Cheltenham International Film Festival

About

The Cheltenham International Film Festival will take place 15 – 24 September 2023

To mark its fifth anniversary the festival organisers plan to broaden its audience beyond Cheltenham, by live screening parts of the film festival across selected cinemas and theatres, in and around the town, and across the region.

Cheltenham was the first international feature film festival in the UK to stream its festival programme online, when the first Covid lockdown was announced, and it plans to continue as a ‘SCREEN & STREAM” hybrid event, live screening films and streaming a complementary programme online through its digital platform YourScreen.

The Film Festival has recently welcomed live and online, the popular actor, Simon Pegg (Festival Honorary Patron), Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears, Steven Berkoff, the Oscar-nominated Polish director, Jan Komasa, producer, Stephen Woolley and many more. In 2022, headline guest was Dame Judi Dench in a new strand CELEBRATE to honour the work of distinguished actors.

IN COMPETITION - BEST FILM

The festival is founded on promoting films by emerging filmmakers. In 2020, the Festival introduced films ‘IN COMPETITION’ to draw attention to these films, open only to directors with one or two films on their C.V. A jury of professionals from film, the arts, media and local personalities gather each year to select one film from ‘IN COMPETITION’ as BEST FILM. Films ‘In COMPETITION’ raises the interest of audiences and allows filmmakers the opportunity to use in their promotional material.

BEST FILM in 2021 was the Polish film, I NEVER CRY (Piotr Domalewski) and in 2022, the Swiss Ukrainian film, OLGA (Elie Grappe), took home the honours. We shall introduce BEST SHORT FILM in 2023.

FESTIVAL STRANDS NEW AND OLD

The Festival plans to introduce a number of new strands in 2023 including “25, 50, 100” to mark the anniversaries of film classics, which will be packaged into festival events.  “25, 50, 100” will be accompanied by high profile guests, talk, music and more. For example, we shall organise live music to be performed as a soundtrack during the screening of the 100-year old film we select which of course will be silent – perhaps a Charlie Chaplin film.

Discussions are taking place with the prestigious Cheltenham Jazz Festival about linking jazz with film and there is confirmation of a year-round programme, CineYouth, to introduce young audiences to the culture of cinema and the art of filmmaking. Consideration is also being given to add television to film, given all the excellent drama currently being streamed.

The Festival will continue with strands and special sections it introduced in 2019, formalising TRIBUTE to honour respected filmmakers and “COUNTRY FOCUS” which will be Spain in 2023, featuring films from emerging and celebrated Spanish filmmakers plus special guests, events and Spanish food.

Film Submissions

The organisers welcome feature films narrative and documentary, as well as shorts from emerging filmmakers. All films are watched by a selection panel which numbered up to 20 people in 2022. Films selected for the festival will allow filmmakers access to new audiences in a town that has been home to arts festivals through the decades and home to many celebrities. Films will also have the opportunity to be screened online via YourScreen.

What is the Cheltenham International Film Festival?

Cheltenham International Film Festival launched in 2019 with a bang; screening 40 films from around the word, and hosting guest filmmakers such as legendary director, Mike Leigh;  Josie Rourke, director of Mary Queen of Scots; Oscar-nominated Polish director, Jan Komasa; and the highly-regarded actor,director,producer, Steven Berkoff.  The Festival organised a series of masterclasses and workshops for students of film and the general public. 

In 2020, CIFF became the first international film festival in the UK to stream its entire festival online, opening up with Lost Transmissions starring the Festival’s Honorary Patron, Simon Pegg. The Festival went online again in 2021, due to the ongoing pandemic, and opened the festival with a special preview of the Oscar-winner, The Father, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman.  Stephen Frears, acclaimed director of many films including The Queen starring Dame Helen Mirren was our special guest.  

Further to the success it has enjoyed streaming its film festivals online, Cheltenham International Film Festival will look to move forward in 2022 and beyond as a “screen & stream” hybrid event, screening and streaming the best of independent films from around the world and welcoming the world’s filmmakers to Cheltenham live and online.

For more information visit - cheltfilm.com