The Outcasts in the late 1970s

A documentary exploring a Belfast punk band will premiere at the city's film festival.

The Outcasts are the subject of Outcasts By Choice, by Donegal-based father-and-daughter team Paul and Kate McCarroll.

The project was filmed over a three-year period in locations including Belfast, Lyon and Berlin.

It revisits the band's career from the late 1970s to their dissolution in 1984 and beyond.

It also charts how, years later in 2011, the group reformed for a 50th birthday party.

This kicked off a series of tours across Europe that saw the group reach an audience of new fans, as well as staying in touch with those who remembered them from their heyday.

Last September even found them performing on a boat in Berlin as part of a punk cruise.

The film features fans and members of the group's entourage, including first manager Terri Hooley, the man behind the Good Vibrations record shop.

Hooley said Outcasts By Choice was "a breathtaking film". "It's a powerful story and an important one," he added.

Co-maker Kate said: "Making this film has been a big challenge and big fun.

"We recorded a live DVD with the band in 2012 and we realised then that there was a great story to be told.

"When we were really young we used to sing Outcasts songs in the car with my dad, so I guess you could say that they've always been a part of my life."

The documentary will have its premiere on April 22 at the Strand Arts Centre as part of the Belfast Film Festival.

Now in its 16th year, the event has become a huge attraction in the Northern Ireland entertainment calendar.

Among the highlights this year is a showing of Miles Ahead, a wild, free-form investigation of Miles Davis's turbulent personal and professional life, directed by and starring Don Cheadle.

Another film sure to pull in the crowds is a screening of We're Still Here: Johnny Cash's Bitter Tears Revisited, which chronicles the 50th anniversary recording of the country musician's controversial concept record Bitter Tears: Ballads Of The American Indian.

Also showing is Wacken 3D, a no-holds-barred exploration of the Wacken Open Air, the biggest heavy metal festival in the world.

Those seeking a night of Eighties cheese will be happy to hear there is a screening of Tom Cruise's Cocktail, followed by Yacht Rock Karaoke.

For booking information, visit belfastfilmfestival.org. Tickets can be booked online, by phoning 028 9024 6609, or in person at Visit Belfast Welcome Centre

Belfast Telegraph