Do you like movies?
The capital of the United Kingdom is known for many great things: complex transport system, the Royal family, an impressive variety of sights and touristic attractions, multiple business oriented success possibilities, great universities, splendid architecture. But we should also remember to underline the importance of its cultural venues, festivals and involvements. London will always support new and old artists, gain and maintain masterpieces, provide free access to most of the museums and galleries in order to share its passion for art with all of its inhabitants and also occasional visitors.
This series of articles will be dedicated to those unique events, mainly festivals, related to various domains like food (praising local or international dishes), music (London is preferred by most of the youngsters that want to be part of a quality live show and enjoy good music and great bands) and the cinematographic industry (that provided many important awards along the time for British actors, directors, script writers, fashion, design and many more). This article refers to this last suggestion: London film festivals.
We should start with BFI Future Film Festival that is held in BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, South Bank, SE1 8XT. This year, 2014, it took place between the 21st and the 23rd of February. It was the sixth edition of a well-known and beloved festival that offers the possibility of winning an award for the best short film, in the category called Future Film Awards. The three days were each dedicated to a certain cinematographic genre: Saturday regarded fiction, Sunday focused on animation and Monday was all about the documentaries. Of course, at it happened annually, the crowd could also participate to all sorts of educational and interesting events, like workshops, classes for advanced people, film screenings and a session of Q&A, meant for all those curious participants that wanted to enhance their knowledge.
London Short Film Festival is another unique event, differentiating from the others in the sense that it provides the most decadent, shocking, edgy movies to its audience. And this represents one of the main reasons why it is so loved and appreciated. If last year it was all about strange, yet funny categories regarding love and awkward videos, this year (2014) it will be all about depravity and very low budget productions. Usually, these projections take place in several cinemas across London, like Curzon Soho (99 Shaftesbury Ave, W1D 5DY), Hackney Picturehouse (270 Mare St, E8 1HE), Cine Lumiere (17 Queensberry Pl, SW7 2DT), Roxy Bar and Screen (128-132 Borough High St, SE1 1LB) and Institute Of Contemporary Arts (The Mall, SW1Y 5AH).
Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is another warm recommendation. Last year (2013) it took place in Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, N1 2UN, between the 21st of February and the 1st of March. It was the fourth edition and it certainly did not disappoint its audience. All of the screenings involved extreme sports, action pictures and natural landscapes. This is the ideal festival for those that are passionate about adventure and outdoor activities, people that love nature and its wilderness. If you are still not convinced, you could check out a trailer and decide afterwards: www.banff-uk.com.
Of course, these are not the only film festivals in London. You can also try the following: The Easter Film Hop (is a unique festival dedicated to those that love the ‘70s and also the pop culture; you can even wear a costume and learn a special choreography), Sundance London (the second edition is taking place between the 25th and 27th of April, 2014; it involves many screenings and premiers, open discussions and live music), Portobello Film Festival (began in the year 1996 and it still represents one of the best British festivals; in 2014, it will take place between the 28th of August and the 14th of September, at the Westbourne Studios – Under the Westway, 242 Acklam Road, Notting Hill, London, W10 5JJ), Raindance Film Festival (with a more than 20 years of worth-while activity, it is mostly represented by Indie productions).
