Events Calendar

Brian Friel Theatre (QFT)

For the past forty years, QFT has occupied a unique place in the cultural and entertainment life of Northern Ireland. This uniqueness comes from QFT's special ambience (a world away from the local cineplex!), its screenings of new and classic films, its loyal members and audiences and from the many people who have worked 'front of house' and behind the scenes.

From the beginning, QFT has valued and nurtured the practice of having special guests from the world of cinema.  True, a big commercial cinema might have a premiere from time to time with smiling stars and directors gracing the red carpet, but those glitterati rarely engage with the audience.
Film makers and performers come to a place like QFT not for contractual and commercial reasons of plugging their latest film and gushing about it, but because they like to be able to move out of the publicity machine circuit and engage with people who are stimulated by film.  For a small cinema in a small part of a small island, QFT has consistently punched above its weight in terms of the cinematic heavyweights who have visited.

The QFT today is part of the QUB Drama and Film Centre in a spacious build that offers a bar and waiting area in a multi-purpose and dedicated environment. There is no hint of lecture theatre austerity in either of the two auditoria and there is state of the art digital projection in QFT1.  Film culture is multi-platform and the new centre embraces that. It will be interesting to see what the physical and technological environment will be like when QFT reaches its half-century in 2018.

Whats on at a glance: