in our very own town. I’d better book soon, I think, spotting a woman eyeing my seat as guests begin to fill the room. I have a feeling it’s going to be big. For more details about Beeston Film Festival, and Creative Beeston visit: beestonfilmfestival.com creativebeeston.co.uk
The small
Big Screen A
Image: John Currie, Beeston Film Festival Director (courtesy of Hex Productions)
s we wait for the guests to arrive, John Currie attends to some final technical details and takes a few minutes to talk to me. His eyes are half on the computer screen, half on me, but I can forgive his diminished attention. “The theme tonight is ‘home and away’,” he says clicking something. I grimace, but before I can say what is obviously on my mind, John laughs. “What that means is we’ve got some UK shorts and some international shorts. I want to capture a whole range of genres; comedy, horror, drama, sci-fi. Over these seven films there should be a bit of everything.”
“He just last year produced his first short film – Go with God – which premiered here in this very room at The Beestonian Film Club”
Club and is brilliant, and now he wants to make an international film festival. “We’re bringing the world to Beeston,” John says with a wide smile. Ambition, indeed. And tonight marks the launch of the Beeston Film Festival. John is curating this series of short films to announce the competition that will culminate with the first Beeston Film Festival on the 24 – 25 January, 2015. It was shortly after premièring Go with God that John had the idea. He got involved in the film circuit and was at a festival in another city. “I just thought why can’t we have our own festival?” From that the idea was born. Pretty simple in a way, but also massively complicated. The process of collecting submissions and setting up the festival will take, in John’s estimation the better part of eight months. That’s a lot of time. Lord Beestonia pops his head into the cinema. He will be introducing John, but apart from that he’s just here for the great films and delicious food (courtesy of Café ROYA downstairs). Anyway, he’s got a great big smile on his face. “We’re having to turn people away at the door!”
Even so, I think it’s an unfortunate name, but I can’t criticise John for his ambition. He’s trying to take the phrase ‘home and away’ back from the Australians, he just last year produced his first short film – Go with God – which premiered here in this very room at The Beestonian Film
I’d better mark my seat before someone steals it. I place my notebook onto it, then go back to talk to John some more, but he’s focussed on what’s about to begin. What’s about to begin? A night of films, a launch, and then a year down the line the beginning of an international film festival
Every Sunday is SALSA DAY! Second Tuesday of the month: Quiz Night (hosted by The Beestonian) Third Tuesday of the month: Open Mic Night 24 Middle Street, Beeston NG9 1FX
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