The East End Film Festival is one of the biggest film festivals in London. Taking place annually in various venues throughout East London, the festival "showcases hot new talent and homegrown films alongside larger independent releases and special events, informing and inspiring a new generation of filmmakers and audiences from across London and beyond, and raising the profile of this vibrant and diverse area - London’s East End."[1] To this end, the festival screens UK, Eastern European, and Asian independent features each year, along with hundreds of short films from up-and-coming filmmakers.
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The East End Film Festival started in 2001. Originally set up by the East London borough of Tower Hamlets as a platform to recognise local filmmakers, its initial success led to a partnership in 2003 with neighbouring London Borough of Hackney, London Borough of Newham, the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and the Raindance Film Festival which ran Raindance East as part of the official selection. As a result of this partnership, Raindance took over the festival from 2003 to 2005 at which point it became Raindance East [2], but returned to its original East End Film Festival state in 2006.
In 2006 the East End Film Festival opened with the London premiere of actor Richard E. Grant's directorial debut Wah-Wah. Not only did Richard E Grant attend the gala premiere, he also acted as the festivals Director In Residence, and took part in a Q&A session introducing a special festival screening of Robert Altman's 1975 masterpiece Nashville. Producer In Residence Stephen Woolley also took part in a Q&A following a special festival screening of his acclaimed film The Crying Game.[3]
The 2007 festival opened with the world premiere of With Gilbert And George, a moving portrait of Spitalfields-based contemporary artists Gilbert And George, followed by a Q&A with director Julian Cole. The 2007 programme also included a sneak preview of Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten plus a conversation with the film's director Julien Temple. Nitin Sawhney, musician and patron of the festival, said: "Having been a patron of the festival for four years, it’s been really rewarding to watch the festival grow, reflecting the creative explosion that’s happening in east London at the moment." [4]
The festival opened in 2008 with the London premiere of independent British feature The Waiting Room. The film's director Roger Goldby said "I am absolutely thrilled that we have been selected for the gala opening night screening. It’s a great way to introduce The Waiting Room to Londoners, as the East End Film Festival is such a vibrant and creative event."[5] Roger Goldby and lead actor Ralf Little attended the opening night premiere along with other VIP guests. The screening was followed by a party at Beach Blanket Babylon in Shoreditch. Other highlights in 2008 included a programme of films exploring teenage angst (including two earlier films starring Oscar nominated young actress Ellen Page), a selection of new British features, films from Eastern Europe, as well as a vast collection of shorts.[6]
In 2009 the BBC Film Network said "as in previous years, we can expect a satisfyingly diverse lineup of films and events at various venues across East London. The programmers have focused on films which portray aspects of East End and multicultural London life."[7] The Evening Standard newspaper flagged up British filmmakers Nicola and Teena Collins debut film The End, City Rats, Elevator, Junior Eurovision Song Contest documentary Sounds Like Teen Spirit, discussion panel The London Perambulator, and 3-D cinema event Another Dimension And How To Get There as highlights.[8] There was also a screening of Not In Our Name at Amnesty International's Human Rights Action Centre.[9] The 2009 East End Film Festival trailer[10] was directed and designed by Lucy Izzard, an annimation director and illustrator at Slinky Pictures, and featured a variety of comic characters visiting various festival venues such as RichMix, the Whitechapel Gallery, and the Genesis Cinema. In 2009 the festival incorporated almost 200 screenings and events, and broke all past festival records as audiences rose to over 30,000.
The 2010 East End Film Festival took place 22–30 April 2010[11] Actress Jaime Winstone was announced as a new festival patron for 2010[12] The full programme was announced at an event at The Brickhouse in East London on 23 March 2010 by festival director Alison Poltock [13] The festival kicked off on 22 April with a preview screening of Barney Platts-Mills' cult 1969 film Bronco Bullfrog, set in Stratford, East London and starring local kids, prior to its re-release this summer[14] Highlights included Mark Donne's The Rime of the Modern Mariner, narrated by musician Carl Barat[15]; SUS, based on the 1979 play about Margaret Thatcher's "stop and search" laws by Barrie Keeffe; and a series of events commemorating Rock Against Racism, the grassroots movement against the National Front in the late 1970s[16] There was also a free screening of Alfred Hitchcock's classic silent film The Lodger in Spitalfields Market, accompanied by an improvised soundrack performed live by Minima[17]
This year East End Film Festival will celebrate its 10th Anniversary, with the festival running 27 April to 2 May 2011. The full programme will be announced on 29 March 2011.
Each year the festival hands out awards on the festival's closing night. These include:
Oscar winning director and festival patron Danny Boyle said "I always film in the East End when I can. I love it. The area really hasn’t properly been explored, both visually or culturally and it needs to be represented more. Festivals like the East End Film Festival make people more aware of the area, and that’s a good thing." [18] The current patrons of the East End Film Festival are: