Manchester Arena Survivor Releases Film, In Bloom

9 Mar 2019

On May 22nd 2017, sisters Jess and Hannah from Bramhall attended an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena, where they became two of the victims of the Manchester Arena Attack.

The sisters escaped with their lives, but Hannah sustained life-altering injuries. Jess Mone, a filmmaking graduate from MMU, and her family have been residents of Bramhall for over 20 years. Along with her sister Hannah, Jess attended local school Pownall Green and later progressed to Bramhall High School.

Jess & Hannah Mone

Jess and Hannah were approximately 15 feet away from the attack in Manchester Arena back in May 2017. Jess began to record her sister’s recovery shortly after as she showed such resilience and bravery whilst in hospital.

Last year Jess released her Graduate film In Bloom which follows her sister’s recovery after the attack. The film is to be screened Manchester twice this week, first at HOME Cinema on March 12th as part of their North West filmmakers night, and the second is in Manchester’s Northern Quarter for Manchester Lift Off Film Festival on March 14th.

In Bloom Jess Mone

Jess explains

These screenings such as these are incredibly important for the film as it shows my sister’s positive attitude throughout her experience and reminds everyone that this is still an uphill struggle nearly two years on. Traumatic experiences such as this don’t just go away, but we treat every day as a new day and continue to try and move past it.”

Jess was recently awarded an official selection for her film, which was selected out of 2000+ global entrants, to screen at Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival this March. At the event, all the films will be scored by the attending audience, where the winners are potentially screened at any of the ten proceeding Lift-Off global events, with the ultimate aim to give filmmakers like Jess the best exposure possible as they embark on their continued artistic journey within the film industry.

In Bloom - Hannah Mone

Jess describes the creation of In Bloom as an

“Emotional and challenging journey, it’s been more than just a film for myself and my sister, it’s helped us with our recovery and given us a reason to be able to talk about mental and physical injury.”

In Bloom will be screened at HOME’s Filmed Up, on the 12th March at 6:30pm as part of their Northwest filmmakers short film showcase. Lift-Off currently has festivals in Berlin, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Paris, Melbourne, Sydney, London and Manchester. In Bloom will be shown at Lift-Off Manchester on the 14th of March at 9pm, at Dive NQ, 12 Tib St, Manchester M4 1SH.

James Bradley Co-Director and Co-Founder of Lift-Off says…

“Manchester has this creative draw that no other city on the planet seems to get close to. This is why we are ruthless in the films we select; the British audience is a creatively diverse market. Getting into Manchester Lift-Off is an extremely high achievement as we only take the best!“

We are approaching the second anniversary of the devastating attack, and thus showing your support for Jess’s film is a suiting way to reflect on all those affected by the Manchester Arena Attack, from both our community and beyond.