Full Programme for the 21st Keswick Film Festival

Our full programme for the 21st Keswick Film Festival is now on the website – and David Miller has worked his magic again to bring you a superb weekend of film.

As well as the titles we have already mentioned, there is The Personal History of David Copperfield as the family film on Saturday, a joyous romp written by Armando Iannucci; inspired by the work that Carlisle College is doing with the Patrons Legacy Project we have two more films starring their subject, Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive and The Souvenir; there is The Tobacconist, a young boy’s encounter with Sigmund Freud; two fascinating Turkish films Noah Land and Belonging; the marvellous So Long My Son, a film that is collecting plaudit after plaudit and; as it is far too long since we last had a Bulgarian/Japanese co-production, we bring you A Picture with Yuki.

Here's hoping that the KFF programme is an early Christmas present to you all. From all of us at Keswick Film Club, have a wonderful festive break and we look forward to seeing you again in the New Year.

Opening Film - The Runaways

With the help of a fantastically successful crowd-funding campaign, the Alhambra has had a make-over which has transformed the place, using heritage colours. Carol, Alan, Tom and Sylvia’s aim was to ‘Restore the Glory’ and boy, have they achieved it. Stripping back years of paint has revealed all kinds of features – it is going to look wonderful with a full house on the opening night for The Runaways.

Director Richard Heap will be here to introduce his film, the story of an epic crossing of the Pennines by three children in search of their estranged mother. The Yorkshire Post said "Huge praise has to go to director/writer Richard Heap whose unique screenplay evokes a range of emotions from laughter to tears. This is an uplifting and atmospheric story. The film is ultimately a celebration of childhood and the importance of home and family ties."

Light and Shade at the Festival

We are going to play with your emotions this time at Keswick Film Festival.

Our films will take you to some dark places – the brutality of colonial Australia for example in The Nightingale a revenge drama that is a tough watch but so well worth the effort. Tumbbad is an Indian horror/fantasy film to be screened at Rheged on Saturday afternoon. It is a genre that will be new to most of us – but where else than KFF are you going to see a film like that? Then there is Takshe Miike’s First Love, described as 'Kill Bill meets Baby Driver' and 'a carnage of chaos'!

On a lighter note, Friday at the Festival kicks off with Amanda, a moving film about a young girl, orphaned by a terrorist atrocity, taken under the wing of her uncle. Bill Nighy returns to the Festival (on screen at least!) in Hope Gap, playing opposite Annette Bening and we close the Festival with another American leading lady – Susan Sarandon is absolutely superb in Roger (Notting Hill, My Cousin Rachel) Michell’s Blackbird.

The best of the best at the Fest

Sight & Sound magazine has just published its 50 best films of 2019. Favourites from this year’s Festival that made it into the list were In Fabric, Border and Happy as Lazzaro.

That should make KFF 2019 a very hard act to follow but there are more gems from the list waiting for you in the 2020 programme – The Farewell, Monos, For Sama, Midsommar, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Parasite and the poll-topping The Souvenir are all lined up, along with a healthy sprinkling of pre-releases that will doubtlessly make their way onto Sight & Sounds' list for 2020.

First Films Announced For 2020 Festival

The countdown has begun for the 21st Keswick Film Festival. It is only about 100 days until the Film Festival starts on 27th February – by which time the nights will be drawing out again and the snowdrops will be out in force.

Not only that but the Alhambra is looking fantastic after its refurbishment, ready to screen such delights as Parasite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Monos, Judy and Punch, The Kingmaker and many more. The screens at the Theatre by the Lake and Rheged will be busy too – keep checking our website, Twitter and Facebook for further information on the programme.

Passes are on sale now from the Theatre by the Lake and individual tickets from 3rd January.

More Audience Scores

The scores for all of the films are now available so you can now see how your favourite films fared.

Audience Scores - Top 3s

We've started adding up all of the audience votes and can now reveal the top 3 feature films and documentaries at the 20th Keswick Film Festival.

Feature Film

 

Green Book - 91%

The Guilty - 87%

Jellyfish - 86%

Documentaries

Nae Pasaran - 92%

Citizenfour - 91%

Another Day of Life - 90%

Osprey Winners

More than a hundred people came along to watch the Osprey Short Film Awards on Saturday afternoon. Directors James Gardner (Jellyfish) and Mike Tweddle (Sparrowhawk) helped hand out the certificates to all of the filmmakers.

The main prizes were awarded as follows:

Open Category: A Mercy Kill by Richard Skelton
Student Category: Cake by Alana Barton
Audience Award: Holding Space by Rebecca Kenyon

You can find more details about all of the films on our website and photos from the event are available on our Facebook Page.

Sunday at Keswick Film Festival

There's still lots to see on our final day, including the award winning Green Book, a preview of "one of the best movies ever made about survival" Arctic and the UK premiere of A Long Hot Summer in Palestine with director Norma Marcos.

Please note that due to demand the Studio films have been moved to the stalls of the main house.

• Another Day Of Life - 11:00am Alhambra
• A Long Hot Summer in Palestine Premiere + director Norma Marcos Q&A  - 11:00am Theatre 
• Only You - 1:00pm Alhambra
• Nae Pasaran - 1:30pm Theatre
• Jellyfish - 2:00pm Rheged
• Too Late To Die Young - 3:30pm Alhambra
• Neil Sinyard on The Memphis Belle + Documentary + Feature Film - 4:00pm Theatre
• Arctic (Preview) - 6:00pm Alhambra
• Green Book - 8:30pm Alhambra

Sunday's Studio Films

Due to popular demand we have moved Sunday's films scheduled for the Studio to the Main House. This means there are now more tickets available for A Long Hot Summer In Palestine, Nae Pasaran and The Memphis Belle.

Today's films (CitizenFour, Prevenge and Faces Places) will still be in the Studio.

Saturday at Keswick Film Festival

Today we have long films (4 hours) and short films (2 mins) and plenty in between the two. We're also delighted to be joined by special guests Alice Lowe and director Carl Hunter for our Gala Screening of Sometimes Always Never.

• Fighting With My Family - 10:00am Alhambra
• An Elephant Sitting Still - 11:00am Theatre
• Citizenfour - 11:00am Studio
• Down To Earth - 11:15am Rheged
• The Osprey Short Film Awards - 12:30pm Alhambra
• Sorry To Bother You - 1:15pm Rheged
• Rafiki - 3:00pm Alhambra
• Prevenge - 2:30pm Studio
• Happy As Lazzaro (Preview) - 5:00pm Alhambra
• Lizzie - 4:30pm - By The Lake
• Faces Places - 5:00pm Studio
• Sunset (Preview) - 8:00pm Alhambra
• Sometimes Always Never + Q&A with Alice Lowe and director Carl Hunter - 8:00pm Theatre By The Lake

Friday at Keswick Film Festival

For the first full day of the Festival there are 11 films to choose from, including two UK premieres and six other films that have yet to be released. Students from Carlisle College and the University of Cumbria are taking over the Theatre Studio to present a new project POPCORN as a tribute to the legacy of our former Patron, Sir John Hurt.

 

• In Fabric (Preview)- 11:00am Alhambra
• Dogman - 11:00am Theatre By The Lake
• The Patron's Legacy Project - 12:00pm Studio
• Maria by Callas (Preview) - 1:45pm Alhambra
• Noah Wise (Premiere)- 2:00pm Theatre By The Lake
• Birds Of Passage (Preview)- 4:00pm Alhambra
• Disobedience - 4:00pm Theatre By The Lake
• Border (Preview) - 6:30pm Alhambra
• The Guilty - 7:00pm Theatre By The Lake
• Sparrowhawk with director Mike Tweddle - 7:00pm Studio
• Everybody Knows (Preview) - 9:00pm Alhambra
• Relaxer (Premiere) - 9:00pm Theatre By The Lake

It All Starts Today

The clock is counting down. Whether you are en route to Keswick, arriving over the weekend or are already here, we look forward to welcoming you to the 20th Keswick Film Festival.

If you are around on Friday please try and find time to visit the Theatre's Studio to see what students from Carlisle College have put together for the The Patron's Legacy Project. Based around the legacy of John Hurt, who was patron of the festival before he passed away, students were given the task of watching six of Hurt’s films over the Christmas break and from this they drew upon inspiration for designs and ideas which developed into artwork such as fashion outfits, fine art sculptures to short reel films and even a poem recital.

We hope you enjoy a great weekend of film and thank you for your support.

Programme Addition: Prevenge

With Alice Lowe joining us for the screening of Sometimes Always Never it seemed like a great opportunity to show Prevenge the film she wrote, directed and starred in while 7 months pregnant.

Described as a "pitch black, wryly British comedy" Prevenge follows Ruth, a pregnant woman on a killing spree that's as funny as it is vicious. It's her misanthropic unborn baby dictating Ruth's actions, holding society responsible for the absence of a father.

The screening will be at 14:30 on Saturday 2nd March in the Theatre's Studio. Joint tickets to see both Prevenge and Sometimes Always Never for just £10 are on sale from the Theatre by the Lake.

Alice Lowe to guest at Keswick Film Festival

We are thrilled to announce that Alice Lowe, one of the stars of Sometimes Always Never will be joining us for the screening on Saturday 2nd March at the Theatre by the Lake. Alice will be holding a Q&A after the screening, with Director Carl Hunter.

Alice is no stranger to Keswick. She starred in and co-wrote the wonderful black comedy Sightseers, released back in 2012, which featured the Pencil Museum as a key location in her character’s bizarre and murderous adventures. Since then she has been a regular face on both the small screen (Inside Number 9, Hang-ups) and the big screen, notably as writer, director and star of Prevenge.

Programme Changes: Maria By Callas

Unfortunately we are no longer able to show Carmilla but in it's place we have a UK preview of Maria By Callas - the first film to tell the life story of the legendary Greek/American opera singer completely in her own words. Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs-nearly all of which have never been shown to the public -the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become one of the greatest artists of all time.

20th Anniversary Souvenir Brochure

The digital version of our 20th Anniversary Brochure is now available on our website. The printed version is nearly ready and should be available from the the Alhambra, Theatre By The Lake, libraries and assorted coffee shops around Keswick soon.

All arthouse roads lead to Keswick

Don't just take our word for it, but "All arthouse roads lead to Keswick"

So says Newcastle's The Crack Magazine who took a look at our programme and wrote this marvellous editorial -

It's particularly lovely in Keswick from late February and into March, not least because that's when the annual Keswick Film Festival will be taking place, and for their 20th anniversary event they've got a truly stunning line-up. It's not often that you find a festival that appears to have been curated especially for you.Glastonbury, for instance, always manages to throw a spanner in the works by shoving a Coldplay or a U2 on to spoil things, and I've lost count the number of times I've sat through crushingly unfunny improv sets at the Edinburgh Fringe. But the clever people behind this year's Keswick Film Festival appear to have tapped directly into The Crack's 'Very Favourite Films of Recent Times''list because on flicking through their programme I’ve found myself exclaiming: "Love it! Love it! Love it!"

You can see the full article on The Crack Magazine website.

Documentaires at the Festival

There is an intriguing strand of documentaries at KFF this year.

Keswick Peace and Human Rights Group has chosen a remarkable pair of films. Citizenfour is the story of the journalists working with Edward Snowden to publish his revelations about NSA surveillance. USA Today said "Citizenfour plays like a thriller as it chronicles a complex and vitally important chapter in our history".  A Long Hot Summer in Palestine is Norma Marcos' fascinating account of the impact of conflict on ordinary citizens and Norma will be flying in from Paris to talk about the film and her experiences.

Nae Pasaran is the inspiring story of the workers in Glasgow whose refusal to service the engines from Pinochet’s air force saved lives, several thousand miles away, in Chile. Thanks to guest Neil Sinyard and his contacts with the family of Director, William Wyler we have The Memphis Belle which takes us to the heart of a bombing mission in World war ll. Down to Earth, at Rheged takes us to special places on the planet, safeguarded by some special people.

Film lovers will need no introduction to Agnès Varda, whose Faces Places takes her on a trip around France. In the company of JR, a young photographer, they travel in a special box truck equipped as a portable photo booth and traveling printing facility. They take photographs of people around the country, creating special, colossal mural pictures of individuals, communities and places they want to honour and celebrate.

Guests at the 20th Keswick Film Festival

Our guest list is now on the website and it makes for a line-up that is perfect for the 20th Keswick Film Festival.

Carl Hunter is an old friend of the Festival. He co-wrote (with Frank Cottrell Boyce) Grow Your Own which was a sell out in 2008. We screened it again for our 10th Anniversary when Carl and Frank made the short film, Accelerate, to mark the occasion. Carl also chaired the judging panel for the Osprey short film competition.

Sometimes Always Never is Carl's first feature film as director, which comes with a tremendous pedigree both in front of and behind the camera. The gala night on Saturday 2nd March will be memorable.

James Gardner's Jellyfish has been scooping up awards wherever it is screened. James will be introducing the film at our opening night and will be able to give us an insight into working with the amazing young talent that is Liv Hill who plays Sarah.

Mike Tweddle, a master of making dramatic films with ridiculously small budgets, brings Sparrowhawk to Keswick after impressing the Film Club audience with his earlier film, Damaged Goods; Norma Marcos brings her unique insight into the middle east conflict with A Long Hot Summer in Palestine, one of two Keswick Peace and Human Rights Group screenings and Neil Sinyard returns, bringing with him a rare chance to see William Wyler's documentary on The Memphis Belle.

Passes and tickets are now available from Theatre By The Lake.