Hull Film Festival’s jam-packed programme

A two-week-long celebration of world-class film is coming to Hull, the UK City of Culture 2017. The 4^th annual Hull Film Festival will see a jam-packed programme of 30 feature length films, documentaries and short film screenings across venues in the city from Monday, June 26 to Sunday, July 9.

The festival opens on at Vue Cinema Hull with an exclusive preview of powerfully moving, true-life war drama Alone in Berlin, starring two-time Academy Award-winner Emma Thompson and three-time Golden Globe-nominee and Emmy Award winner Brendan Gleeson.

Hull Film Festival 2017 will be held at Vue Cinema (26 June to 2 July) and Hull Truck Theatre (3 July to 8 July), with a closing night film and celebrations at Fruit on Humber Street on Sunday 9 July. Special event screenings also take place on 4 July at Zebedee’s Yard and 7 July at Stage @The Dock.

Audiences will be able to attend a diverse range of independent, world, cult, classic silent and short film. The impressive line-up features titles from ten countries (including UK, USA, France, Japan, Sweden and Germany), boasting an array of advance screenings, regional and Hull premieres, partner screenings, guest appearances and Q&As.

Titles from around the world include A Man Called Ove, The Levelling, Zoology, The Last Word, Hounds of Love, The Ghoul, along with family films My Life as a Courgette and The Red Turtle.

Special events will include a live broadcast of opera sensation, La Traviata at Zebedee’s Yard; an outdoor screening of Oscars darling La La Land, taking place at Stage@The Dock; and the Awards Ceremony for Hull Film Festival’s first ever short film competition.

Also amongst the programme is the highly-anticipated documentary, David Lynch: The Art Life, about the director of hit American 1990s drama, Twin Peaks, which returned to UK television screens this month; and a celebration of Hull’s own Spider from Mars, Mick Ronson, with music documentary Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story.

Hull 2017 is about celebrating the city and its heritage, and Hull Film Festival is thrilled to be working in partnership with Sheffield Doc/Fest as part of the programme, with three exclusive documentaries (Chasing Coral, The Gaze of the Sea, Dreamboat) that explore themes of the water, fishing and ferries, all synonymous with Hull and its history.

It is not just new release films that are set to be shown during the festival. Local film exhibition partners are a huge part of the festival offer, as we continue to work with them and their audiences to bring exciting types of cinema back to the big-screen. Don’t miss the chance to see some beautiful 4k restorations, hear a spine-tingling silent film score and don’t forget your fishnets for our end of festival musical masterpiece.

The much-loved counterculture classic, The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and celebrating its 50^th anniversary, will be shown in partnership with WeWatchFilms; Hitchcock’s silent masterpiece The Lodger will be screened with a live score by Yorkshire Silent Film; while Cult Cinema Sunday will bring more David Lynch to Hull with a retrospective screening of the wonderfully weird Mulholland Drive, as well as ending the festival on a camp and kitsch musical high, with a fancy dress, audience-participation screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Damien Greco, Festival and Programming Director said: ‘It’s a real pleasure to take our audiences on a journey during the festival, and I’m very excited to bring a wide variety of exclusive films to Hull, that you won’t see screened elsewhere in the city. The festival is growing in stature and scope year-on-year to become the key event for film lovers in Hull and beyond, and there’s lots in the programme that will challenge, make you think and give you a cinematic experience like no other. Be bold, come out of your comfort zone and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.’

The festival is hosted by Hull Independent Cinema, which has already hosted an array of film events this year, including collaborations with Pride in Hull to produce an impressive programme of LGBT films ahead of the national 50^th anniversary of Pride celebrations. They are also working with Hull UK City of Culture 2017 to produce programmes for the Where Are We Now? festival, which also takes place in June, and the Back to Ours festival.

Sam Hunt, Executive Producer at Hull UK City of Culture 2017 said: “In a year that is already bringing an exceptional variety of terrific films and documentaries to the city, the Hull Film Festival will be one of the highlights. The team at Hull Independent Cinema have put together a wonderfully eclectic mix of movie magic, which should appeal to film buffs of all tastes. It’s also a brilliant chance to see films that may not get another showing in the city.”

Tickets for Hull Film Festival are on sale now via hullfilmfestival.co.uk.

HULL FILM FESTIVAL FULL PROGRAMME

26 June – 2 July , Vue Cinema Hull.

Alone in Berlin, Chasing Coral, The Levelling, The Graduate (50^th anniversary 4k restoration presented by WeWatchFilms), Hounds of Love, The Gaze of the Sea, Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle (with director Q&A), Dream Boat, The Ghoul (with director and producer Q&A), My Life as a Courgette, Berlin Syndrome, David Lynch: The Art Life, Mulholland Drive (4k restoration presented by Cult Cinema Sunday).

3 July – 8 July , Hull Truck Theatre

The Last Word, I Am Not Madame Bovary, Zoology, Bafta Shorts 2017, Daphne, The Lodger (with live score from Yorkshire Silent Film), The Midwife, Wilson, The Odyssey, A Man Called Ove, The Red Turtle, Yorkshire Shorts and awards ceremony, Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story, Scribe

4 July, Zebedee’s Yard

La Traviata

7 July, Stage @The Dock

La La Land

9 July, Fruit

Cult Cinema Sunday: The Rocky Horror Picture Show