It's Nice Up North + Q&A

Graham Fellows is bringing his alter ego John Shuttleworth to MAC Birmingham on Friday 6 November for a 20th-anniversary screening of It's Nice Up North. The film is a comedy documentary from 2006, and Fellows will be there in person for a Q&A after the credits roll.

If you're not familiar with the character, John Shuttleworth is a Sheffield-based singer-songwriter with a very specific, understated way of looking at the world. In It's Nice Up North, he sets off on a gently absurd journey through the Shetland Islands to test a particular theory: that the further north you go, the nicer people become. It's a road movie of sorts, though the destination is less about the place and more about the people he meets along the way.

The film was shot by the celebrated photographer Martin Parr, whose distinctive eye is central to its charm. Parr's work is known for its sharp, slightly satirical take on British life, and that comes through here in the way the Shetland landscape and its inhabitants are captured. The tour is being presented as a tribute to Parr, who has since passed away, so the screening carries a bit more weight than a standard anniversary showing.

Two decades on, the film is being screened across the UK as part of this 20th-anniversary tour, with Fellows in attendance for the Q&A. The screening runs for 80 minutes, with the Q&A to follow. It starts at 7:30pm at MAC Birmingham, and tickets are from £11.95.