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 .

Support Your Favourite Film Festival

To help us to build on the success of our wonderful festival we are seeking multiple partners who share our love of cinema and the inspirational setting of the Lake District.

Your support for our film festival means we are able to bring you the very best of international and independent cinema and provide the opportunity to see exceptional films many of which will never make it into commercial cinemas in the UK.

View our Sponsorship page to find out the ways you or your business can support the Festival

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

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.

Shuttle Bus & Pass Holders Party

We are pleased to announce that the shuttle bus to Rheged on the Sunday of the Festival will be running again. Spaces are limited so you will need to book your seats, please see the travel page for more details.

Also coming back is the passholders’ party, which will take place after the screening of Between the Lights on Thursday 29th February. We will be using the Masonic Hall opposite the Alhambra as well as the Alhambra itself - it’s a great chance to catch up with old friends and make some new ones.

Director's introduction and Q&A for Fadia's Tree

Sarah Beddington, Director of Fadia’s Tree (winner of the Amnesty International Award at San Sebastian) will be joining us at the Festival, to introduce her film and to present the Osprey Short Film Awards, alongside Hassan Nazer.

Sarah’s film is a remarkable piece of work, filmed over 15 years, taking a birds-eye perspective to highlight the problems of Palestine and the Palestinians

Covid Information

We are not running the festival with social distancing but it makes sense to be as careful as possible to stay safe as Covid is still around. 

With that in mind:-

During the Festival we would ask that people take a test before attending, to continue to wear masks and leave a reasonable distance between themselves and others in the auditorium – we are not expecting the majority of screenings to be full to capacity.

Venues will be fully aired between screenings.

We will offer a refund to anyone who cannot attend after testing positive up to 48 hours before you are due to come. This may take some time to process. If anyone feels that they can forego a refund to assist with the sustainability of the Festival that would be hugely appreciated – we are a small arts charity and the Festival is largely self-funded.

Glasgow Film Festival Comes To Keswick

To get you in the mood for a whole weekend of film, we have teamed up with the Alhambra and Glasgow Film Festival to bring three UK premieres to Keswick in the run up to our Festival. Starting with their opening film The Outfit on Wednesday 2nd March, followed by The Happening to recognise International Women's Day on the 8th and their closing film Murina on Sunday 13th, after the Film Club's screening of Lingui,The Sacred Bonds.

You can find more details on these films including links to book tickets on our Glasgow Film Festival page.

22nd Keswick Film Festival Programme

The full programme is now available on our website and as ever we are offering you some tantalising choices as to what to see.

Will it be Taiwan’s The Bold Corrupt and the Beautiful ( a "sumptuously produced, meticulously plotted and deliciously acted cautionary tale") or Russia’s Petrov’s Flu ("This is some flu: it plunges us into a deeply strange and unsettling version of reality") on Friday? Pedro's Almodóvar latest, Parallel Mothers or Titane (Julia Doucournau's luridly beautiful Palme d'Or-winner) on Saturday? Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir: Part II or Jacques Audiard’s Paris, 13th District on Sunday?

How do you choose between Juliette Binoche in Between Two Worlds and the Kosovan film Hive which wowed them at Sundance and is riding high on the Oscars shortlist?

First Films Announced For The 22nd Keswick Film Festival

This March we are fortunate that many of our favourite directors have new releases that we can screen. How do the latest films from Clio Barnard, Jacques Audiard, François Ozon, Joanna Hogg and Julia Ducournau sound as a line up?

You can find all the films announced so far on our films page.

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."

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.

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.

Accommodation offers for the Festival weekend

This year, a number of Keswick Hotels and B&Bs have offered discounts on accommodation for the Festival weekend. There are a range of offers here on our website, including the option to stay on the Sunday night free of charge.

Our early bird offer on Film Festival passes runs out in the new year, so now is the time to book if you would like that extra £5 to spend on fine Keswick Brewery ales (other beverages are available) on your weekend at the Festival.

Early Bird Passes Now Available

Passes are now available for the 2019 Festival at a special early bird rate. This £5 off offer expires on 3rd January, making a festival pass the ideal Christmas present.

Our opening and closing films cannot be more different. We are going to kick off with Jellyfish, a award-winning British movie set in the deep south of England and close with Green Book, a gem of a film from Peter Farrelly, set in the American South. In between those two films we travel all parts of the compass from arid war zones to arctic ice. A particular highlight will be Carl Hunter’s first feature Sometimes Always Never, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and starring Bill Nighy, Jenny Agutter, Alice Lowe and Sam Riley.

Further details of the film programme will follow very soon and we look forward to seeing you in Keswick in February.

The Man who made Shane and Giant

Those of you browsing the Festival website might have wondered about the choice of Woman of the Year and Shane. The common factor is of course, Director George Stevens, one of Hollywood’s greats who also made Giant, A Place in the Sun and The Diary of Anne Frank. 

Neil Sinyard, an old friend of KFF – he was a guest at our very first event in 2000 - will be presenting a talk on the great man on Sunday 25th February. The talk, which will be illustrated with film extracts, will explore some recurrent preoccupations and characteristics of Stevens’ work: the yearnings of the social outsider; his hatred of class prejudice and racial intolerance; a commanding visual style where his signature slow dissolve is used to unite and inspire thoughts and ideas as well as signal transitions of time and place.

Colonel George C Stevens was part of the force that liberated Dachau at the end of World War ll and Neil will explore how his wartime service had a transformational impact on his film-making style. 

For those of us with an interest in the history of cinema, Neil’s talk will undoubtedly prove fascinating.

A Tribute to John Hurt

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Dylan Thomas' words provide the title and the theme to John Hurt's penultimate film and his last lead role. In That Good Night he plays a terminally ill writer struggling to come to terms with his own mortality (and with no intentions of going gentle into that good night), to rebuild the wreckage of his family and to die with some semblance of dignity.

Superbly supported by Charles Dance and Sofia Helin (The Bridge) That Good Night will be screened as a tribute to our much-missed and much-loved Patron.

"Hurt and Dance are great, between them they have some fabulous dialogue - conversations which are incredibly timely given the continued euthanasia debates in Australia and globally. Hurt has some wonderful soliloquies, not surprising given this is adapted from a stage play, and Dance is his perfect counterpart."  - Film Blerg

More Festival Guests

We are delighted to announce that Paul Murton will be joining us on the Sunday of the Festival. Paul directed How the Rich Avoid Tax, one of our screenings in partnership with Keswick Peace and Human Rights Group. Paul is an accomplished director with The Bill and Casualty amongst his credits and he appears in front of the camera in his travelogue series Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands.

Our second new guest is a little more wooden in its delivery – by kind permission of Nick Barton and the Windermere Jetty Museum Amazon will be stationed outside the Theatre by the Lake on Saturday morning, skull and crossbones fluttering. We may even have a real life Amazon in person, too!