International Film Festival back after 10-year gap

The first Bradford International Film Festival to be held in 10 years gets under way later ahead of the city's culture celebrations in 2025.

The National Media Museum, which used to run the event, officially scrapped it in 2016, two years after the last festival was held.

However, after two local residents decided to bring the event back, the revitalised independent film festival is due to kick off at Pictureville Cinema on Tuesday at 19:00 BST.

Louisa Rose Mackleston, a freelance filmmaker from Keighley, and one of those behind the new event, said it was "about giving back to the community".

Bradford's International Film Festival was cancelled for 2015 as a review of the future of the event was announced.

The following year the National Media Museum confirmed it would no longer run the event.

The new festival is expected to showcase 47 short films at venues across the Bradford district, with screenings at The Rockwell Centre, Clayton Community Cinema and Mind The Gap in Lister Mills, organisers said.

Ms Mackleston said events would be "pay as you feel" to encourage anyone to attend the festival, regardless of their circumstances.

"It's not about making money. It's about giving back to the community," she said.

Ms Mackleston said that as well as celebrating international filmmakers from as far afield as Vietnam and Ukraine, Bradfordians would also get the chance to see their home city reflected as several films would compete in a "best of Bradford" category.

Jan Ruppe, another of the new festival's organisers, who was an actor for 16 years, said: "It wasn't about making a film festival, it was about Bradford."

Ms Ruppe said another category to be judged during the festival would be for filmmakers under 25-years-old, emphasising Bradford as one of the cities in Europe with the youngest population.

Meanwhile, a category for filmmakers over 50 years old would also feature, celebrating people who were often "overlooked" at film festivals, she said.

"We feel like older filmmakers having coming in or having had 30 years in the business and making their best work often don't get those opportunities," Ms Ruppe said.

Organisers said the final day of screenings, on 26 October, would be at Keighley Picturehouse at 14:00 BST, before returning to the Cubby Broccoli screen at the National Science and Media Museum with a selection of short films at 19:00 BST.

There would also be an industry day, providing masterclasses and networking opportunities for emerging filmmakers in the district on 27 October at The Great Victoria Hotel, they added.

The festival has been brought back less than a year before the start of Bradford's City of Culture 2025 celebrations, which are expected to see more than 1,000 shows, exhibitions and events take place over 12 months.

Ms Mackleston promised that the re-launched Bradford International Film Festival would be back again to take its place among the culture celebrations.

"It's already pretty big and it's only going to get bigger next year," Ms Mackleston said.

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