Spence Brothers: The Men and their Movies

Join us on Saturday 6th of November at the Strand Arts Centre for a packed Spence Brothers morning! Belfast Film Festival is delighted to acknowledge the work of the Spence Brothers through the award of outstanding contribution to cinema in Northern Ireland. The award will be presented at this event. Come along and be immersed in, and inspired by, the world of local filmmakers the Spence Brothers through their lives, movies and monsters!

Twin brothers Roy and Noel Spence, hailing from Comber Co. Down, have been making films and inspiring film makers for over fifty years. Their remarkable and sometimes eccentric films span many genres, from sci-fi and horror to folk-life documentaries shot between 1965 and

1986.  10 am -12pm Strand foyer

DROP-IN (FREE) - on display will be prop heads made by Roy Spence himself during lockdown. There will be ‘Strand Stories’ collecting with the Strand’s Heritage Officer Rosie Hickey and plenty of tea/coffee & popcorn! An exhibition of Spence Brothers inspired movie posters created by Fionnuala Doran, Rowel Friers, Stephen Hackett and Miguel Martin will also be revealed and run throughout the Belfast Film Festival.

10am - 1pm Screen 1 (doors from 9:45am)

Spence Brothers: The Men and their Movies - TICKETED EVENT (£5) Book here: https://belfastfilmfestival.eventive.org/schedule/spence-brothers-the-men-and-their-movies-61571e0187a7c60088320875

Joe Lindsay interviews Noel and Roy Spence on their career in film: the highs, the lows, the heroes and villains! Enjoy the films and stories behind them in a specially curated screening by Roy and Noel. 

Unfortunately there is no step free access to Screen 1. If you have any access requirements please get in touch with the box office before booking boxoffice@belfastfilmfestival.org

This event is hosted by the Strand Arts Centre in partnership with Belfast Film Festival and Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive (funded by the Department of Communities) and Strand Stories (funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund). Roy Spence’s entire filmography is now preserved at the IFI Irish Film Archive in Dublin. Their cine films were digitised through a joint initiative set by the British Film Institute, Northern Ireland Screen and the Irish Film Institute. Click here to watch our online collection. 

WANT MORE?

A tour of Belfast’s ‘Picture Palaces’, with Noel Spence

Wednesday 10^th November 2021, 11am – FREE, please pre-book

Join Noel Spence as he takes you on a whistle-stop tour of Belfast’s cinemas in the 1950s and 60s, and learn about the different characters and reputations of the city’s ‘picture palaces’.

Book here

Location Strand Arts Centre Screen 1

152-154 Holywood Road

Belfast

BT4 1NY