Over the past few weeks we’ve been proudly presenting MIF LIVE, our free online programme for audiences at home, featuring much-loved shows from the archives, artist talks, and new work from Manchester artists.

Here’s a quick guide to some of the shows still available online so you can catch up or enjoy them all over again…

Riz Ahmed in conversation
The musician, storyteller, actor and activist joined MIF LIVE to discuss his latest project The Long Goodbye. Unfolding over an album, short film, and upcoming new live show, The Long Goodbye turns our divided political times into deeply personal matter through the metaphor of a romantic break-up. Riz was joined by author and Youth Worker Ciaran Thapar and MIF Artistic Director John McGrath to talk about the project, life during lockdown and more.

FKA twigs and Hans Ulrich Obrist
Musician FKA twigs and Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries Hans Ulrich Obrist got together via Zoom to discuss twigs’ life and work including Soundtrack 7, an abstract autobiographical film that was created and filmed during the artist’s MIF15 residency at the Old Granada Studios. Emphasising the grit and physicality of dance, FKA twigs describes the project as ‘flesh, sweat, feeling, muscle, and a live movement, no air brushing, no frills’.

Together in One Voice
Thousands of residents from across the city-region threw open their windows and took to their doorsteps and balconies to join Together in One Voice, a joyous mass singalong on Thursday 28 May, supported by a host of top musical talent. Filmed right across Greater Manchester, as choirs, individuals, households and entire streets came together in song, this special film features introductions by Liam Gallagher, Mark Owen, James, Emeli Sandé and many others.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o in conversation with Lemn Sissay
For MIF19, we welcomed Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, a visionary Kenyan novelist, playwright and activist whose works, have been translated into more than 30 languages and won awards worldwide. One of seven featured authors in MIF19’s Studio Créole, Ngũgĩ also found time to sit down with acclaimed poet Lemn Sissay to discuss his life and his writing. Recorded at the Albert Hall in July 2019, their conversation was streamed as part of MIF LIVE.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and David Olusoga
Created especially for MIF17, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s HOME1947 was a powerful and moving installation reflecting on the experiences of people who left their homes during the Partition of British India in 1947. Sharmeen, a two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker from Pakistan, joined historian David Olusoga, the author of books such as Black and British: A Forgotten History, to talk about power, patriotism, imperialism and memory – streamed again as part of MIF LIVE.

Nenah Cherry  and Dave Haslam
One of music’s great maverick talents, Neneh Cherry joined us in Festival Square’s Pavilion Theatre back in 2013 for three intimate, riotous and unforgettable shows with RocketNumberNine –and while she was here, she opened up to DJ-author Dave Haslam, a longtime friend of the Festival, in a fascinating installment of MIF13’s In Conversation strand. The pair’s wide-ranging chat was recorded and streamed online for the very first time as part of MIF LIVE.

FIND OUT MORE

Check out our handy guide to the Festival in My House… And Yours series, also streamed as part of MIF LIVE:

Catch up with all our online content on the MIF YouTube channel