Joe Lycett turns director for short film starring Barbara Nice & the world premiere is in Birmingham

Brummie comedian Joe Lycett probably has no free time for himself since he’s constantly doing something new. From being chat show host for Late Night Lycett to returning as host for Travel Man, or painting portraits of King Charles, he’s on the move. Somewhere between all of this, he also made a short film called Linda that will be releasing this month.

Lycett shared on Twitter today (May 11) that his new short film starring Mrs Barbara Nice aka Janice Connolly will premiere for the first time in the world at a film festival in Birmingham on May 19.

He wrote: “Linda, my new short film starring @BarbaraNice, filmed in Birmingham with a mix of established crew and Brummie newbies and funded entirely by the sale of art prints. I’m super proud of it and it makes its world premiere at @flatpack on 19th May.”

Barbara Nice is a character created by Janice Connolly, Birmingham actress and comedian and artistic director. She runs the Birmingham-based group Women and Theatre, and performs stand-up comedy as her character.

The Cheshire born, Birmingham City University alumni has also appeared in Coronation Street, That Peter Kay Thing, Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy’s Road To Nowhere, Thin Ice and Dead Man Weds. In 2022, the British Empire Medal awardee began appearing in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Rosie Colton.

The short film Linda will premiere during Flatpack Festival on May 19 at The Mockingbird Cinema. It is part of the Short Film Competition Programme and tickets are £8/£6, or you can get yourself a Short Film Bundle Pass for £20, getting you into all five programmes.

Other short films to be screened during Flatpack Festival

• God Level - dir: César Tormo, Spain 2022, 12 mins
• Aaah! - dir: Osman Cerfon, France 2022, 5 mins
• Bird in the Peninsula - dir: Atsushi Wada, Japan 2022, 16 mins
• White Ant - dir: Shalini Adnani, India/UK 2022, 16 mins
• The Diamond - dir: Vedran Rupic, Sweden 2021, 14 mins
• Linda - dir: Joe Lycett, UK 2023, 7 mins
• A Drifting Up- dir: Jacob Lee, UK 2022, 10 mins

When does Flatpack Festival begin?

From 16 to 21, Birmingham will be hosting the film festival by Flatpack - a mobile arts organisation which exists to show amazing work, bring people together and develop new ideas.

According to their website: [They] “love film in all shapes and sizes, particularly where it bumps up against other artforms, and get a kick out of transforming spaces to create unforgettable events. Every May bank holiday you can find us taking over venues across Birmingham with the ‘magnificently eclectic’ Flatpack Festival, while throughout the year we pop up all over the place with everything from family activities to al fresco horror.”