A jar of discarded cigarettes. A crate of booze, paid for with redundancy money. Scarred wallpaper. These are the images that fill Richard Billingham’s directorial debut Ray & Liz, and you’d be right in thinking it’s a fairly miserable affair.

February, along with January, is normally regarded as a ‘dump month’ in cinema.

Somewhere within Felix van Groeningen’s ‘Beautiful Boy’ there is a masterpiece.

“It’s not a documentary about Elvis and it’s not a biopic,” dismisses Eugene Jarecki – the director and co-writer of The King, a film that chronicles the rise and fall of Elvis Presley.

The film follows the story of Ron Stallworth, a black undercover cop in 1979 who infiltrates the Klu Klux Klan.

Award-winning Jenny Lu, the producer of her debut film The Receptionist, is an inspirational figure to many, who shows that with enough dedication it is possible to achieve your goals.

“I would like you to remember that this happens to real people,” introduced director and producer of The Receptionist, Jenny Lu, whose film is in cinemas now and is showing at HOME Manchester on Thurs July 26.

HOME is celebrating Refugee Week this week with a programme brimming with world-class theatre, film, art and performance.

Film fever reached its height last weekend with the Oscars as Manchester had its own cinema celebration too with the third annual Manchester Film Festival packed full of an array of colourful and inspiring independent pictures from around the world.

Kinofilm Festival is set to make a triumphant return to Manchester.

As ever HOME have plenty of highlights scattered across their February-September schedule from the world of film, theatre and visual art.