Simon Pegg speaks out in favour of Cheltenham International Film Festival going on line

Simon Pegg, renowned Gloucestershire born actor and Honorary Patron of Cheltenham International Film Festival (CIFF) has spoken today about why he supports CIFF. “My association with Cheltenham International Film Festival is founded on a personal commitment to support and help to bring the best of independent cinema to the next generation of audience. It pleases me that Cheltenham, on becoming the first narrative international film festival in the UK to…

CHELTENHAM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2020 ANNOUNCES ITS OPENING AND CLOSING FILMS

Following the government lockdown in March, Cheltenham has become one of the first international film festivals in the UK to go online. The Festival opens with Lost Transmissions on 8th June and closes on 14th June with a screening of White Riot. Set in Los Angeles, Lost Transmissions stars Simon Pegg (Theo), a successful record producer struggling with schizophrenic rages. Pegg delivers an impressive performance supported by co-star, Juno Temple,…

CHELTENHAM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2020 GOES ONLINE

The Cheltenham International Film Festival (CIFF) has moved its 2020 festival online. The live in-person festival scheduled for the end of May was cancelled when the government put the country into lockdown. The new dates for the online festival are 8th June – 14th June. During festival week, audiences will have an opportunity to select and watch up to 35 new films from some of the world’s best emerging filmmakers….

Potential volunteers for the Cheltenham International Film Festival 2020 encouraged to get in touch

Cheltenham International Film Festival 2020 is inviting potential volunteers to get in touch. There are a wide range of volunteering opportunities available not just during the Festival itself but also in the days, weeks and months leading up to it. Just some of the volunteering opportunities include the role of Volunteer Manager, marshalls, social media, PA to Festival Director, Photographer, Producer, hosts and many more. Feedback from people who volunteered…

Film fans and Gloucestershire residents invited to sign up for the CIFF newsletter to be the first to hear about the 2020 Festival

The organisers of the 2020 Cheltenham International Film Festival (CIFF) invite film fans, residents in and around Cheltenham and throughout Gloucestershire to sign up for the CIFF newsletter. Readers will be the first  to hear about plans for the 2020 event and get advanced notice of the list of films which will be screened at venues across town.. Leslie Montgomery Sheldon, the Festival Founder and Director explained why people may…

Cheltenham International Film Festival to benefit from Cheltenham Borough Council Lottery

Cheltenham Borough Council has launched a brand, new Lottery to help local charities to raise money for good causes in Cheltenham and the Cheltenham International Film Festival will one of the causes to benefit.  Tickets for the lottery cost £1 per week. Each ticket has a 1 in 50 chance to win a prize each week, with a top prize of £25,000. That’s a better chance of winning than the…

Steven Berkoff

John Morrish Earlier this year, an actor/writer took to the stage in an off-West End theatre for a demanding one-man show. It tackled an incendiary topic, and portrayed a character who – while still innocent pending trial – is no-one’s idea of lovable. The character was Harvey Weinstein. The actor taking on the challenge, and risking the wrath of the entire #metoo generation, was 81 years old. This was an extraordinary development…

Sorry To Bother You

John Morrish Sorry To Bother You, one of the surprise hits of 2018, is a strange film by any standards, but then it had a very odd genesis. The film is a powerful, funny, unorthodox satire by Raymond Riley, born 1971, better known as the rapper Boots Riley. Riley is a highly political artist: his parents were social rights activists in Chicago and he has been associated with left-wing groups…

Scandinavian Drama at Cheltenham International Festival of Film.

By John Morrish Snow and ice. Deep conversations about God and his absence. Blithe sunlit romance and bitter divorce. Disputes about farm animals. The clichés about Scandinavian film come thick and fast, but the region has always had so much more to offer. In over a century of cinema, the Nordic countries – Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland – have produced films in all styles, from action to broad comedy, and…

Women in Film

In the last few years, the role of women in the film industry has become a burning issue. And not before time. The statistics are dismaying. Although women have always been represented on screen, they have often played uninteresting and demeaning roles. When it comes to the crafts of film-making, their representation is vanishingly small. A survey of the highest-grossing 250 films in America in 2018 showed only eight per…