Beeston Film Festival has qualified for accreditation by the British Independent Film Awards which acknowledges the role it plays in supporting British short films. The festival, now in its 8th year, took place in The Arc Cinema Beeston earlier this month bringing a diverse collection of short films to the silver screen.
The BIFA status will mean that filmmakers can now be considered for a British Short Film Award if they submit their work to the festival. Submissions for the festival traditionally open in May and are reviewed until late Autumn by a team of local and international volunteers.
The achievement will also mean that the festival will attract new and exciting filmmakers from all over the world. Beeston Film Festival already has an international audience with over 700 submissions from filmmakers in Peru, Iceland, America and Iran.
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The accreditation is the result of hard work from a dedicated team of reviewers, programmers and volunteers from all over Nottingham. The review team watched an estimated 140 hours of short films in the run-up to this year's event.
Founder John Currie said: "What it means to get on that accredited list is that British filmmakers selected for Beeston Film Festival, because of our selection process will mean that they can be considered for the British Short Film Awards. When it comes to filmmakers, especially those working with short films, they are trying to develop a reputation and see how well their work has been received. It makes Beeston really attractive to filmmakers because you can then put yourself forward."
He added: "We started off with 140 entries in our first year and now we have over 700. It's not just the amount that increases but quality too. We screened 130 films but there were another 150 that we could happily have shown if we had time. We are hoping the impact on the festival will be to make it more appealing to British short filmmakers but also those making films of high quality."
This year's festival saw over 130 films screened at The Arc Cinema. As well as the screening, the festival awards filmmakers with a prestigious B'Oscar award which are made locally by an artist. There are 17 different B'Oscars up for grabs which are then sent across the world to countries such as Peru, Israel and Germany.
John said: "We had over 140 hours of reviewing done as a team which is the core of what we do. It gives us credibility and integrity as a festival. The nominations for the awards go to an international panel of filmmakers across the world including France, America, Taiwan and India. Our award selection process has a sense of diversity, a local and global aspect. If you win a B'Oscar then you should be rightly proud."
The festival will soon open again for submissions and return to Beeston in April 2023. Preparations are already underway for the tenth anniversary of the festival.
"We are still in the process of reviewing this year in terms of what went well and what we can do better. I'm hoping even more filmmakers are in attendance next year. The thing we are looking forward to the most is starting to prepare for 2024 when we are going to include feature-length films for the first time. It's going to be a really exciting experience for everybody."
