COMMUNITIES from across east Durham have come together to organise their first-ever film festival.
Throughout March pop-up film and art events will be taking place in unusual venues in a film festival inspired by the region.
Community groups and venues from across east Durham have joined arts engagement project East Durham Creates to programme the first East Durham Film Festival.
Over 90 local people have created an eclectic month-long celebration of wonderfully unique film events, featuring everything from music to art workshops, from dance to heritage footage.
The first event, attended by about 60 people, was a screening of The Full Monty fronted by East Durham Dementia Friendly Choir including a performance by them at Eastlea Community Centre in Seaham.
Future large-scale events include a day of Ken Loach films titled Austerity is over? aimed at exploring current issues facing the community with Q&A’s and special guests.
There will also be a brass-themed event, bringing together the tradition of brass music with a carnival twist in Horden and a pride event in Trimdon Station, exploring the relationship between the mining and LGBTQ+ communities.
Smaller-scale events range from animation inspired by Aardman, to showings of important films with a local theme like the Big Meeting and Still the Enemy Within.
The festival has linked in with a range of organisations from the National Trust to Durham Miners’ Association to support and shape the event.
There is a range of programmes, with two events specifically designed and delivered by young people primarily aged form 16 to 30. These screenings will explore themes of female empowerment and cinema inspired by the seaside.
Jess Hunt, project manager for East Durham Creates said. “It’s been wonderful to engage over 30 young people in planning this festival and getting them to be involved with thinking about different kinds of films and different ways of experiencing cinema in their area.”
The month-long festival will see 27 screenings across 13 events in 15 community venues ranging from community centres to parks to Seaham Harbour Marina.
No traditional cinema venues will be used, with the aim being to bring film back into spaces where access to cinema was once prolific.
Malcolm Fallow chief executive of East Durham Trust and director of the East Durham Creates project said: “Film as an art form has a central role in the history of former mining communities, each colliery village hosted at least one cinema.
“The film festival is a great way of reviving this tradition and we think there is something for everyone in the programme.”
East Durham Creates is a project funded by Arts Council England as part of their Creative People and Places initiative. The project is all about getting local people to shape arts and culture in their area and EDC have led the Film Festival. The project, led by local charity East Durham Trust, is in its sixth year and has engaged tens of thousands of people since it began in 2014.
The East Durham Film Festival is supported by Film Hub North, proud to be part of the BFI Film Audience Network.
For more information and to book tickets visit www.eastdurhamcreates.co.uk/film-festival or contact East Durham Creates on 0191-569 3511.
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