All of this unreal time – screening and Q&A

Watch Aoife McArdle, Cillian Murphy and Max Porter’s mesmerising film – followed by live performances of new music inspired by the film from composers Aaron & Bryce Dessner and Jon Hopkins
 
‘I came out here to apologise. You know. I find myself, at the midpoint of my life, in a dark wood, and now I’m here, in the forest of my mind, and every tree is shame, every living thing is a reprimand, and I realise, I must speak freely now, before I lose you.’
 
A man – any man, everyman – walks alone through night and the city. From subway to pavement to wide open marshland, he confesses his failings: emotional, physical, political. To whom, and for what? Ashamed and alarmed, he considers both the smallness of human life and the scale of the world, and ultimately our most pressing obligation: to care for those alongside us, and for the earth that sustains us.
In this night of cinema and music, watch the film starring Cillian Murphy then take in live performances of new music inspired by the film from the composers of its original score – Aaron Dessner & Bryce Dessner (of The National) and Jon Hopkins.
 
Written by Max Porter, directed by Aoife McArdle and produced by Mary Hickson and Fran Thompson, All of This Unreal Time was first presented as an immersive installation at Manchester Central during the 2021 edition of Manchester International Festival. After making its London premiere at Royal Festival Hall (Southbank Centre), All of This Unreal Time returns to Manchester.
 
This one-off screening is followed by a Q&A with Max Porter, Aoife McArdle, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner, Jon Hopkins and Mary Hickson chaired by Keisha Thompson – plus live performances of new work inspired by the film from composers Aaron & Bryce Dessner and Jon Hopkins. The events in London and Manchester also mark the publication of Rough Trade Books’ edition of All of This Unreal Time, with a new foreword by Cillian Murphy.