Folkestone Calling: We’ve rebranded!
We’re thrilled to unveil our brand new identity. While we haven’t forgotten where we came from we understand many of you didn’t know in the first place. That’s why we’re no longer Hellfire Film Festival, we’re now Folkestone International Film & TV Festival.
Why the name change to Folkestone?
We’ve had a lot of comments over the past couple of years. The comments included “Where is Hellfire?” and “Are you a horror film festival?”. The name ‘Hellfire’ actually comes from the area around Folkestone and Dover which, during World War Two, became known as Hellfire Corner. While we’re proud of the historical significance of our little corner of England we appreciate that, unless you’re local to Folkestone or have a strong knowledge of England in the Second World War, the Hellfire name would mean nothing to you.
We also wanted to show people how proud we are of our town by including it in our name. It is an amazing place to live and work, there are so many places to go to and things to do. Folkestone is a hive of creativity. Our ethos is promoting, showcasing, supporting and empowering your creativity. It was inspired by the many events, organisations and people in Folkestone who share our spirit.
New name, new logo
What would a new name be without a brand new fancy logo? The logo represents the world-famous railway viaduct that dominates Folkestone skyline as it reaches out across the valley. The gold, black and white colour scheme remains the same as our old brand, some things we like to keep.
Did I see something about Television?
You will notice we’ve added TV to our name, this is to reflect where we want to take the festival. To date we have launched and hosted several small events but we like to dream big. We are planning a major annual multi-day event from 2022 that celebrates the very best in film and television.
The Folkestone Short Film Festival will be incorporated into the major event from 2022 but its format will remain the same.
Obviously due to the pandemic all of our events are either on-hold or taking place remotely but we hope this will change in the new year. We are looking forward to bringing you the Hellfire HORRORfest which was postponed (we’re keeping that name). The Folkestone Short Film Festival (formerly Hellfire Short Film Festival) is currently accepting submissions for the 2021 event. You can submit your short film via FilmFreeway here.
More information about the major event will be announced in due course. In the meantime feel free to check out the rest of the website to find out a little more about us.
Support us
In fact only 25% of our expenses are covered by the submissions fees and we don’t sell tickets for the Folkestone Short Film Festival, it is a free-to-attend event. This means that the vast majority of the costs are borne out of the organisers’ pockets.
It is especially difficult in the current climate with the pandemic closing theatres and our events have been severely affected by the restrictions imposed by the Government.
As such we are always looking for likeminded individuals or organisations to help us out, be it financially or offering their services and expertise for free.
