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15th - 24th September 2023
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Cheltenham International Film Festival marks its 5th anniversary in 2023, moving to new dates, 15-24 September, and to a new home at Cineworld in Cheltenham town centre. The festival will screen new films from around the world, plus film classics and is adding television, and new live events to its programme, along with guest celebrities.
Spain – Country in Focus
Highlight of our Spanish season in 2023, is On The Fringe, an emotional drama about a woman with a young son living on the edge, and fighting eviction from her home, starring two of Spain’s biggest stars, Penelope Cruz and Luis Tosar.
Ken Loach – UK premiere of his final film
Ken Loach, has announced his retirement with his last film, The Old Oak, a tale about traditional communities and the changing profile of those communities in Britain. We screen the UK premiere on 18 September in the presence of the director, Ken Loach.
Sir Stephen Frears – A director’s tribute
The film festival launches it’s Director’s Tribute to the newly-knighted Sir Stephen Frears who joins us on 23rd September. The occasion includes a retrospective of Stephen’s work, plus a conversation with broadcaster and journalist, Matthew Sweet, in front of a live audience
Timothy Spall – Bolan’s Shoes
Popular actor, and winner of Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award, Timothy Spall, is coming to Cheltenham on 16 September with his latest film, Bolan’s Shoes. Fans of Timothy and lovers of Marc Bolan and T. Rex music are going to love this film.
BREAKING News
Incoming Chair of BAFTA, Sara Putt, to lead jury at Cheltenham International Film Festival
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Incoming Chair of BAFTA, Sara Putt, to lead jury at Cheltenham International Film Festival
BAFTA & Oscar 2023 winner – Tom Berkeley – joins the panel
Cheltenham International Film Festival 2023
The film festival announces new dates with a planned programme of special events, new strands and a line up of guests in the works
JURY
Sara Putt : Chair
Sara, Managing Director of Sara Putt Associates, established the agency in 1989. SPA is the leading agency representing behind the camera technical and production talent, from producers and directors through to Heads of Department and crew. Sara became Chair of BAFTA in 2023 and is a BAFTA Trustee. She also sits on the Board of the British Film Commission.
Tom Berkley
Tom, along with co-director, Ross White, both from Gloucester, won an Oscar and a BAFTA for short film, An Irish Goodbye, in 2023. An Irish Goodbye was the first short film in 30 years to win both an Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Live Action Short Film. And, Tom (and Ross) are the youngest British filmmakers to win an Oscar.
Jonathan Dean
Jonathan is senior writer at The Sunday Times culture section, where he spends a lot of time meeting very famous people. For instance, Paul McCartney told him about the time he saw God, and Martin Scorsese was convinced that he looked just like his friend. In his spare time he tries to get his children into the music of Vampire Weekend. It’s a hobby.
Laurie Bell
Laurie is CEO of The Cheltenham Trust, lead provider of culture and leisure in Cheltenham. The Trust manages venues, Pittville Pump Room and Cheltenham Town Hall, among others, where it co-presents live events bringing notable talent from music, drama, comedy to the town. The Trust is also guardian of Cheltenham’s heritage sustaining and developing its venues.
Michael Bourne
Michael is Chair of Cheltenham Film Society (CFS), founded in 1945, and is the oldest and largest film society in the UK. The society is dedicated to screening independent films from all over the world. The object of the society is “to advance the education of the public in the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the arts, particularly the art of film and allied visual techniques”.
Carl Hunter
Carl received critical success with his debut feature Sometime Always Never, starring Bill Nighy, which premiered at Cheltenham International Film Festival in 2019. He has collaborated with author/screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce on projects like Grow Your Own and is also busy as documentary filmmaker; bass player with Liverpool pop band, The Farm; a Senior Fellow at The Institute for Creative Enterprise; and a member of BAFTA.
Neil Ramjee
Neil is Community Manager for the British Film Institute (BFI) hub in the South West and West Midlands of England. They are both part of the BFI Film Audience Network, an initiative to support the independent cultural exhibition sector and boost film audiences across the UK for specialised and independent British film.
OUR FRIENDS
Steven Berkoff
Carl Hunter
Jan Komasa
Mike Leigh
Dame Judi Dench
Simon Pegg
Stephen Frears
Josie Rourke
Film Festival sponsors
