A “Secret Cinema” experience, films in the park after dark, and a swim-in cinema are planned for St Albans 3rd Film Festival which will be out of this world Visitors to the St Albans Film Festival will have the opportunity to take part in a ‘Secret Cinema’ experience when the Odyssey cinema holds an immersive Space film event on opening night, 1 May.
Leoni Kibbey says that the event will bring some surprise and excitement to the opening night. “I am a huge fan of the ‘Secret Cinema’ phenomenon, she says, “and wanted to bring a bit of that fun to the film festival. This is different to the usual secret events as the location and time is known beforehand, but the film itself is being kept under wraps. We may release some clues nearer to the day though, and it is definitely a film in line with our Space theme, so we are definitely inviting people to dress accordingly!”
Since 2013 the St Albans Film Festival has earned its place alongside the bigger international film festivals, gaining credibility by attracting over 1,000 entries from filmmakers from 40 countries into its short film competition, and also securing Christiane Kubrick, widow of film directing legend Stanley Kubrick, who lived and worked in the area, as its Patron.
The Festival – which has taken Space as its theme this year, coinciding with the centenary of Einstein’s general theory of relativity (gravity), and also the current general release of The Theory of Everything; the Golden Globe winning movie about the famous scientist and space expert, Stephen Hawking, who hails from St Albans – is holding its grand launch event and closing awards ceremony at the recently restored Odyssey cinema, which first opened in 1908. This was one of the first cinemas to open in the country.
Other firsts for this year’s film festival include a pop-up cinema at the country’s oldest pub, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, which will be screening Alien on 29th April and Aliens on 30th April, in the garden, with a barbecue as part of the ticket price of £12. Landlord Christo Tofalli says: “To my knowledge, this is the first time in the pub’s 1,222 year history that it has turned into a cinema!” Tickets are selling fast so visit the film festival website to buy yours.
The festival team will also be managing a central ‘hub’ based at another historic building: the St Albans Town Hall, a Georgian Grade ll listed building which has received funding from the HLF to be transformed into an exceptional new museum and gallery of national and international significance in 2017. The Town Hall will hold the official screenings of the finalists in the short film competition, and run a selected number of events about filmmaking.
Just a short drive from St Albans is Bayfordbury Observatory: the University of Hertfordshire’s astronomical and atmospheric physics remote sensing observatory, and one of the largest teaching observatories in the UK. The centre opens its doors to the film festival on Saturday for an exciting evening for ages 8+ which includes a talk on ‘Space and Astronomy in Films: the Facts and the Fiction’ and an HD planetarium show, followed by a visit to their telescopes with live observations.
Don your pointy ears and Trekkie gear in homage to the late Leonard Nimoy (Spock) as The Maltings Arts Theatre invite you to startrek across the universe with Spock, Kirk and the rest of the crew of the Starship Enterprise as they host a trilogy of the first star trek films from the ‘70s & ‘80s.
Take a trip to Westminster Lodge’s Alien Day on Saturday 1st May as they once again open their Swim-in cinema, with family film ‘Monsters Vs Aliens’ in the day and, for ages 18+, Alien Resurrection with the famous underwater scene, in the evening.
Film & Media Students from Oaklands College on Hatfield Road host a packed weekend of events inspired by Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. All events are completely free and suitable for all ages – including workshops and a chance to try out professional film equipment, Odyssey, film quizzes, lectures, indie screenings and lots more.
One of the coolest events at the festival and not to be missed is the stunning screening of new indie feature ‘Always in the Present’ the debut feature from Writer and Director Oliver Guy-Watkins. This exclusive screening will include a live score by French band Metropolitan Parc and screens in the afternoon on the Saturday.
Warren Bacci, director of Top Talent Agency, based in St Albans, and judge for Best Actor award, says: “We really recommend visitors see at least one of the short film category screenings, as showcasing filmmaking talent is at the heart of the festival. In previous years, the festival has discovered exciting new talent in filmmaking internationally, as well as recognising acting talent such as Luke Treadaway, who won Best Actor at the festival last year.”
Some of the stars of this year’s eclectic mix of short films include: Cillian Murphy, Ricky Tomlinson, A BAFTA winner, A Disney Animator, A Gay Rugby Team and the band Enter Shikari. Audience members will get to meet the best up and coming filmmakers as each screening has a Q&A session after and this year introduces the audience vote, which count towards the final voting score and winners are announced at the closing awards ceremony at The Odyssey cinema on the Sunday evening.
Leoni Kibbey, festival director, says: “I am so excited about this year’s theme – so look out for all the added extras we are known for – see the city taken over by aliens and spacemen for one weekend. In our first three years, we have established a reputation for putting on an innovative and ambitious programme of events and this year we have taken a giant leap forward and let the local residents and businesses take more ownership of their festival by putting on more of their own events and initiatives to celebrate film.
“Edinburgh Festival started small with one person’s idea and now thousands of productions and events take place around Edinburgh. I would love to bring a slice of that kind of energy to our city, which was itself at the forefront of modern filmmaking and cinemas a hundred years ago and see the festival grow for years to come.”
Tickets to the secret cinema event are available direct from the Odyssey box office, and tickets for all other film festival events are available now from www.stalbansfilmfestival.co.uk