By David Hennessy
Ealing Film Festival returns this week.
This will be the fifth annual festival.
The festival was established to shine a spotlight on new filmmaking talent in the place that is celebrated as the birthplace of the British film industry.
The world famous Ealing Studios produced dozens of classic movies over the years, including the well known Ealing Comedies.
Ealing Film Festival grew out of the local dismay that Ealing, which has such a rich celluloid history, did not have a single cinema at one time.
Since its launch in 2020, the festival has aimed to celebrate that history while also giving new filmmaking talent a platform.
This year the festival received a record number of entries from both the local area and around the world. They range in genre and from student work to accomplished professionals.
The programme for this year’s festival includes the Irish short film Hometime from Jonathan Lambert.
There is also the Northern Irish film The Last Fare which stars Seamus O’Hara of the film An Irish Goodbye.
The well known actress Amanda Redman joins the panel of judges. Amanda is well known from films and TV programmes like Sex Beast and New Tricks.
The panel of judges also includes multiple BAFTA winner Jezza Neumann.
The Irish World sponsors an award at this year’s festival.
The festival takes place at Ealing Picturehouse, Ealing Project, and ActOne Cinema.
The festival also screen some of their most artistic entries in the Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery and for the benefit of filmmakers who can’t be there in person, they show the Official Selections online via their Vimeo channel.
Festival co- founder and co- director Peter Gould told The Irish World: “This all started five years ago when a number of us were dismayed by what was then a complete lack of cinemas in our part of west London.
“We were saying it was a shame that Ealing, which has such a fantastic place in the history of British cinema, didn’t have its own cinema.
“We said, ‘Shouldn’t it have some kind of film festival to help celebrate this wonderful heritage?’”
Plans for their first festival in 2020 would be scuppered by the pandemic. While the celebration went ahead, it would have to take place online.
It was in 2021 that Ealing Film Festival could hold its first in person events with people experiencing watching films on the big screen.
By 2022 the area would have their new cinemas.
“For the first time we were able to go into a ‘proper’ cinema and we have been growing ever since then.
“Having started in a fairly small way, we have reached the point now where this year, we had 458 entries for the festival from all over the world.
“The majority were from the UK, quite a few local entries from the Ealing and west London area but films literally being submitted from the other side of the world, more than 40 countries this year.
“It has grown every rapidly, quicker than we anticipated to be honest and clearly now we’re in a position where we have a lot of films coming in every year and the main challenge is trying to find a way to screen as many as we can in the cinemas and venues we have.
“This year we will be screening almost 100 films in various venues over the course of our festival week.
“The quality of the films is really quite astonishing.
“We’re blown away every year by the imagination and the skills of the film makers
“People who have come to the festival have been knocked out by the quality of the films.
“Our objective with the festival is to provide a platform for people who would really love to pursue a career in film.
“If we can do that, we can build on this amazing legacy we have in Ealing.”
Festival Director Kevin McGrath told The Irish World: “This year the festival has gotten even bigger and better.
“Every year it has grown and, obviously, every year we want to keep it growing and becoming even more significant.
“Everyone knows Ealing Studios, everyone knows Ealing comedies so Ealing Film Festival immediately has recognition and that is on a global scale.
“This year we’re getting the best part of 500 entrants from all around the globe.
“We have been able to grow the festival so much quicker because there is already a sense of recognition.
“One of the things we’ve been able to do this year is bring on someone like Amanda. Again it enhances the reputation and the credibility and that’s so much better for people who are submitting their films because they want them to be judged by people who are in the industry.”
Kevin McGrath was also executive producer on the Oscar, BAFTA and IFTA- winning short film, An Irish Goodbye.
“Where we want to be in five years’ time is that we’re recognised as a film festival and that our prize winners have a route through then to the BAFTAs and to the Academy Awards and, in Ireland, the IFTAs.
“That’s important to us.”
“We also want to encourage and be a route for those young, aspiring film makers who really don’t have the connections or don’t have the finance but have a passion for films, we want to give them a route into the film industry.”
Ealing Film Festival takes place 25- 30 November.
For more information, click here.
