The winner of our student choice competition. Post-graduate student Charlotte Gislam studying a PhD in Gothic Studies will introduce Shoplifters and host the Q & A after the screening.

Shoplifters (2018) gives audiences a different perspective on the crime families established by films such as The Godfather (1972). Rather than the Shibata’s gathering high amounts of status and fear and acting often above the law, the family’s crimes in Shoplifters are due to desperation and need. They are so low status within society that they appear to be invisible to others until outside focus is brought onto them. The Shibata’s live in the outskirts of Tokyo, making ends meet mainly through shoplifting but also pension fraud and other forms of theft. The film examines: definitions of what can be considered right and wrong (whether this is sticking strictly to the law or following an inner moral code), found family and the legal rights of birth parents, and what crimes are considered worse: those which effect a person’s physical and mental health or taking that which doesn’t ‘belong’ to yourself.

Manchester charity Back on Track’s catering social enterprise – Swan’s Kitchen – are providing a POP-UP CAFÉ staffed by disadvantaged people getting the skills and experience they need to build a better future. Come along early and show your support by relaxing with a coffee and a delicious bite to eat before the screening.