week. To sweeten the deal even further, children’s cinema tickets are cheaper than ever this summer with the Great British Summer Savings scheme.

The festival runs from Wednesday 29 July through to Sunday 9 August. Films and events can be booked at: https://showroomcinema.org.uk/ 

By Johnathan Ilott, Head of Programming