Osprey Short Film Awards - Now Accepting Entries

We are now accepting entries for the 2027 Osprey Short Film Awards. Once again we are looking for new short films, under 15 minutes with a link to Cumbira. A selection of the best films will be shown at the Film Festival in March. For full details on how to enter please visit our Shorts page.

Extra Screenings of Saving Our Rainforests

Saving Our Rainforests on Friday at 9pm is sold out, so we’re also showing it at 8.15pm and 9.45pm.

Free Festival Shuttle Bus

Thanks to funding from Film Hub North we are pleased to be able to offer a FREE shuttle bus service on Sunday 22 March, extended this year to include the journey between Penrith and Rheged.

The bus will run a circular route, leaving Keswick then picking up in Penrith town and arriving at Rheged in time for the start of each film.

Return buses will depart Rheged to drop off in Penrith and arrive back in Keswick in time for the films at the Alhambra.

See the travel page for full details including how to book your seat.

Festival Fringe Announced

Nurturing talented filmmakers in our community is important to Keswick Film Festival and we are proud to present a selection of films made by groups and individuals, that showcase Cumbrian Life.

From BlueJam Arts based in Penrith to our colleagues and students at Carlisle College, from short films by young filmmakers to films about the Borrowdale temperate rainforest and suicide prevention in Cumbria, our Festival Fringe demonstrates local storytelling at its best.

The Fringe programme and timetable are now available to download and you can find more details on all of the events on the Fringe page.

With huge thanks to all our Fringe contributors.

Please note, there is no admission charge to Fringe films and events, but seats will need to be booked via the Alhambra website. Donations towards the Festival running will be requested at the screenings with any surplus going to Keswick Area Food Share.

Tickets Now on General Sale

Everybody can now buy tickets for individual films at the Festival.  Please book now to avoid disappointment as many films are already selling fast.

If you want to see multiple films our Festival Passes are a great option but these are only available until Monday 16 March.

See the Passes and Tickets page for full details including changes to how passes and tickets work this year.

Opening Film Revealed

 We're thrilled to announce the KFF26 Opening Film will be The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford

This new British feature will be the highlight of our Gala Festival Opening evening at the Alhambra Cinema on Thursday 19th March. A dark comedy, The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford stars Peter Mullan as a tour guide whose world is upended when a big-budget fantasy TV show begins filming in his remote Scottish village. We hope to welcome the Director and members of the cast to introduce the film and host a Q&A .

KFF @ Rheged

We may be the Keswick Film Festival and we enjoy two lovely venues in town – our Festival HQ at the Alhambra Cinema and Theatre by the Lake. But we also show Festival films at the giant Screen 1 at Rheged, located just a short drive or bus ride from Keswick and Penrith.

Our exciting 2026 programme - KFF @ Rheged - showcases hand-picked films to give an immersive experience on this massive 60 ft screen. This year we have the UK Gala Premiere of All And Nothing, The Shepherd and the Bear, The North, Sirât and a special event with Terry Abraham looking at his filmmaking work in the Lake District over the years.

Jodie Foster Retrospective

The first themed strand of KFF26 is our Jodie Foster Retrospective.

This leading American performer and filmmaker started her career as a child actor before establishing herself in diverse adult roles, and becoming a film director of note. She has received several accolades including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Foster also was awarded with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2013 and the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2021.

We could have filled an entire Festival with films in which Foster has appeared! Out of over 48 feature films we have chosen two from early in her career – both from 1976 but starkly contrasting in content and nature – Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, alongside her most recent feature film A Private Life.

Osprey Short Film Awards - Now Accepting Entries

We are now accepting entries for the 2026 Osprey Short Film Awards. We are looking for films with a Cumbrian connection (e.g made in Cumbria or by Cumbrians), made after 2024 and under 15 minutes. For full details on how to enter please visit our Shorts page.

Keswick Film Festival 2026 Dates Announced

We are delighted to reveal that the dates of the 2026 Festival will be

19 - 22 March! 

Our new KFF Director Julia Vickers says: “In usual Keswick Film Festival style, we’ll be showing a fabulous selection of films from across the world in our favourite places – the Alhambra Cinema, Theatre by the Lake and Rheged. Save those dates!”

Sunday At The Festival

Tickets are selling fast for most screenings at the Alhambra and may not be available on the door. 

It's the final day of the Festival and there's still lots to see. Find out why everybody is talking about Emilia Pérez this afternoon at The Alhambra. There are two fantastic £5 Family Films at the Theatre; This Is Going To Be Big and Robot Dreams and why not start the day with a selection of short films from the Oska Bright Film Festival showcasing work by learning disabled and autistic people.

• 11am The Marching Band - Rheged
• 11am Oska Bright: Short Films - Theatre By The Lake FREE ENTRY
• 11am Nickel Boys - Alhambra
• 11am Radiator - Alhambra Screen 2 Additional Screening
• 2pm This Is Going To Be Big - Theatre By The Lake £5 Family Film
• 2pm Mongrel - Rheged
• 2pm Emilia Pérez - Alhambra
• 2pm Point Break - Alhambra Screen 2
• 5pm Brief History of a Family - Alhambra
• 5pm Sister Midnight - Rheged
• 5pm Robot Dreams - Theatre By The Lake £5 Family Film
• 5pm Radiator - Alhambra Screen 2 SOLD OUT
• 8pm Cottontail - Alhambra Limited Availability

Please see the full programme or download the timetable for more details on all the films.

Saturday At The Festival

Tickets are selling fast for most screenings at the Alhambra and may not be available on the door. 

Our films at Rheged begin today with Tarika and The Monk And The Gun. The Ospreys showcase a selection of films made in Cumbria or by Cumbrians at the Theatre. Screen2/Take2 bring back some old favourites including Amélie and Whale Rider along with a chance to remember our former patron John Hurt working with David Lynch in The Elephant Man. The Oscar winning Flow  and The Brutalist can be seen at the Alhambra

• 9:15am Harvey Greenfield is Running Late - Alhambra
• 11am Where Olive Trees Weep - Theatre By The Lake
• 11am Flow - Alhambra SOLD OUT
• 11am Tarika - Rheged
• 11am The Elephant Man - Alhambra Screen 2
• 2pm Osprey Short Film Awards - Theatre By The Lake FREE ENTRY
• 2pm The Brutalist - Alhambra
• 2pm The Monk And The Gun - Rheged
• 2pm Jeanne Dielman... - Alhambra Screen 2
• 4pm Tommy - Theatre By The Lake
• 6:30pm The Teacher - Alhambra
• 6:30pm Amélie - Alhambra Screen 2
• 7pm White Rock - Theatre By The Lake
• 9pm Black Night - Theatre By The Lake
• 9pm Whale Rider - Alhambra Screen 2
• 9:15pm Stormskerry Maja - Alhambra

Please see the full programme or download the timetable for more details on all the films.

Friday At The Festival

Here's what's coming up on the first full day of the Festival:

• 12pm Jeanne Dielman... - Alhambra Screen 2 SOLD OUT
• 1pm The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future - Theatre By The Lake
• 1pm The Ceremony - Alhambra
• 4pm No End - Theatre By The Lake
• 4pm Misericordia - Alhambra SOLD OUT
• 4pm Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Alhambra Screen 2
• 6:30pm Crybaby Bridge - Theatre By The Lake
• 6:30pm Quiet Life - Alhambra
• 6:30pm Welcome to the Sticks - Alhambra Screen 2 SOLD OUT
• 8:45pm Seed of the Sacred Fig - Alhambra
• 9pm All Your Faces - Theatre By The Lake
• 9pm Spirited Away - Alhambra Screen 2

Please see the full programme or download the timetable for more details on all the films.

Screen2/Take2

Screen2/Take2 is the chance to bring two generations of festival-goers together - our regular audience has had the chance to select some of their favourite films from previous festivals and our newest audience, evolving out of our partnership with Carlisle College and its students, has had an input into the selection of films that they would like to see at a Festival. The two selections are not mutually exclusive - the message from KFF is 'try something different, something out of your comfort zone'

The selection is:

Friday 7th March

• 4pm Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
• 6:30pm Welcome to the Sticks (TBC)
• 9pm Spirited Away

Saturday 8th March

• 11am Elephant Man
• 6:30pm Amelie
• 9pm Whale Rider

Sunday 9th March

• 2pm Point Break
• 5pm Radiator

Screen2/Take2 has been made possible by support from the BFI and Film Hub North, the Alhambra's state-of-the-art facility will be the perfect place to revisit old favourites or see something entirely new.

Our Opening Film

We are pleased to announce that the opening film for KFF25 will be Harvey Greenfield Is Running Late - winner of the Best International Feature at the 2023 Dublin International Comedy Film Festival.

When an indecisive people pleaser is running late for the world's busiest day, his misguided decisions escalate towards a single choice that risks everything he holds dear. Harvey Greenfield explores our need to please, and why it's sometimes healthy to, every now and then, just sit in a shed and play Subbuteo by yourself, eat biscuits and listen to Meat Loaf.

Adapted from Paul Richard’s one man show at the Edinburgh fringe, Harvey Greenfield features not only Paul reprising the title role but also a host of familiar faces, from Doctor Who, The Office, Red Dwarf, Ted Lasso and Blue Peter. Director Jonnie Howard will be joining us at the Alhambra with, we hope some members from this stellar cast, including Keswick singer Sophia Grice.

Oscar Hopefuls at Keswick Film Festival

Forgive us, but we are a bit chuffed with ourselves as a number of our selections for the KFF programme have been recognised as Oscar contenders.

Three films, The Brutalist, Nickel Boys and Emilia Pérez are all in contention for the Best Picture award and two, Flow and Seed of the Sacred Fig are nominated as Best International Feature. For an animated film like Flow (also up for the award in that category) to be nominated in a feature film category, is testament to the brilliance of the storytelling and the animator’s art.

Adrien Brody and Karla Sofia Gascón are up for Best Actor and actress for their roles in The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez and their respective co-stars Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones and Zoe Saldana are nominated as Best Supporting Actors. The films also feature as nominees in the Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay categories.

The one-of-a-kind movie Emilia Pérez even has two nominations for best original song. The Alhambra will be rocking on Sunday afternoon.

Audience Award & Scores

Well, what a weekend that was!

There were some surprise hits, as always – My Sailor, My Love was really popular as was Ajoomma. Io Capitano was gripping. The Awards contenders did some heavy lifting too, with The Zone of Interest and American Fiction both scoring well. For a while it looked as if The Taste of Things would take the Audience Award but on Sunday morning a small-ish audience at Rheged were blown away by Tótem, scoring it at 89.7% - a worthy winner.

For once a documentary didn’t get the highest score, but Mayor, Four Daughters and Scala!!! were all well-received.

The full results are on the website but here is the top 10:

1. Totem - 89.6
2. The Taste of Things - 86.7
3. Mayor - 86.6
4. American Fiction - 86.3
5. Io Capitano - 84.1
6. My Sailor, My Love - 81.4
7. Four Daughters - 81.2
8. The Zone of Interest  - 76.9
9. Ajoomma - 76.8
10. Scala!!!  - 73.4

Osprey Short Film Award Winners

Congratulations to all of the short films that were screened at the Theatre By The Lake on Saturday afternoon. 

David and Michael Groom, the brothers behind Between The Lights which opened the Festival to a sold out full house on Thursday, announced the winners. The Student Prize (which is for any film made by students or film makers under the age of 19) went to MISJUDGED. Crafted by the creative minds of first-time filmmakers aged 8-11 at Signal Starters it features a plasticine seagull and a tentacled sea-witch who come together to share tales of hasty judgments.

Signal Film & Media were also behind WISHBONE which picked up the judges prize in the Open category and the Audience Award voted for by the 100 plus people who came along to watch the films. This film is a heartfelt journey through the life of a determined Barrovian living on Duke Street and you can now watch it for free here: https://signalfilmandmedia.com/wishbone/

Many thanks also to Caris Rianne from Rianne Pictures and the Women X Film Festival who joined the judging panel this year and did a brilliant job of hosting the event on Saturday and to all the team at the Theatre for getting the films on the big screen. 

Sunday at the Festival

It's the last day of the Festival and we have some great films at Rheged and the Alhambra to bring the weekend to a close. The Zone Of Interest, American Fiction and Monster have now sold out but there may be some returns so please check with our volunteers on the Festival desk.

• Ajoomma - 11:15am, Alhambra  
• Tótem  - 11:15am, Rheged  
• The Zone Of Interest - 2pm,  Alhambra
• Four Daughters - 2pm Rheged 
• American Fiction 5:00PM Alhambra 
• The New Boy 5:00PM Rheged 
• Monster 8:00PM Alhambra 

Please see the full programme or download the flyer for more details on all the films.

Saturday at the Festival

Today we have films at the Alhambra, Theatre By The Lake and Rheged. It's also the Osprey Short Film Awards this afternoon showcasing fantastic short films all with a Cumbrian connection. 

• Between The Lights - 11am, Alhambra 
• Mayor + The Present - 11am, Theatre By The Lake   
• Samsara - 11:15am, Rheged 
• Osprey Short Film Awards - 2pm FREE ENTRY, Theatre By The Lake
• Blackbird, Blackbird, Blackberry - 2pm, Alhambra
• The Taste Of Things - 2pm, Rheged
• Maman - 5:30pm, Theatre By The Lake  
• Evil Does Not Exist - 5:30pm, Alhambra
• Close Your Eyes - 8pm, Alhambra
• Eureka 8pm, Theatre By The Lake 

Please see the full programme or download the flyer for more details on all the films.