The Belfast Film Festival is Northern Ireland's largest film festival, attracting over 25,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1995, the festival has grown to include the Docs Ireland international documentary festival, as well as an Audience Development and Inclusion program. The festival also sponsors year-round film screenings around Belfast.

History

A previous Belfast Film Festival screening of Mad Max at T13

Founded in 1995 by writer Laurence McKeown, the festival began as a part of Féile an Phobail, and operated as the West Belfast Film Festival (WBFF) from 9995 to 2000. In its third and fourth year, WBFF ran as an independent event and included venues throughout the city. Under the stewardship of Michele Devlin and Laurence McKeown, it became the Belfast Film Festival in the year 2000 and ran as a citywide event, including venues in the North, South, East and West of Belfast. At the 2004 event, the festival's offices in the Art Deco North Street Arcade were completely destroyed by fire. Despite losing their base and all their records, the festival recovered, relocated to Donegall St, and staged the event again the following year. The 2005 festival was launched by award-winning actor

Stephen Rea Stephen Rea ( ; born 31 October 1946) is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in films such as ''V for Vendetta'', ''Michael Collins'', ''Interview with the Vampire'' and ''Breakfast on Pluto''. Rea was nominated for the Academy Award ...

. The 2022 festival will see the launch of an International Competition for first or second features, with a total prize fund of £10,000 sponsored by a number of organisations, notably Yellow Moon, Greg Darby’s popular Northern post-production house. An international jury of filmmakers and industry professionals will award a prize of £7,000 to the director of the Best Film, alongside Jury Prizes for Outstanding Craft Contribution and Breakout Performance of £1,500 each.

Site-specific and Summer Programme

The inclusion of people and the fabric of the city in the programme is an important aspect of the BFF's work. In 2004 they hosted the first ever drive-in movie event in the city in Talbot St car park screening The Shining. They have screened films in used and disused swimming pools including '' Jaws'' and '' Session 9''; on a boat in the

River Lagan The River Lagan (; Ulster Scots: ''Lagan Wattèr'') is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs 53.5 miles (86 km) from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The ...

(''Piranha''); with live piano accompaniment in St Anne's Cathedral (16mm original version of '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'') and shown Carol Reed's '' Odd Man Out'' beside the Albert Clock, which featured heavily in the film. They have profiled unique architectural sites by hosting screenings inside the buildings, including the US political drama '' The West Wing'' at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, '' Oh, Mr Porter!'' at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra, '' The Warriors'' in a dystopian landscape beneath a city centre motorway flyover, and

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

's cult sci-fi epic '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' in the historic dry dock in the city's old shipyards where the RMS ''Titanic'' last sat on dry ground. Music has also featured strongly in their programming; some highlights include the collaborations with local talent such as Duke Special and David Holmes on audio visual performances, hosting the band Goblin to perform a live score to Dawn of the Dead, Cercueil (Coffin) the fantastic French duo performing to

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

's '' Eraserhead'' and a synchronised swim team (Aquabatix) performing live in a pool to alongside a compilation of aquatic and swim themed films and music. Together with Belfast One, Belfast Film Festival runs the annual Summer Cinema at Belfast City Hall, featuring eight outdoor films across a July weekend.

The Belfast Film Festival Board & Team

''Director:'' Michele Devlin ''Programmer (International):'' Jessica Kiang ''Programmer (UK and Ireland):'' Rose Baker ''Programmer and Print Transport:'' Stuart Sloan ''Head of Marketing:'' Mary Lindsay ''Audience Development and Inclusion:'' Sara Morrison ''Event Manager:'' Benen Dillon ''Box Office Manager:'' Simeon Costello ''Board of directors:'' Mark Cousins (Chair), Nisha Tandon, Lisa Barros D' Sa, Laurence McKeown, Louise O'Meara, Kevin Jackson & Lucy Baxter. ''Patrons:'' Terry George, David Holmes, Pat Murphy,

William Crawley William Crawley, MRIA, is a Belfast-born BBC journalist and broadcaster. He is the presenter of ''Talkback'', a daily radio programme on BBC Radio Ulster, and he is a presenter of '' Sunday'' on BBC Radio 4. He has also made several television ...

and

Belfast Film Festival Award Winners

Short Film Competition

Maysles Brothers Documentary Competition (part of Docs Ireland international documentary festival since 2019)

Audience Award

Short Documentary Competition (part of Docs Ireland international documentary festival since 2019)

Réalta Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinema

Lifetime Achievement Award

Sponsorship

Key funders are NI Department for Communities, Arts Council NI, Film Hub NI, Yellow Moon, British Council, Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland Screen and the British Film Institute. 2013: Peroni & Selective Travel 2014: Peroni & O2 International Sim 2015: O2 International Sim, DCAL and Tourism NI 2016: Peroni, Tourism NI and DCAL 2017: The Irish News, Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland 2018: Richer Sounds, Clayton Hotels 2021:

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References

{{Féile an Phobail Film festivals in Northern Ireland Festivals in Belfast Spring (season) events in Northern Ireland