Derby Film Festival 2019 announce films and special guests
Derby Film Festival 2019 – Films, special guests and events announced
Taking place 14th to 18th November and now in its sixth edition, Derby Film Festival 2019 features special guests, one-off events and film previews in their new festival programme. This includes a huge selection of brand-new films from many genres, boasting more than eighty films from seventeen different countries, screening at the venue over five days.
The festival has confirmed that this year’s special guest will be film director Ken Loach. A significant figure in the film industry for the over the past fifty years, Ken Loach will open the festival with a Q&A and screening of his new film Sorry We Missed You. Following on from the Palme D’Or winning, I, Daniel Blake, Sorry We Missed You is a topical look at the zero hours contracts culture, shining a spotlight on the working class and those lost in the injustices of the system.
Rigorously researched via off-the-records interviews, Sorry We Missed depicts the ruinous cost of zero-hours contract with gut-wrenching honest and integrity. A furious and heart-breaking film, it offers a rigorous and damning critique of our unequal system; showing how it unscrupulously exploits people, especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and robs them of dignity, agency and hope for change. Ken Loach Q&A plus Sorry We Missed You (15) takes place on Thursday 14th November from 6:00pm. Tickets for this one-off event are £15 or £14 concessions.
Derby Cathedral will host a one-off screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s silent classic Blackmail with a live score composed and played by Neil Brand. Neil Brand is the UK’s most acclaimed silent film accompanist, who appears at film festivals and special events around the world, as well as BBC 4 presenter with his hugely successful programmes Sound Of Cinema, The Music That Made The Movies and Sound Of Song.
A highpoint of Alfred Hitchcock’s early films and his last silent film, the seminal thriller Blackmail is a rich evocation of London Life in 1920s. Blackmail (PG) with Live Score by Neil Brand screens at Derby Cathedral on Friday 15th November at 7:00pm. Tickets for this one-off event are £13 or £11 concessions. Neil Brand will also be in QUAD to lead a workshop on Scoring Music to Silent Film on Saturday 16th November at 12 noon.
The full Festival film programme includes twenty-six brand new feature films and over fifty short films from across the globe including New Zealand, Italy, France, Canada and Iran.
An Opening Night Preview is the new Australian film Judy And Punch, a visceral and dynamic live-action reinterpretation of the famous 16th Century puppet show. Starring Mia Wasikowska, writer-director Mirrah Foulkes turns the traditional story of Punch and Judy on its head and brings to life a fierce, darkly comic and epic female-driven revenge story. Judy And Punch (15) screens on Thursday 14th November at 8:50pm
Madness In The Method (Preview) was shot on location in Hollywood and Derby (with a cameo appearance from QUAD itself). Written and produced by Derby’s own Dominic Burns, it’s actor Jason Mewes’ directorial debut. The story follows legendary stoner and actor - Jason Mewes. Tired of Hollywood’s perception of him and on advice from his best friend Kevin Smith, Mewes tracks down a secret method acting book to reinvent himself as a serious actor – with disastrous consequences… Madness In The Method (advised 15) screens on Saturday 16th November at 6:15pm
The Wedding Present: Something Left Behind (Preview) is the definitive story of a record that has been labelled the ‘greatest break-up album of all time’. Exploring music, obsession, love, loss and fading youth over the thirty-year lifespan of The Wedding Present’s much-heralded debut LP, ‘George Best’. The films’ Director Andrew Jezard will also be present for a post screening Q&A. The Wedding Present: Something Left Behind (certificate to be confirmed) + Q&A screens on Saturday 16th November at 6:30pm.
The Biggest Little Farm (Preview) is an environmental documentary about John and Molly Chester, a Los Angeles couple give up city life to buy a farm, following their dream of growing every ingredient they might want to cook with. Motivating, enlightening and entertaining, the film balances one family’s personal story with the practical ups and downs of starting a sustainable, biodiverse farm on land that has been stripped of nutrients. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Jamie from the Down To Earth Project plus special guests, to discuss implementing sustainability in Derby and beyond. The Biggest Little Farm (PG) screens on Friday 15th November at 6:00pm.
Ordinary Love (Preview) stars Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville as Tom and Joan, a married couple with an easy relationship and a depth of love which expresses itself through tenderness and humour. When Joan is diagnosed with breast cancer, the course of her treatment shines a light on their relationship as the pair face the challenges that lie ahead and the prospect of what might happen in the future. Ordinary Love (certificate to be confirmed) screens on Sunday 17th November at 2:00pm
There will be a chance to see many of the short films selected from an international submission, screening before the features and as a full day package on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th November. Derby Film Festival’s sister festival Paracinema will be presenting films that span the genres on the outskirts of cinema. The genre-defying ‘Paracinema’ refers to a wide, seemingly disparate collection of films outside the mainstream.
Adam Marsh, Derby Film Festival Director and QUAD Cinema programmer said “We are really honoured to welcome Ken Loach this year as our special guest. Derby Film Festival 19 yet again presents a fantastic selection of films – from the sublime to the eclectic. There is an excellent range of films representing all corners of the globe; from the ground-breaking and thought provoking and to the funny, subversive and above all some excellent entertainment.”
Anwen Hurt, Derby Film Festival Patron added “I’m really looking forward to coming back to the Derby Film Festival. It’s always such a pleasure and this year there are some amazing new feature films that I haven’t see yet, as well as over 50 short films. It’s going to be a great festival!”
All Film tickets, other than those for special events, are £9.50, £7.00 concessions. Tickets for 16-25 years old are £3.50 (subject to availability). Derby Film Festival Passes are available allowing entry to all screenings and events across all five days of the festival, priced at £50, a Festival Day Pass allows entry to everything on any single day of the festival, priced at £20.
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