With the summer panning out to be a typical old-fashioned one with lots of British rain, there is great consolation to be had indoors as Chichester celebrates its annual international film festival. The festival this year is showing 150 films in 7 locations with a whole host of household names from the world of cinema coming to this beautiful city.
Some things to look out for include the first major retrospective of Hugh Bonneville’s work – and the man himself will be there this weekend to introduce his film To Olivia in which he plays the part of Roald Dahl. In addition to this, next week there is the opportunity to watch the much acclaimed Tar, with a talk that same day in the studio about what makes Cate Blanchett’s women so compelling.
I was lucky enough to catch the UK premiere of Il Boemo at the Chichester cinema in New Park. Directed by Petr Vaclav, this is the Czech nomination for next year’s Foreign Language Oscar and captures the glorious decadence of 18th century Italy inhabited by composer Josef Myslivecek. I especially loved the beautiful operatic compositions incorporated in the film; Vogtech Dyk in the titular role was both subtle and magnetic. The festival hosts a number of other premieres and previews from many different countries and with such a wide variety of films on offer, there’s bound to be something of interest to every one of you film buffs out there.
This is the 31st year of the festival, a year that also marks Roger Gibson’s final season as artistic director. With 25 UK premieres, mingled with a host of art-house classics and groundbreaking cinema, one feels that Roger can take his bow in the knowledge that he has established, during his impressive tenure, an unmissable event in the heart of Sussex for the film industry and film-lovers alike. If you fancy grabbing a film and perhaps bumping into the likes of Sir Alex Guinness or Mike Lee, then visit their website and make sure to book some tickets before the month is up. www.chichesterfilmfestival.co.uk
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