AFTERSUN (2022) + Post-Film Discussion

Cinetopia presents this special screening of Charlotte Wells’ AFTERSUN (2022), followed by a post-film discussion exploring memory, family, youth and the things we leave unsaid.

Thursday 22 October 2026 | Institut français d’Écosse, Edinburgh
7:00pm–9:30pm

The event is part of Transmission: Youth Across Generations, a multi-event programme exploring how youth culture has shaped identity, belonging and collective memory in Britain from the 1980s to the present.

The film:

In Charlotte Wells’ debut feature, eleven-year-old Sophie travels with her young father, Calum, to a faded Turkish holiday resort in the summer of 1999. Filming the trip on a MiniDV camera, Sophie drifts between her father’s company and the teenagers she is curious to be like, while Calum, warm and playful on the surface, carries something heavier he can’t quite share. Years later, an adult Sophie revisits the footage, searching it for the father she knew and the man she didn’t.

Aftersun’s power lies in what goes unsaid: a glance, a silence, a song, a shared joke. Paul Mescal’s Oscar-nominated performance and newcomer Frankie Corio’s naturalism give the film a lived-in intimacy, while its soundtrack makes it a film to feel as much as to watch.

Within Transmission, Aftersun sits under the theme of Belonging Now, asking how we recognise ourselves in other people’s youth. Memory, identity and family are at its heart, exploring how a child’s view of a parent can only be understood fully years later.

Post-film discussion:

Following the film, audiences will be invited to stay for an informal conversation reflecting on Aftersun and the memories and questions it might stir up.

Taking inspiration from the film’s exploration of memory, family, images and the things we struggle to say, the discussion will open up conversations around growing up, relationships between generations and the ways we understand our own past differently as we get older.

Audiences will also have the opportunity to contribute to the developing Transmission Youth Archive, sharing memories and reflections across generations.

Young Programmer - Livvie Wharmby:

This event is curated by young programmer Livvie Wharmby, a final-year student at the University of Edinburgh studying German and English Literature, including a year abroad at Universität Heidelberg.

Film has been central to Livvie’s time at university, offering a communal space where people share emotions while sitting together in silence. She is a member of Film Society and previously served as Film/Television Editor for The Student, attending festivals including Glasgow Film Festival as a press-accredited journalist and, more recently, the Berlinale.

From Livvie:

“Since its release, Aftersun has quietly haunted everyone who has seen it. It makes you think about your own family, your childhood, mental health, or simply the beauty of the filmmaking. So much is left unsaid, and I love the idea of an event that lets people say it, opening up conversation rather than holding it all within.”

Film information:
AFTERSUN (2022)
Dir. Charlotte Wells
UK/USA | 101 mins | Certificate 12
Starring Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio and Celia Rowlson-Hall

Content note: The film contains infrequent strong language, mild sex references and themes relating to mental health and suicide. It also contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.

This screening is part of Cinetopia’s TRANSMISSION: YOUTH ACROSS GENERATIONS programme, a multi-event programme exploring how youth culture has shaped identity, belonging and collective memory in Britain from the 1980s to the present. TRANSMISSION is part of Rip It Up, supported by Film Hub Scotland as part of the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN), made possible by the National Lottery.

Cinetopia is a film events and exhibition company based in Edinburgh with a mission to connect the film industry, foster conversations and produce engaging opportunities for audiences to experience cin