Robots, World War Two baby smugglers, murder trials, and purgatorial train stations – these are just some of the stories

The stars will be out and converging on the Odeon Manchester Great Northern tonight as the city’s International Film Festival enters its sixth year of running.

“We’re all connected in one way or another”, so says one of the hundreds of jazz musicians in A Great Day in Paris. It’s a simple message, but one that courses through every fibre of the film’s being.

Normally seen in front of the camera, Anna Wilson-Jones has swapped roles for short film The Visitor taking on the role of writer and producer.

The dust has settled on Manchester Film Festival, bigger than ever and showing no signs of slowing down as it concludes its fifth year. Here MM guide you through our favourites…

Dealing with real life terrorist attacks in film is a bit of a grey area. On the one hand, widespread media coverage is exactly what these terrorists want.

Manchester Film Festival have announced their official line up for this year, as well as an expanded length for the fifth edition of the event.

For actress Arielle Haller-Silverstone life almost seems like one long romantic comedy.

MM spoke to Bernard and Huey director Dan Mirvish as the film had its UK premiere at MANIFF last week, where it won Best Screenplay.

Collecting vinyl is by no means a rare or remarkable hobby, but in the case of DJ and crate-digger-extraordinaire Johnny Starke, it’s a passion that filmmaker Anthony Ladesich had to document in his Manchester Film Festival award-winning short film Forty-Five: The Search for Soul.

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.