Volunteer at MFF26

The Festival

The biggest celebration of new and independent film in the city, Manchester Film Festival returns 20 to 29 March 2026, transforming the ODEON Great Northern into a thriving centre for filmmakers and film lovers in the North West. This year, we will also be hosting screenings in other venues across the city, including CULTPLEX, HOME, and the Northern Light Cinema (Sale).

Now in its 12th edition, MFF is an annual celebration of storytelling through cinema, showcasing a diverse selection of independent films from around the globe. Established to champion emerging talent and innovative filmmaking, the festival offers a dynamic mix of features, shorts, documentaries, and experimental projects.

And it’s not just screenings - this year’s festival will include our regular line-up of industry panels, after-parties, red-carpet interviews, a closing award ceremony and even a few special guests!

The festival celebrated its 11th anniversary last year with remarkable success, including many sold-out screenings and a significant increase in audience numbers, with similar heights intended for the festival in 2026.

Why not watch our 2025 Highlights film or look back at the Festival Guide Archive to get an even better sense of what to expect?

To find out more about how you can get involved, please read on!

Volunteer Roles

Front of House Team

This role has the most interaction with our audiences - you’ll be the face of the festival. This role consists of two parts, and if selected for this team, you will have a mix of stewarding and information desk shifts.

Stewarding

Stewards will be stationed at the door to each screening, scanning tickets, directing people to their seats in busy showings, and checking guest lists (only for certain films). Stewards will always work in pairs, ensuring you can get through queues quickly, and if an issue arises, one steward can alert a member of the team whilst the other stays in position.

Information Desk

This involves welcoming all visitors to the festival. That might mean checking in filmmakers/industry representatives and giving out passes, selling tickets (training will be provided on this), answering questions about the programme and generally being a friendly face to anyone who might want to come and watch some films! There will always be at least three people scheduled to work at the desk, plus a member of the festival team.

Q&A Hosts

People on this team watch films in advance and then lead red-carpet interviews and post-screening Q&As with attending filmmakers. Q&A Hosts will need to be prepared with open questions for the filmmakers. During the post-screening Q&A, you will also mediate questions from the audience. This role requires a certain level of confidence in front of a crowd and the ability to think quickly, listening to what the filmmakers are saying and asking thoughtful questions. To get more of an idea of what this role involves, you can watch previous red-carpet interviews on our YouTube page.

Videography Team

People in this team will take on various roles, including filming interviews, editing footage, filming behind-the-scenes content, and creating a record of the festival. You will be working with our videography team coordinator, who will ensure that everyone fully understands their role and feels confident in what is expected of them. Having your own equipment is not a requirement but is appreciated. However, some prior experience is necessary to ensure consistency and quality in the content.

Filmmaker Liaison

This position is a key support to keeping our red carpet interviews running smoothly. Working alongside the Q&A Hosts and Videography team, Filmmaker Liaisons will be responsible for checking in filmmakers, communicating who is in attendance, and creating a schedule to ensure red carpet interviews run smoothly and to time.

Volunteering requirements

We want to ensure that our volunteering opportunities are available to as many people as possible, which is why we don’t have any job-specific experience that volunteers must have. Whether you have volunteered before or this would be your first time, we want you to be part of Manchester Film Festival.

• However, we do have some minimum requirements, which are:

• You can commit to a minimum of six shifts over the duration of the festival (20 to 29 March 2026)

• You are able to attend an online pre-festival induction session in mid-January

• You should be confident in communicating in English, although this does not have to be your first language.

• You must be aged 18 or over and eligible to volunteer in the UK.

How to apply + timeline

If you’re all fired up to volunteer, please complete our short volunteering application form by 6pm, Sunday, 23 November.

Application and volunteering timeline

You will find out if you have been selected to volunteer by Sunday, 30 November. Unfortunately, as this is usually a very popular opportunity, we cannot accept everyone who applies and are not able to provide any feedback on applications. A volunteer induction will take place in mid-January, after which shift sign-up will open. More information will be provided on this closer to the time. If your availability changes or you’re no longer able to volunteer with the festival, please let a member of the team know as soon as possible, as this helps us make alternative arrangements.