Film Festival

For more than eighteen months a shadowy group has been meeting in hidden away parts of the campus, such as John Pett's office, to develop the idea of the Winchester International Film Festival: the City as a Screen. We now have some money from the Creative Campus (Cultural Olympiad) fund and strong support, warm words, (and as yet no money) from Screen South. The idea is that we invite short film submissions to competitive categories including 'documentary', 'drama', 'experimental', 'animation' and '14-19 young film makers'. However, we want to engage the public of Winchester by screening the entries ahead of mainstream films in places around the city where there is some kind of connection between the film and the location ( I Confess at the Cathedral, Walk the Line at the prison, Brief Encounter at the station, etc. - just exemplars). We have most of the locations 'signed up' which actually do include the Cathedral, the open spaces around the Westgate and the City Museum, the Discovery Centre, the Great Hall, a couple of pubs and wine bars, etc.

Suggestions for judges, master class celebs, offers of help, etc. warmly welcomed.