Film / News
FilmBath Festival to go ahead as planned
The covid-19 pandemic has forced many festivals to shift online or take a year off. FilmBath – formerly the Bath Film Festival – is made of sterner stuff. The organisers have just announced that their 30th anniversary festival is to go ahead as usual from Thursday 5 – Sunday 15 November.
Actually, “as usual” is probably pushing it. They’ve had to come up with an imaginative way of keeping the show on the road. Rather than being spread across several venues, this year’s programme is being screened in its entirety in Bath’s historic Green Park Station.
The station is covered but open on one side, allowing for plenty of fresh air and room for social distancing. FilmBath intends to create a ‘cinema experience’ inside the station, with a top-end projector and a 23 foot inflatable screen, funded by the Theatre Royal Bath Creative Fund. Everyone will be given a (sanitised) radio and headphones for crystal clear audio.
Booking for what now ranks as the oldest and biggest film festival in the south west opens on October 16 (two days earlier for those on the FilmBath mailing list), when the full programme will be announced. Last year, the festival boasted 23 previews, including The Personal History of David Copperfield, Jojo Rabbit, Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Hope Gap (which finally received a nationwide release last week). FilmBath’s executive director Holly Tarquini (pictured) developed the now world-renowned F-Rating, so we can also expect at least half of the films screened to be written and directed by women. Whether they’ll beat last year’s record of 59% remains to be seen.
Visit the FilmBath website for more information.
Read more: Gimme an F!
Image supplied by FilmBath
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