FILM FESTIVALS IN THE UK

The film festival season in the UK lasts from June until October. In June, Sheffield hosts the International Documentary Festival, and in October there is London Film Festival. Both festivals show new films from around the world, with one main difference. The London Film Festival shows fiction films; the Sheffield Festival shows factual films. The Sheffield festival is now 22 years old, and it has grown from a small weekend festival into a week-long festival. During the festival people have a chance to watch new documentary films and they can also join training workshops for new directors and have interviews with important film makers. Film makers might also talk about their ideas to raise money for their film projects. Generally, people can watch documentaries only on TV so, this festival, which shows the films in modern cinemas in Sheffield, is a great opportunity to see documentary films on the big screen. There are films from all over the world, from Japan to Australia, from West Africa to Russia. Overall, people can see over 150 films this year. The director of the festival, Heather Croall, says she is proud of how many different cultures and lives are represented in the film schedule.

The London Film Festival is a rather different event. It has been running for nearly 60 years, and it lasts for two weeks. The festival takes place in the largest cinemas in London and a great number of people attend the festival. During the premiers of bigger movies which are shown in the festival, many glamorous stars appear. The festival gets international films together and also British directors can show their work to the people coming to the festival. The opening film at the 2016 festival was ‘A United Kingdom’, a British drama about a romance between 2 people from different races that changed the world, and the closing film was ‘Free Fire’ which is about gangs in Boston in the 1970s. There really is something for everyone who loves the big screen with these two festivals.

(Adapted from the Teaching English UK website.)