The Fantastic Romford Film Festival Is Back And Celebrating A Decade of Independent Film in the Borough.

Founded in 2016, The Romford Film Festival is a labour of love, bringing unique stories to Romford. It is returning to Lumiere on Friday, 22 May – Monday, 25 May across three screens with a wide range of genres.

Spencer Hawken, co-founder, believes that all filmmakers, no matter where they are in their careers, deserve to be celebrated. The festival has championed directors, sound recordists, performers, editors and many more people involved in the creative process through an awards ceremony. Awards for Best Student Film, Best No or Low Budget Film, and Best Local Film give those working on a shoestring budget and new to the craft a chance to have their work recognised.

Over the years, the festival has attracted a growing audience of filmmakers and industry professionals, including Cathy Tyson, Robert Davi, Joan Collins, Steven Berkoff, Caroline Munro, Michelle Collins, Luke Goss, Pauline Peart, Larry Lamb, Marc Bannerman, Emmy award-winning composer John Altman and the Oscar-winning Asif Kapadia. In 2020, the 4th festival was held from 13 to 18 August 2020 and was the first physical festival in the UK post COVID-19 outbreak.

Extensive Film Line-up and Local Highlights

Movie highlights this year include:

• Waking Slowly: A documentary about the making of the multi-award-winning Signs Of Life.

• 49 Miles More: A road trip comedy.

• Video Dreams: A documentary about a filmmaker achieving his goals of getting his low-budget movies on the shelves of Blockbuster stores.

• World Premieres: Uncut World Premiere director’s cuts of serial killer thrillers Dorothea and Ed Kemper.

• Dcks*: A Hungarian comedy action movie.

• Keep Young & Beautiful: A new short film by the highly acclaimed Neil Marshall.

Close to home, the festival proudly highlights local movies:

• Angel Lust: Partially shot in Romford.

• The Worst Film Festival Ever: Shot at Romford Golf Club.

• Kelvis: A documentary based around Romford’s famous Elvis impersonator.

In total, over 150 features and shorts will play out over the four-day festival which begins on Friday. This year, 17 different countries are represented through their filmmaking.

10th Anniversary Celebrations & Special Events

This year, the Romford Film Festival turns 10 years old! To celebrate, there will be a special book launch event during the festival with co-founder Natalie Bays on the Sunday afternoon that celebrates the festival through the medium of its famous film-inspired cocktails.

The Eurasian Creative Guild Film Festival will also return to bring a variety of films from Central Asia.

Ticket and Pass Information

Passes for the tenth year of the Romford Film Festival are available to purchase through the Romford Film Festival website: https://www.romfordfilmfestival.com/. As ever, the festival is budget-friendly, with pricing structured as follows:

• Event: The 10th Annual Romford Film Festival

• Dates: Friday, 22 May – Monday, 25 May

• Location: Lumiere, Romford

• Official Website: www.romfordfilmfestival.com

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