Europe Day 2026 Celebrated in Manchester and Edinburgh

🎬 Manchester -Europe Day Film Festival in UK

We were delighted to invite you to the 3rd edition of the Europe Day Film Festival, an initiative of the Consulates General of the Member States of the European Union accredited in Manchester hosted by Instituto Cervantes Manchester, an event open to the general public, celebrating European creativity, dialogue, and cultural diversity.

The opening evening of the Europe Day Short Film Festival 2026 was presented by Samantha Del Vigna and Petronela Sandrea.

Europe Day Film Festival in Manchester - Thursday 7th May

The Consulates of the European Union in Manchester and the Instituto Cervantes Manchester celebrated the Europe Day Film Festival. The festival aimed to showcase the rich European cinematic heritage through the lens of renowned creators. This year's edition was focused on animated and short films, showcasing the diversity of themes, styles and perspectives that characterise the creativity of contemporary European cinema.

🙌 The opening day featured a presentation of the participating contributors, a screening of the short film The Tornado Outside (Cyprus, 2023, 7 min) by Cypriot director Maria Tomazou, and a representative culinary tasting from each participating country

Fr Theodoros Polyviou, the Chairman of the Wardens Mr Angelo Gabrilatsou, members of the Warden's Committee, Chaiman of the Hellenic School of Manchester Mr Christos Papadopoulos and his team, Mr Panayiotis Theophanous, president of the Hellenic Brotherhood-Manchester, proudky represented Greek Orthodox Church, Community and School of the Annunciation Manchester at the opening day.

🔹 The Consulate General of Romania in Manchester participated in this edition with the short film “Zimnicea” — a powerful cinematic contribution reflecting unique perspectives and storytelling from the Romanian cultural space.

Guests joined us for an evening that offered:

✅ Inspiring European short films

✅ Cultural exchange and dialogue

✅ A shared celebration of Europe through cinema

We were delighted to welcome everyone to this special occasion and to share together a meaningful European experience.🙏

#EuropeDay in Edinburgh

🎬Proud to be part of this year’s event featuring a selection of comedy short films from France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain highlighting humour from different European countries.

🔵 The diversity of the European cultural space is shaped both by the rich cultural heritage of the Member States and by the talent, creativity and passion of European artists from all fields of cultural life.

🫶 We would like to thank our colleagues from the Institut français d'Ecosse for hosting the event and the Romanian Cultural Institute in London for their continuous support.

🎬 the Romanian short film “Zimnicea”Director: Bogdan Naumovici

This is the true story of what happened in Zimnicea on March 4, 1977, the day of the great earthquake. For more than 35 years, everyone believed that 80% of the city had been destroyed by the earthquake. It was only in 2012 that the truth emerged: it was Communism, not the earthquake, that brought Zimnicea down.

Happy Europe Day!

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La mulți ani Europa!