WELCOME TO STROUD FILM FESTIVAL 2024.
IT’S THE TENTH YEAR OF THE FESTIVAL AND WE’RE VERY PLEASED TO PRESENT A REALLY WIDE RANGE OF FILM EVENTS, WHICH WE HOPE AUDIENCES WILL FIND ENJOYABLE AND INSPIRING!
WE’RE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME YOU TO THE 10TH STROUD FILM FESTIVAL. THIS YEAR’S PROGRAMME FEATURES MORE EVENTS THAN EVER BEFORE TO ENJOY COLLECTIVELY ON A BIG SCREEN!
The festival is celebrated for its wide ranging content, partnerships with non-traditional venues and always co-programmed co-programming with local organisations that select films which speak directly to the communities they serve. This year, together with all our partners throughout Stroud and the wider District, we’re proud to bring you 50 screening events and 10 workshops! The programme offers a broad selection of film genres and styles with the aim of appealing to the widest possible audiences. Key features of this landmark festival include screenings at Vue Stroud, opportunities to meet writers and directors at discussions and Q&A’s, film inspired food, roller discos and much more!
Here is a slice of what to expect...
The Boy and the Heron, Scrapper, Children of the Sea and a relaxed screening of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical are all on the bill for families and children this year. Science- fiction themed workshops hosted at the Museum in the Park are perfect for families too and include making flip books and designing posters.
The sci-fi theme extends to the exhibition of re-imagined film posters by Stroud Illustrators Collective which can be discovered throughout the festival at Lansdown Gallery, Museum in the Park, Stroud Brewery and The Prince Albert throughout the festival. With generous support from local companies, the festival is excited to be investing in supporting the Stroud community to make films as well as watch them. The 90 Second Film Challenge invites everyone to make a short film in response to a theme to be announced during the festival. The films entered in the challenge will be on the big screen at Lansdown Hall in 90 Second Stroud at Lansdown Hall on Saturday 16th March. Look out for the three filmmaking workshops on the programme, each aimed
at a different age group, and offering the opportunity to develop film production skills.
Championing diversity has been central to SFF’s approach to assembling the programme for 2024. It features some award winning, international dramas including: Mami Wata (Nigeria), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Iran) , Monica (US/Italy), The Gravedigger’s Wife (Somalia) and Cairo Conspiracy (Egypt). Alongside these is the Finnish documentary Ruthless Times-Songs of Care. Stroud’s Black Ark Media have programmed The One and Only Dick Gregory, which explores the life of the extraordinary comedian and civil rights activist, together with the highly acclaimed Earth Mama.
Music is a theme that weaves its way throughout this year’s programme with titles including Angelheaded Hipster (Marc Bolan), Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads) and a popup cinema in Sound Records showing Getting it Back: the Story of Cymande. The award-winning sound designer Tom Jacob is back again too, this time sharing insights into the unique production of the score for short film Tender Loving Care.
Film is powerful in how it can raise important questions of our time, challenge our thinking and open space for discussion. Food, farming and the future of the planet are all important issues that feature; Six Inches of Soil, Wilding, A Year in a Field, The Letter and
Can I Live? Nature and Time features work by local filmmakers looking closely at their surroundings and Collaborating with the Land offers an experimental approach to film and nature.
Marc Jobst is director of the screen adaptation of the world’s most popular Manga series, One Piece. He explores how stories are told through film in Action, Adventure, Character. The following week director Zara Balfour introduces the premiere of short drama Morning Star.
Injecting some speed into our events, Roller Dreams includes not only a classic film about skating but also an exemplar demonstration of live roller skating as part of the night, Fanny the Other Mendelssohn explores the life of Felix Mendessohn’s composer sister, Scala!!! documents the history of the ground- breaking London cinema, and Stroud Valleys Artspace hosts For Tish, a screening and residency celebrating the work of Tyneside photographer Tish Murtha. We’re delighted that Vue Stroud will be the venue for The Red Shoes, programmed following the success
of the BFI’s Powell and Pressburger Cinema Unbound season last autumn. Another classic pillar of cinema Les Enfants du Paradis will be at Lansdown Hall.
The Trinity Rooms will I host a number of events many of them will be about aspects of community. Come along and meet the muslim community from both Bristol (Gravedigger's Wife on Feb 18th) and Gloucester (Unreflected Reflections two new films). bBoth these events will also include a culinary insights through food and cooking classes alongside the screening events. Trinity Rooms also present the premiere of the locally produced Black Dog Way which will include a Q&A with the production team. Other collaborations see Red Hearth and Trinity bring the award- winning masterpiece Smoke Sauna Sisterhood to the festival, and the Acre Street community centre will screen the inspiring Dream Horse, based on a true story from the Welsh valleys.
Since the last festival in March 2023, SFF has become a community interest company with a team of seven directors, all local and involved
in previous years. An intention to grow and evolve to be even more responsive to our community with each year is an important focus for the new team. The new team are focussed on evolving each year to be even more responsive to local communities. Your feedback from all events is much appreciated and will support the future evolution of the festival.
The cost of living crisis continues to affect many throughout Stroud and the wider district. So that cost isn't doesn’t present a barrier to anyone who wishes to come and enjoy films with an audience on the big screen, the events at Lansdown and Trinity have tickets priced at three levels; £8 Pay it Forward, £6 Standard and £4 Low Income.
We’re hugely appreciative of the work of all the our partners and the support we’ve received from local companies Ecotricity, Winstones Ice Cream and Darbyshire Ltd. Most importantly, this has enabled ticket prices for the film workshops to be affordable and for the festival’s new social media internships to receive some financial support. We’d also like to acknowledge the funding from the British Film Institute (BFI), which covers some of the publicity costs and investment in our community screenings through the Spotlight scheme. In addition we’re very pleased to recognise the invaluable support and advice we’ve received from the BFI which has helped raise awareness of the festival more widely. We very much hope that audiences will be inspired, informed and will thoroughly enjoy the 2024 programme!
See you there,
THE FESTIVAL IS A NOT FOR PROFIT ORGANISATION AND WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT IT RECEIVES FROM:
BFI Film Audience Network
Darbyshire
Winstone’s Ice Cream
Ecotricity
Stroud Town Council
South West Film Hub
THE FESTIVAL VERY MUCH APPRECIATES THE PROGRAMMING CONTRIBUTIONS OF THESE VENUES AND ORGANISATIONS:
Allsorts
Atelier
Black Ark Media
Electric Picture House Cinema, Wotton
Hawkwood
Lansdown Film Club
The Long Table
The Museum in the Park
The RYSE
Red Hearth
Stroud Brewery
Stroud Film Society
Stroud Subscription Rooms
Stroud Valleys Artspace
Trinity Rooms
THANKS ALSO TO THE MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR TIME AND EXPERTISE OVER THE YEAR TO MAKE THE FESTIVAL HAPPEN, INCLUDING:
Abigail Large
Adam Hinks
Alex Hobbis
Alice Butler
Alicia Carey
Andy Freedman
Annabel Richmond
Bev Tanner
Carina Price
Claire Carpenter
Claire Levy
Dan Guthrie
Derrick McLean
Evie-Lola Minney
Gareth Negus
Gillian Ali
Greg Pilley
Hatty Frances Bell
Holly Antrum
Imogen Harvey-Lewis
Jeff Downes
Jennie Greenshields
Jimmy Crofts
Jo Leahy
Jo Bousfield
Joe Magee
Karina Methven
Katharina Child
Mark Levy
Oliver Loveday
Paul Freedman
Penny DeLotz
Pete Nightingale
Pip Heywood
Richard Dean
Richard Gasson
Ritu Sood
Robin Drury-Layfield
Ronnie McGrath
Tom Herbert
Tom Jacob
Tom Kemp
Yolande Goodman
AND FOR THEIR ARTWORK, DESIGN, TECHNICAL SKILLS AND CREATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS:
Adam Hinks
Alex Hobbis
Joe Magee