FHODS Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard Live Performance

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Hot on the heels of their sublime production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, the Folkestone-Hythe Operatic & Dramatic Society are back on stage again this September with ‘Sunset Boulevard’.

FHODSAndrew Lloyd Webber’s award-winning masterpiece, Sunset Boulevard, based on Billy Wilder’s legendary 1950 film, comes to Folkestone’s The Tower Theatre in a stunning new FHODS production.

In her mansion on Sunset Boulevard, faded, silent-screen goddess, Norma Desmond, lives in a fantasy world. Impoverished screenwriter, Joe Gillis, on the run from debt collectors, stumbles into her reclusive world. Persuaded to work on her ‘masterpiece’, a film script that she believes will put her back in front of the cameras, he is seduced by her and her luxurious lifestyle. Joe becomes entrapped in a claustrophobic world until his love for another woman leads him to break free with dramatic consequences.

With its much-loved score including Sunset Boulevard, With One Look and The Perfect Year, this new production promises to be a spectacular event!

Stalls
Adults £18 | Concession £16 (over 65s) | Under 18s £12 | Family ticket £55 (2 adults & 2 under 18s)
Gallery 
Adults £16 | Concession £14 (over 65s) | Under 18s £10 | Family ticket £50 (2 adults & 2 under 18s)

Suitable for 12+

The Tower Theatre, Folkestone

Performances
Friday 16th September 7.30pm | Saturday 17th September 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Thursday 22nd September 7.30pm | Friday 23rd September 7.30pm and Saturday 24th September 7.30pm

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Folkestone Short Film Festival 2022 – The Results

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The results are in! We are delighted for two reasons, one, we can announce the winners of the Folkestone Short Film Festival 2022 and we can also announce that this is the LAST festival to be held behind closed doors. That’s right, next year we’ll be back before a live audience!

After 12 months and the second largest number of submissions we’ve ever received here are the results of the Folkestone Short Film Festival 2022.

Folkestone Short Film Festival 2022 Results

BEST DIRECTOR

Eben Skilleter
“Archie’s Last Drive”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

“The Last Torment”
Director of Photography: Andrew Jay
Directed by Gareth Frederick Repton

BEST STORYLINE

“The Infectious Imagination of Henry Bramble”
Written and directed by Derek Boyes

BEST SOUNDTRACK

“Johnny Spittoon”
Written and directed by Neil Whitman

BEST ACTING

Robert Donald
in “Archie’s Last Drive”
Directed by Eben Skilleter

BEST EDITING

“It’s Not Safe Outside”
Edited by Gaz Evans
DIrected by Stephan Bookas

BEST FILM

“Archie’s Last Drive”
Directed by Eben Skilleter
Written by John Suriano & Eben Skilleter

 

A huge congratulations to our amazing award winners and commiserations to those who didn’t win in the end. To everyone who made it to Official Selection you will get a free waiver code for the next festival and we hope to see you in person next year.

Roundup

A real mixed bag this year but Eben Skilleter’s “Archie’s Last Drive” takes home three awards, Best Director, Best Acting and Best Film. FIFF regulars will remember Eben Skilleter from his 2018 Hellfire Short Film Festival entry, Brian and the Grim Reaper, which made it to the semi finals losing out to eventual Best Film winner “All in a Day’s Work”. We were really pleased with the quality of submissions this year and it made our job of judging them so very difficult. Each and every filmmaker who submitted should be proud of themselves even if they weren’t selected. Also a huge thank you those who tuned into our livestream to watch the short films with us.

Next Up

The call for submissions for the 2023 Folkestone Short Film Festival opens on Monday 1st August 2022. This next festival will be a public event (finally!) and we hope to see as many of you as possible attend. Details will be announced in due course.

Folkestone Short Film Festival 2022 Official Selection

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This year we received over 700 submissions from 84 countries. Whittling these entries down to 16 was no small feat but here we are. We are delighted to announce the official selection for the Folkestone Short Film Festival 2022.

Last year’s bar for excellence was set so high and would have been incredibly difficult to beat. However we feel that this selection, for what will be our final year as an online-only event, is possibly our best yet.

Without further ado, here is the Official Selection for the Folkestone Short Film Festival 2022.

Official Selection

(In order of submission date)

Squatch Man (Directed by Hannah Mae)
In Isolation (Directed by Edmund C. Short)
The Infectious Imagination Of Henry Bramble (Directed by Derek Boyes)
Boredom (Directed by George Bartlett)
Backseat Driver (Directed by Jake Balfour-Lynn)
Cheat Code (Directed by Daniel Elkin)
Slice of Adventure (Directed by Justin Ethington, Jordan Carney & John McKeon)
It’s Not Safe Outside (Directed by Stephan Bookas)
Road Trip (Directed by Natalie A. Evans)
Chapel of Rest (Directed by Iain Cash)
The Last Torment (Directed by Gareth Frederick Repton)
Hi John (Directed by Jordan Pitt, Sinitta Monero)
Archie’s Last Drive (Directed by Eben Skilleter)
Johnny Spittoon (Directed by Neil Whitman)
Dig Boy Dig (Directed by Andrew McCann)
Ainsworth (Directed by Sam Blake Talbot)

Congratulations to everyone whose films were selected and commiserations to those who weren’t. If you get in touch with us when we launch next year’s call for submissions we’ll send you a discount code for your next submission.

As previously stated this is the last year without a physical event so on the day (Saturday 30 July) the judges will be either meeting in person or via Zoom and watching all the short films together. You can also watch the short films at the same time here. We’ll then discuss each film and decide who will be our 2022 winners. The winners will be announced at 22:00 on 30 July.

New Venue for next year

It’s been negotiated, agreed and confirmed we will have a venue next year <*Collective whooping*> More information will be announced when we announce the launch of the 2023 edition.

 

Best of luck to all of the amazing filmmakers out there as we return to normality following a tough couple of years.

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest

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Not strictly film-related (although it was adapted into a film in 1952, 1992 and 2002) but we are delighted to help promote the upcoming FHODS production of The Importance of Being Earnest at The Tower Theatre this May.

FHODSThe Folkestone-Hythe Operatic & Dramatic Society (FHODS) is an amateur dramatics organisation based at The Tower Theatre in Folkestone. They perform plays and dramatic performances throughout the year and the shows are almost always sellouts! So, if you’re a fan of live theatre and Oscar Wilde this is the perfect show for you. There are five performances of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, starting on 11th May.

Get your tickets here today before it’s too late!

 

About The Play:

Oscar Wilde described this as “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People” and FHODS is proud to present his stylish and much-loved masterpiece.

Two eligible young bachelors meet the girls of their dreams.  But … they will only marry someone called Ernest – and neither of the young men are!  Add the surprising appearance of a handbag and Oscar Wilde’s sparkling dialogue, and you have a timeless play that has never lost its appeal or its comedy.

Ticket Prices:

Stalls
Adults £15 | Concession £13 (over 65s) | Under 18s & Full time students £12

Gallery 
Adults £13 | Concession £11 (over 65s) | Under 18s & Full time students £10

Dates & Times:

Wednesday 11th May @ 7.30pm
Thursday 12th May @ 7.30pm
Friday 13th May @ 7.30pm
Saturday 14th May @ 2.30pm
Saturday 14th May @ 7.30pm

Doors open one hour before the performance

Venue:

The Tower Theatre
North Road
Shorncliffe
Folkestone
Kent
CT20 3HL
[View on Google Maps]

 

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Folkestone Short Film Festival Winners

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After what turned out to be yet another disruptive year, we are delighted to announce the 2021 Folkestone Short Film Festival winners.

We had hoped that, after a year to forget, 2021’s festival would be a great way for us to return to normality. Alas, it was not to be. For the second year running the Folkestone Short Film Festival was held behind closed doors. This year’s festival was the most difficult we’ve hosted and tinged with disappointment because we couldn’t host it in front of a live audience. However, we are eternally grateful for the messages of support and goodwill we’ve received from so many people. We will strive to ensure the 2022 festival will be the best yet and you are all invited!

So, without further ado, after 12 months, 100 submissions from 28 countries, 17 shortlisted and one big day, here are the winners of the 2021 Folkestone Short Film Festival.

Folkestone Short Film Festival 2021 Winners

Best Director

Laurent Ardoint & Stephane Duprat
“The Killer in Cursed Water” / “La Tueur du Lac Maudit”
(France)

Best Cinematography

“The Boy and the Mountain” / “El Niño y la Montaña”
Santiago Aguilera, Gabriel Monreal
(Chile)

Best Storyline (Writers)

Pablo Aguirre, Santiago Aguilera, Kulie Trupp & Gabriel Monreal
“The Boy and the Mountain”

Best Soundtrack

Nathan Sellam & Stephane Duprat
“The Killer in Cursed Water”

Best Acting

Gabrielle Chabot, Thomas Grascoeur, Marine Toulet & Stella
“The Killer in Cursed Water”

Best Editing

“The Boy and the Mountain”
Santiago Aguilera, Gabriel Monreal

And the big one…

Best Film

“The Killer in Cursed Water”

Laurent Ardoint & Stephane Duprat

Two films really ran away with it this year, a first for our festival. A huge congratulations go to the cast and crew of the two films. Also congratulations to the cast and crew of the fifteen other selected films who unfortunately did not pick up any awards.

The persons who submitted the two winning films will be contacted in due course to arrange the delivery of their trophies.

We would like to wish one of our regular judges, Frank Jakeman, our very best wishes after he recently underwent major surgery and thus was unable to judge this year’s event.

Submissions for the 2022 Folkestone Short Film Festival will open on Sunday 1st August at 12pm BST via FilmFreeway.

 

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Official Selection for the Folkestone Short Film Festival 2021Folkestone International Film & TV Festival

Official Selection for Folkestone Short Film Festival 2021

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We are delighted to announce the Official Selection for this year’s Folkestone Short Film Festival.

It has been a very tough couple of years and we had hoped to provide you with a physical event but unfortunately for logistical, financial and safety reasons we are unable to do that. So, for the second year running instead of a physical event, the whole festival will be held remotely. The official selections will be screened to the judges (and you here) who will individually watch the films and take notes. We will then meet via Zoom and collectively select each winner. (See here for more information).

The Official Selection

So, without further do we are delighted to announce that, after the most difficult selection process we’ve undertaken due to the highest standard we’ve ever witnessed, the following short films have been selected for the Folkestone Short Film Festival 2021.

Another Day by Stuart Black & Satinder Gill (United Kingdom)
Barry by John Robert Brown (Ireland)
Explorers by Borja Escribano (Spain)
Good Tidings by Gerry Jenkinson (United Kingdom)
How Can I Forget by Natalia Andreadis (United Kingdom)
Little Things by Tom Grace (United Kingdom)
Losing Grace by Athena Mandis (United Kingdom)
Oldbone Alberto Armas Díaz (Spain)
On My Own by Kristian Young (United Kingdom)
Snake Oil by Remy Archer (United Kingdom)
The Boy and the Mountain by Santiago Aguilera & Gabriel Monreal (Chile)
The Killer in Cursed Water by Laurent Ardoint (France)
The Rape Clause by Jared Watmuff (United Kingdom)
The Recycling Man by Carlo Ballauri (Italy)
The Woman of the House by Felipe Espinosa (Spain)
When You Left by Emilie K. Beck (Norway)
Wooden Character by Robert Duncan (United Kingdom)

An Honourable Mention

Although not selected the following short film deserves an honourable mention.

Dementia: The Island Journey by Rianna Patterson (United Kingdom)

For more information about the above short film please visit their Facebook page.

 

Congratulations to all the people involved in the above short films.

The winners will be announced on Sunday 25th July 2021 at 12:00 GMT (05:00 PT, 08:00 ET, 13:00 BST)

FSFF19 Covid-19

Folkestone Short Film Festival Update

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Due to the extension of the Covid-19 restrictions in England until 19th July, we have made the difficult decision to make the Folkestone Short Film Festival on 24th July a closed-door event. 

Although we didn’t want to do this we were left in an impossible position by the restrictions as we couldn’t realistically and affordable host a socially distanced event at the venue.

Instead of a physical event we will be, for the second year running, hosting the event remotely.

The official selections will be sent to the judges who will individually watch the films and take notes. We will then meet via Zoom and collectively select each winner.

The winners will be notified on 25th July 2021.

We thank you once again for your understanding during these unprecedented times and we hope we can see you in person as soon as possible.

Cinema seats

Hellfire Short Film Festival 2020 – The Winners

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The 2nd Hellfire Short Film Festival took place on 4th July under unusual circumstances. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic we made the difficult decision to change how this year’s festival took place.

Read more

HSFF Announcement

Hellfire Short Film Festival 2020 Update

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We apologise for being silent over the past week, this is due to our servers being compromised. No sensitive or personal information was stolen but it did knock out all email and internet services until today including access to our website. Read more

The Family – Hellfire@Home

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While all cinemas and theatres in the UK are closed due to the lockdown we will be watching movies and theatre performances from the comfort of our living rooms. We’re happy to say that on Saturday 9 May we will be watching The Family.

As part of our new remote festival, Hellfire@Home, we will share links to various movies and theatre performances so we can all watch them together at home. The next film we will be watching is Goodfellas an amazing movie from 2013 directed by Luc Besson.

“The Family” BBFC 15

Saturday 9 May 2020, 8pm

Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Robert De Niro
Released: 2013
Genre: Crime Comedy

Synopsis:
The Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to Normandy, France under the Witness Protection Program, where fitting in soon becomes challenging, as their old habits die hard.

How to watch The Family

Join the discussion

During the movie we will be chatting in the Hellfire Film Festival Facebook Group. Click here to join. We will also be on Twitter throughout. Join the Twitter discussion by using the hashtag #HellfireAtHome.