A brand new virtual film festival streaming this November
Four of the UK’s top film festivals have joined forces in response to the Covid-19 pandemic to deliver a brand new collaborative online film festival this November.
Unprecedented times call for an unprecedented response!
AMPLIFY! Film Festival is the most ambitious collaboration between UK film festivals ever undertaken and will see a truly diverse programme of films, many of them UK premieres, available to audiences across the entire UK.
AMPLIFY! will bring together over 100 years of film festival experience, to create a 17-day online event which will amplify the voices of diverse storytellers from the UK and around the world.
For the very first time an exciting programme of films is being co-curated by four festivals — Bath, Brighton (Cinecity), Cambridge, and Cornwall — and promoted across the UK, opening up this unique festival to an audience of millions and allowing people to access these incredible films — over 50% of which are directed by women — from the comfort of their own homes.
AMPLIFY! will stream online 6–22 November, with the full programme of films, Q&As, masterclasses, and industry events to be announced in October.
Full of dazzling debuts ac spectacular previews, the online programme of AMPLIFY! offers a feast of movie viewing for audiences of every taste. Winner of Best Film at San Sebastián International Film Festival & nominated at TIFF in Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut, Falling, he directs himself in a powerful family drama about a son’s traumatic relationship with his father. With 5 wins and 11 International festival nominations Patrick (De Patrick) is a brilliant Belgian black comedy about a nudist camp; Patrick, the camp’s handyman, has lost his hammer, and nothing will make him happy until he finds it.
Travelling back 90 years, you can see the silent masterpiece Waxworks starring Jack the Ripper, Ivan the Terrible, and Harun al-Rashid, brought back to life by the great Emil Jannings introduced by the much loved BBC radio & TV presenter and pianist Neil Brand. The Audition stars one of Europe’s greatest actors, Nina Hoss, as an obsessive music teacher determined that her pupil will succeed. Piotr Domalewski picked up a new directors nomination at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2020 for his stunning debut Jak najdalej stąd (I Never Cry) which premieres at AMPLIFY.
There are lots of hot docs too: The Mole Agent is the unforgettable account of how a care home is infiltrated by an elderly gent who has been hired to find out what goes on behind closed doors. While Caught in the Net is the compelling story of a virtual flytrap set for online paedophiles, using women pretending to be younger. My Mexican Bretzel is a cracker — the winner of the Found Footage Award in Rotterdam last year, on a par with Sarah Polley’s stunning Stories We Tell.
Since 2011, Camera Catalonia has been an important and popular strand of the Cambridge Film Festival, presenting the interesting and creative work from new and experienced directors. AMPLIFY! Includes a great selection of new films from Catalonia such as UK premiers of La inocència (The innocence) , Keith Haring 1989 Barcelona & My Mexican Bretzel.
Six short programmes will be free to view, including the prestigious IMDb Awards from FilmBath, Cornwall’s International short programme & South West best regional shorts, as well as CINECITY’s New Voices — regional shorts made by 16 to 25-year-olds, supported by Screen and Film School Brighton. The UK Premiere of I Still Breathe by London-based filmmaker Alfred George Bailey’s response to the death of George Floyd with score from composer Nicky Brown and Academy Award-winning sound designer John Warhurst.
The Young People’s Jury Programme seeks to nurture visual literacy, criticism & decision making in the next generation and will culminate in the Young People’s Jury Prize awarded to one of the eight nominated features in competition.
As well as the diverse programme of feature and short films, AMPLIFY! will also deliver a range of director Q&As, workshops, and network events.
Industry focused events include a BFI NETWORK breakthrough filmmaker event, a casting panel hosted by Backstage, a LIM (Less Is More) script development talk supported by Creative Europe. A round table event ‘Distribution in uncertain times’ with Charles Gant. Q&A with German director-producer Jens Meurer for the UK Premiere of An Impossible Project hosted by Bill Lawrence, former Creative Director at Showroom Cinema, and Head of Film at the National Museum of Photography. Filmmaker networking events.
AMPLIFY! Film Festival has received praise from across the UK film festival community. Among others, London Film Festival Director Tricia Tuttle offered her support:
AMPLIFY! is a fantastic initiative by some of the country’s top regional film festivals. We’ve all been keeping in close contact over the last months, sharing information on the challenges and strategies for planning film festivals in a pandemic. These festivals do such important work in getting independent films to audiences, championing underrepresented voices — films from female and LGBQI+ filmmakers, film and filmmakers from around the world and from diverse backgrounds. This year has seen so much great collaboration between festivals and it’s an absolute pleasure to see them combining forces for the good of audiences and filmmakers. I will be settling down after my own festival to watch some great work on the AMPLIFY! platform.
The teams behind the four AMPLIFY! partner festivals are excited to be collaborating on such an innovative project.
Holly Tarquini & Philip Raby, the co-directors of FilmBath, stated:
The COVID crisis has threatened all of our organisations, so it’s an absolute joy to be able to work together and put on such a juicy online festival — with tons of Q&As and special events.” Tim Brown from Cinecity Brighton added, “Working with new partners in a completely new way is the best response to events and an exciting way to take audiences on new adventures in world cinema.
Director of Cornwall Film Festival, Louise Fox believes AMPLIFY! will be a celebration.
The joy of film sits at the heart of this year’s celebratory festival programme, a great example of how we can come together whilst being apart to be engaged and inspire our local and national audiences.”
And while Cambridge Film Festival’s 40th edition may be on hold, Tony Jones & Matthew Webb from Cambridge Film Trust are confident AMPLIFY! can more than fill the void, stating:
2020 would have marked the 40th Cambridge Film Festival and it is only right that during these times we are working, side by side, with our friends FilmBath, Brighton CINECITY, Cornwall Film Festival to offer an exciting film experience for you all. We hope to see you at AMPLIFY!
THE FULL PROGRAMME, AND BOOKINGS ARE AVAILABLE VIA WWW.AMPLIFYFILM.ORG.UK AND THE FOUR PARTNER WEBSITES NOW.
AMPLIFY! WILL BE AVAILABLE TO STREAM FROM 6–22 NOVEMBER
