The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival is recognised as one of the most prestigious UK events for filmmakers and will be returning in May for its 11th Year. I got an opportunity to ask festival director Paul Cotgrove a few questions about the festival and what we can expect.
Q. How did The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival come about?
Having worked in the film Industry nearly all my life, I decided I had enough of commuting to Soho every day, so set up a Film Company near to where I live In Southend. No sooner had I set up my company THE WHITE BUS, I was approached by Southend Borough Council to deliver a Film Festival on their behalf. Eleven years later, we are now one of the biggest Film Festival’s in the East of England. Southend Borough Council was unable to support the Festival after its third year for various reasons and It has been managed by THE WHITE BUS ever since.
Q. For those looking to attend the Southend Film Festival what can they expect?
Our main focus is on British Independent films, which gives a lot film makers their first opportunity to have their film seen by an audience. We also make sure that we schedule films for all film lovers and Include Classic films, world Cinema films, Family Films and Local Heritage screenings etc.
Q. There are two parts to the Southend Film Festival. The main film festival and the fringe festival, what is the difference between the two?
The main Film Festival is totally managed by THE WHITE BUS. The Fringe Festival gives Art Galleries, Pubs and Guest Houses etc the opportunity to organise their own Film Screenings and become part of the Film Festival. The Fringe Festival starts two weeks before the main Festival and continues for a week after the main Festival finishes.
Q. The main film festival opens on Thursday 23rd May with the Opening Gala film Under the Radar: The Mike Edmonds Story Extended Cut. Why did you choose this film to open the festival?
Choosing the opening Gala film is probably the hardest decision to make out of the whole Festival. However, this year, we was lucky enough to be offered UNDER THE RADAR which is not only is a lovely Documentary about a local actor who has had an amazing career in Film and Television, but Is also Directed by a local Film Maker.
Q. The short In Two Minds will also be opening the festival?
We like to also programme a short film of excellent quality for the opening Gala and this year we was lucky to have IN TWO MINDS to consider, which again was filmed in Southend using local actors and made by a local film Director and crew.
Q. The Southend Film Festival continues to grow year on year and has become a huge event for independent filmmakers both locally and around the world. Are you surprised at how popular the festival has become?
Having been Involved with many Independent Feature and Short length films all through my career, I know how difficult It Is to break Into the Festival circuit and have your films seen by an audience. So, I was determined from day one, that the Southend-on-Sea Film Festival’s main focus was to give preference to the Independent film making community. Now that we are in our Eleven year, we now have a loyal audience who look forward all year round to see the films that we programme for the Festival, which is wonderful.
Q. As we said before the festival offers a mixture of films from around the world and will have some premiers at the festival. Can you tell us about some of the films we should be looking out for?
O.K here’s a list of some of the Festival highlight’s – Rudeboy: The Trojan Records Story, Axman (UK) world premier, Simon Marsden: A Life in Pictures (UK), Lonewolf the Awakening + The Liberator Fights Back (UK) world premier, The closing Gala – This is Southend – 7 brand short films, that have all been made using Southend-on-Sea as a location.
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival begins on Thursday 23rd May with the opening Gala and will run until Monday 27th May. You can see the full schedule for the festival and purchase tickets for the films on the website www.southendfilmfestival.com/
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
