Belfast Film Festival
| Opening film | 30 March 2017 |
|---|---|
| Closing film | 8th April 2017 |
| Location | Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Founded | 1994 as West Belfast Film Festival by Laurence McKeown and Féile an Phobail |
| Language | English, Irish, mixed |
| Website | http://www.belfastfilmfestival.org |
Founded in 1995 by writer Laurence McKeown, in its early stages of development the West Belfast Film Festival was part of Féile an Phobail. In its third and fourth year, it was autonomous and under the stewardship of Michele Devlin and Laurence McKeown, the Film Festival ran as a citywide event and became the Belfast Film Festival in the year 2000.
2017 will see the seventeenth programme roll out across the city. The Festival's activities are entertaining and provocative, and in many instances provide an important platform for debate across the religious, social and cultural divides in Northern Ireland.
The presentation of site specific events and innovative ways to screen film is one of the festival's specialities; films have been screened in used (Jaws) and disused swimming pools; on a boat in the River Lagan, (Piranha); with live piano accompaniment in St Anne's Cathedral, (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1939); collaborating with local talent such as Duke Special and David Holmes on audio visual performances; and profiling unique architectural sites such as a screening of an episode of the TV series The Prisoner in Church of Christ Scientist, Belfast.
The Festival promotes film education and practical filmmaking skills and has attracted film industry guests such as Terence Davis, Seamus Mc Garvey, Brendan Gunn and John Lynch. The Festival showcases local talent alongside the best in new International cinema. Belfast Film Festival initiated a documentary film competition named in honour of Albert and David Maysles, The Maysles Brothers Award in 2006 to celebrate the best work in the medium.
Co-founded in the mid-1990s by author Laurence McKeown, it was originally called the West Belfast Film Festival and was run by Féile an Phobail. The festival became a citywide event in 2000.
Two weeks after the 2004 event, the festivals offices in Donegall Street's historic North Street Arcade were decimated by fire. Despite losing their base, entire history and all their records the festival recovered and was able to stage the event again in 2005. The 2005 festival was held from 7 to 16 April. Opened by local actor Stephen Rea, the festival featured screenings including Bullet Boy, Les Choristes and Palindromes. Jonathan Caouette hosted a workshop about the making of his film Tarnation, which was the festivals closing night screening. A strong emphasis is put on showcasing the work of local film makers. Later in 2005 the festival hosted two drive-in cinema nights as part of the Belfast Festival at Queens.
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