This year's Salford Film Festival - the fourth to be held in the city – has been heralded an outstanding success, attracting more than 2000 people over the five days of exclusive screenings at venues including Salford Arts Theatre, The Lowry, Islington Mill, The Pie Factory and the Old Salford Cinema.
The Regional Premiere of Joy Division: the Documentary drew over 250 people to the Vue Cinema at Salford Quays, where former band member and New Order bassist, Peter Hook held a Q&A session after the film.
Still on a musical theme, Stella Grundy’s “expanded” remix of the acclaimed NICO ICON PLAY filled Islington Mill to capacity; regaling audiences with tales of glamour and success, seediness and excess, from the downwardly mobile life of the former Velvet Underground singer. A black comedy in film, theatre, and song, it featured a special guest appearance from 60s cult legend Arthur Brown.
Eastenders star Stephen Lord returned from Walford to Salford to premiere his challenging, blackly-comic Dogma-style documentary, It’s Not The End of The World, to a full house at Salford Arts Theatre. Also in attendance, actress Elaine Cassidy, and the film’s “star”, outspoken and eccentric ecological property developer Mark Linley Evans.
The festival was also delighted to present Lindsay Anderson’s “lost” film, The White Bus, scripted by Salford-born Shelagh Delaney. Shot on location in Salford in 1967, the film was nevertheless showing here for the first time. Film buffs came from all over the North West, but the screening was also a grand reunion for former pupils of Pendleton Girls’ Grammar School in Salford, who had featured as extras in the film, which they had been waiting forty years to see.
The big screen stars of tomorrow, drawn from within the local community, made their dramatic debuts in the World Premiere Screening of The Tally at mediacity:uk's Pie Factory venue, while mediacity:uk itself was subject of a keynote conference which brought Industry professionals and members of the public together to discuss the significance of the new Quayside development as an international hub of creative talent.
Special Guests Filmonik, Girls On Film, and Comma presented new work, some of it specially commissioned for the festival, and there were healthy audiences for the shorts programmes as well as for the screenings of much-loved regional classics, family-friendly comedies, and material from the North West Film archive. All of which suggests that Salford audiences are keen to experience the latest cinematic innovations, while celebrating the city’s rich cinematic history.
The festival wrapped up with a party at Islington Mill which featured a selection of the best short films, and live sets by cult heroes The Detour and current indie favourites The Ting Tings.
Commenting on the event, festival director Mike Knowles said: "It's been another great year proving not only the scope of creative talent in the city, but also that the people of Salford are really passionate about having a film festival. We hope the festival will go from strength to strength in the future."