2CIFF 21 - 23 AUG 2026
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE and film guide
OPENING NIGHT
DOORS OPEN
6PM
The doors open to the inaugural 2CIFF where you will be welcomed to the venue with a welcome drink, music and some time to network.
WELCOME TO THE SKYROOM CINEMA
7PM
We will be in the Sky Room Cinema where we will have an introduction from the Mayor of Milton Keynes, the organisers and a chance to hear from some of the sponsors.
OPENING NIGHT SCREENINGS
7:30PM - 10PM
We have choosen some excellent films to kick off this years festival, focused on some of the amazing talent from Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.
*Just Another Day
* Viral: Ted Ramirez
* Not On My Watch
* Dear Heart
* The Stork
* The Lossen
Please use the film guide to look for the details of each film
AFTER PARTY
10PM- 01:00AM
The Midsummer Tap - Located in the heart of Milton Keynes' Theatre District. (Free drink with the MIXR APP download and £4 spirit and mixer deal)
saturday 22nd august skyroom schedule
DOORS OPEN
9am - 10am
Doors open and we welcome our guests to a networking breakfast, start the day with some coffee and pastries or a breakfast bap.
Meet likeminded creatives and film lovers. Talk about your film and introduce yourself to other guests
TWO AMAZING VIP SPEAKERS IN THE SKYROOM
11:05 Kathryn Carmicheal
16:45 Peter Pedrero
Dont miss out on interacting with our VIP guest speakers, they will be available throughout the day and will be enjoying the festival like everyone else, take advantage of the Q&A sessions and pick their brains on their areas of expertise. Dont forget Film Maker and VIP passess only allow for queue jump, this will be facilitated by festival staff.
AFTER PARTY
10PM - 1AM
We are delighted to announce that we have secured a second evening afterparty venue which will be at The MIdsummer Tap. This is located 1 minutes walk from the festival. We have the upper function room of the bar so we can enjoy some extra film maker mingling and reflections on the day.
FILM SCHEDULE NOTES
We encourage our guests to make themselves comfortable for each block, but we appreciate there may be another film in the VIBE room you may want to watch, if at all possible could you look to move in the film breaks during the holding screens
This schedule may be subject to some changes, but we will do our best to keep these to a minimum.
The programme is accompanied by a full film guide - please use this to learn about and research each film -available in the website menu.
AFTER PARTY
We have extended our 2CIFF afterparty which we will be having at the Midsummer Tap on Saturday night - Everyone with a 2CIFF pass or wristband is welcome to attend for free.
SATURDAY 22ND AUGUST VIBE ROOM SCHEDULE
THE VIBE ROOM
We're incredibly fortunate to have a second screening venue available throughout the festival, allowing us to showcase an even wider range of exceptional independent filmmaking. Rather than simply screening more films, we've carefully curated each programme to take audiences on a cinematic journey through different genres, themes and storytelling styles.
Saturday begins with our Family-Friendly Showcase, a collection of entertaining and inspiring films chosen especially for younger audiences and families. From there, we move into Life's Journeys, where deeply personal stories explore resilience, identity, hope and the human experience.
As the day unfolds, we lighten the mood with our Comedy Showcase, celebrating sharp writing, unforgettable characters and the joy that independent cinema can bring. We then transition into our Drama Collection, where powerful performances and compelling storytelling take centre stage, highlighting the emotional depth and creativity of today's filmmakers.
The evening concludes with two outstanding feature presentations and our Suspense Showcase—a gripping collection of thrillers and edge-of-your-seat storytelling that provides the perfect finale to an unforgettable day of independent cinema.
We also have the pleasure of listening and asking questions of Andy Jones from AI Cyclops 4:10pm - this is obviously a hot topic in the film industry and Andy is only exploring the ways AI could assist film makers in the administration tasks, workflow type tasks. This is not how to use AI in actual film making. In any case we expect some great questions and viewpoints - We at 2CIFF believe its important to talk about the issues which impact the industry.
THE VIBE ROOM
We will be serving from a bottle bar located in the VIBE ROOM - This will be open during breaks and will be a supplementry service to the main bar, this will be timed primarily around breaks. The main bar area will be located in the Gallery Cafe area.
How we have planned the programme
Its a packed schedule of amazing films in the VIBE ROOM, and designed so those who dont want to attend the guest speakers in the SkyRoom can chill and put their feet up with a feature.
Sunday 23rd AUGUST SKYROOM SCHEDULE
DOORS OPEN
9am and we open our doors for the last day of the festival, again we start with a networking breakfast, find breakfast rolls, pastries and the morning coffee.
WHATS ON TODAY
We have fully curated final day in the SKYROOM. We start the day with a morning shorts block to get the creative juices flowing.
We have fully curated final day in the SKYROOM. We start the day with a morning shorts block to get the creative juices flowing.
We then enjoy our Feature film before welcoming all the morning film makers to the stage for a Q&A.
The afternoon screening block has some a mix of Shorts to wet the creative whistle, this will also be followed by the afternoon film makers Q&A.
VIP SPEAKER
4pm - 5pm
We have absolute pleasure in welcoming Fabian Wagner, the creative DOP behind the recent Masters of the Universe film. His eye catching CV includes The crown, Justice League and Game of Thrones. The conversation will be hosted by the super Teymour Tehrani himself an internationally based film maker, producer, director and screen writer.
Please note that film maker and VIP tickets get queue jump and then entry will be made to capacity for day tickets, this will be facilitated by 2 CIFF staff. We are sorry but once it is full it is full please understand there is limited capacity as with all the weekend speakers.
Sunday 23rd vibe room schedule
Vibe room Schedule Overview
We're incredibly fortunate to have a second screening venue available throughout the festival, allowing us to showcase an even wider range of exceptional independent filmmaking. Rather than simply screening more films, we've carefully curated each programme to take audiences on a cinematic journey through different genres, themes and storytelling styles.
Sunday begins with a collection of Music inspired entertaining and inspiring films and what a fantatsic music hangover cure from the festival afterparty on Saturday night. From there, we move into a fantastic International feature film where you can relax for an hour with a bit of popcorn.
As the day unfolds, we have the pleasure of welcoming Alex Crockford and Dan Newman (12:55pm)and shine a spotlight on vertical dramas, we will watch the brilliant Shanghai Sherlock, the multi lingual drama smashing it on streming platforms. We then celebrate our Emerging talent in a shorts block, some excellent imaginative stories being birthed onto screen. We then transition into welcoming, guest speaker Andy Jones,(3pm) He is talking about how film makers could use AI to assist with the business of film making not being used in film making itself. It will be an interesting talk as this area is such a hot topic in the creatives world.
The evening concludes with one outstanding feature presentation and our Love and Devotion shorts showcase
Featured Films & Screenings
Explore a curated selection of films that will be showcased during the festival. Find out about directors, genres, and screening times to enhance your festival experience by checking the film guide for each day.
FILM AND SPEAKERS GUIDE
This guide will be subject to change up to the event date
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