Holmfirth Film Festival

It’s with great pleasure that we can now present our programme of events for this year’s festival. We have a superb range of attractions to appeal to all festival-goers, young and old. Insightful talks, lively discussions, special guests, workshops and of course screenings of both our selected full length feature films and the entries to our own Short Film Competition are all there for you to enjoy over the eight days of the festival.

Of course, many events will take place at Holmfirth’s very own historic cinema, The Picturedrome. However, there’s also plenty of chances to enjoy the surrounding area with fringe events taking place accross Holmfirth, the Holme Valley and beyond. Upperthong Village Hall, Hepworth Village Hall, Holmbridge Church and St. John’s Church, Upper Denby are all hosting events further afield, while closer to the centre of town, festival venues include Mezze, Harrow’s, Carniceria, The Box Office, Holmfirth Library and The Old Bridge Hotel.

The 2010 programme booklet is now complete and the presses are running. You’ll be able to pick up a copy for free from many of the above venues or from the Tourist Information centre on Huddersfield Road. Meanwhile, you can download a PDF version by clicking the image below. the programme contains full listings of what’s on, where, when and for how much, plus information on how to find the venues, who to contact for information, and crucially where to buy tickets. Many events are free, but some unfortunately must be ticketed, and a few have very limited places – so book now!

Summer is just around the corner and we’re now counting down the days… We look forward to seeing you there.

Holmfirth Film Festival are proud to announce an evening with renowned film critic, Barry Norman has been booked for the forthcoming 2010 festival. On the evening of Thursday 27th May, our own Picturedrome will host the event during which Barry will speak about a range of classic movies and the whys and hows of them coming into being.

Tickets are available from the Picturedrome, or can be bought online at www.picturedrome.net, priced at £12.

The following is an article by Nick Lavigueur, for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner

MOVIE buffs are set to roll out the red carpet after a top film critic was confirmed for a new film festival.

Holmfirth – the true home of movies – is set to launch its own film festival this May.

More than a century after local company Bamforths produced Britain’s first silent movies, film fans are in for treat at an evening with BBC legend Barry Norman.

Norman was best known for his 25-year run as the face of the late night Film review show, before he jumped ship to Sky in 1998.

Now after decades of meeting and interviewing Hollywood’s greatest actors, including John Wayne and Laurence Olivier, he is set to tell his tales to an audience of movie lovers at Holmfirth’s historic Picturedrome.

Talking to The Examiner from his Hertfordshire home, the 76-year-old said he was pleased to see another local film festival get off the ground.

He said: “I’m very much looking forward to it, it’s part of an intermittent tour I do of festivals giving a one man show.

“It’s something I’ve been doing on and off for a few years now, it’s great.

“I shall be talking about a bunch of classic movies, why they were made, how they were made, what happened when they were made and why I think they’ve lasted so long.

“That takes up the first half and the second half is a Q&A where people can ask me any questions they like about anything to do with the movies.

“The most frequent question I get asked is ‘what’s your favourite film of all time?’ to which I have no answer because I’ve seen far too many.

“I’ve seen more than 12,000 movies and there isn’t any one that stands out.”

And while Holmfirth may be the home of Bamforth’s Barry said he was not a particular fan of the classics.

He said: “I really have no patience for people who say, ‘they don’t make ’em like they used to’, because this is not true.

“The best films today are just as good and technically much better than any films that have been made before.”

With current Film 2010 host Jonathan Ross stepping down later this year, rumours are rife about who will replace him.

But Barry Norman fans are set to be disappointed after he swiftly ruled himself out of the running.

Barry, who last presented the show in 1998, said: “I thought I’d miss it but I never did.

“I got out at the right time, 30 years without remission for good conduct.

“The film industry was changing and it got to the point where the publicity tail was wagging the dog.

“If you were very lucky you got 15 minutes with the star or director or writer, which is rubbish – you can’t do a proper interview in that time.”

While Barry had no answer for his favourite film he did list his favourite interviewees as George Clooney, Clint Eastwood, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kim Basinger and his all time favourite, Sophia Loren.

Festival organiser, Stephen Dorril, said he was pleased to secure such a top expert.

He said: “We were looking for someone that was a big name in film and Barry Norman seemed an ideal choice.

“He’s still a well known name and is still the chief reviewer for the Radio Times.

“He’s met and talked to almost all the major stars in Hollywood and he will talk about his favourite films and people he has met in his long career in film.”

Mr Dorril, who is the film journalism course leader at Huddersfield University, said he was also in talks with a top female star to appear at the festival’s glittering red carpet launch.

Other events planned include a day of Bamforth’s films and a day dedicated to Huddersfield’s most famous theatrical son, Hollywood star James Mason.

The Holmfirth Film Festival is from May 22 to May 29. The evening with Barry Norman will be on Thursday May 27. Tickets £12.

The HFF has received some very welcome offers of help from people in the Valley and beyond. What has been particularly gratifying is that they include people working in the film industry, making and directing films and a number exhibiting and promoting film. They all have valuable experience that the HFF will put to good use. We have also had offers of help from people who simply have a deep interest in film and want to help in any way they can. All are welcome and if you want to join us and help with any aspect of the organising please contact us via the website and come along to one of our regular meetings in Holmfirth.

The HFF is in the process of raising funds for the Festival. If you have any ideas with regard to suitable funding bodies or businesses that might like to sponsor a particular event, please let us know. We want to promote the town of Holmfirth and the surrounding area to a wider world, and involve the local community as much as possible.

Many of you may have read the article, reproduced here, from the Huddersfield Daily Examiner on August 20th. If you missed it, read on…

Click here for the original

Step aside Cannes as Holmfirth Film Festival plans revealed
Aug 20 2009 By Nick Lavigueur

STEP aside Cannes, Venice and Sundance.

Holmfirth – the true home of movies – is set to launch its own film festival.

The Holme Valley town was at the forefront of the silent movie industry when local photographer James Bamforth began to produce short films in the late 19th Century.

Now, more than a century later, film fans are set to roll out the red carpet and launch a glittering new week-long festival.

The event, running from May 22 to 29 next year, will centre on the Holmfirth Picturedrome, an important monument to the silent era that once made Holmfirth Britain’s answer to Hollywood.

Organiser, Stephen Dorril, said he was surprised there wasn’t a festival already considering the area’s rich history of film and TV.

Mr Dorril, who is the film journalism course leader at Huddersfield University, said there would be a day of Bamforth’s films and a day dedicated to Huddersfield’s most famous theatrical son, Hollywood star James Mason. He said: “Obviously Holmfirth is an important aspect of British film history.

“It was right there at the beginning as one of the first film studios. “The festival will have a northern flavour but we will also be showing some new international films.

“And we’re also going to link up with the Huddersfield Literature Festival and get some of the script writers involved.”

Huddersfield University’s music school students are planning to compose their own movie sound tracks.

The inaugural festival will close with a gala ball and celebrities will be invited.

Ideas for 2011 are already being thrown about, including a day devoted to Mirfield star Patrick Stewart.

The event is a far cry from only two years ago when the Picturedrome almost became a pub and costs forced owner Peter Carr to stop showing films.

But with just over nine months to go, organisers are now seeking film enthusiasts who would like to be involved with the festival.

Contact: info@holmfirthfilmfestival.co.uk or www.holmfirthfilmfestival.co.uk

Fact file: a brief history of Holmfirth film makers Bamforth’s

• Bamforth’s were the Holme Valley’s silent film pioneers ahead of the Hollywood studios
• James Bamforth started in 1870 as a studio photographer and began the production of magic lantern slides around 1883 before moving into moving pictures.
• He mostly produced slapstick and humorous films at his Station Road base over two brief periods, 1898-1900 and 1913-1915.
• In all, 125 films were made before the First World War halted European distribution, took away many of their actors and led to a shortage of the chemicals needed to develop the films.
• Bamforths never resumed their film ambitions, switching to postcard production.
• By the end of the war Hollywood was well established, but Holmfirth was on its way to obscurity.
• A later generation of the family destroyed much of its film history, leaving present-day historians with only a partial but tantalising glimpse of this early potential.

There’s no publicity like free publicity. With this in mind, we now have a group on the Facebook social-networking site. If any of you are Facebook members, please join us here.

Following the last meeting I had a suggestion that we could make use of another web based resource to keep on top of festival organisation. Following this, I’ve set up a new network at holmfirthfilmfestival.ning.com which will allow invited users to keep up to date with happenings and to share information more easily.

If you’re involved in the festival organisation and you’ve had an invitation email, please sign up. If you are involved but haven’t had your invite, get in touch with us on info@holmfirthfilmfestival.co.uk and we’ll sort something out for you.

Since you’re here and you’re interested, we’d love you to help us spread the word about the HFF to anyone you feel might be interested. You can download a flyer using the link below and become part of the Holmfirth Film Festival Propaganda Machine!

Email it to friends, print it out, make a poster out of it and stick it in your window…or just put it on your fridge so you don’t forget about us!

holmfirth_film_festival

The flyer is in PDF format. If you can’t open it you need Adobe Reader, which you can download for free here.

Holmfirth Film Festival would like to welcome you to it’s brand new website… Please check back regularly for updates and news.