Film fest knows its purpose and its audience

With the increasing number of film festivals around the country, you have to do something special to be heard above the noise – and you have to be pretty special to survive beyond the first decade.

That the Leeds festival has made it to a quarter of a century is the reason that Chris Fell, the man in charge, sounds so confident about the success of the event which comes to the city next month.

“A lot of festivals are now part of the UK film scene, but what is really important is that they are sustainable and that they have a purpose,” says Fell, director of LIFF.

“Hull does it well – it screens short films and the Sheffield Doc/Fest has a very clear purpose – they both have strong reasons for being a part of the UK festival scene, but a lot of festivals spring up without having thought about their purpose, the reason they exist. If the organisers haven’t thought about that, then they struggle to find an audience and struggle to carry on after the first few years.”

No such problems for LIFF.

The 25th festival, the biggest public film festival in England outside of London (Sheffield Doc/Fest is bigger but is aimed primarily at the industry), is in a healthier state than it has perhaps ever been in its history – ironic, given the perilious state of the UK film industry, with the doomsayers warning about the bad times to come in the wake of the cutting of the UK Film Council earlier this year.

“It has been a weird time for production of British films and I think the main problem has actually been in terms of the communication about what will happen to production and funding now,” says Fell.

“But in terms of exhibitions – that is, showing films – we are in quite a healthy position and with films like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Wuthering Heights, the talent is clearly there, so I don’t think the future is as gloomy as some people are saying.”

Fell cannilly mentions Wuthering Heights as it is the film the festival has managed to bag as its opening night screening.

Shot in Yorkshire by director and indie film flavour of the month Andrea Arnold, featuring unknown Leeds actor James Howson, it is the perfect movie to open the festival on November 3.

It received high praise at the Venice Festival for a retelling of the Emily Bronte classic that is as bold and daring as it is unusual.

Shot by an indie director, largely on hand-held cameras, however, it begs the question is it as grand a film to open the festival as last year’s offering The King’s Speech?

“It is perfect. It was shot in Leeds, we’re expecting most of the Leeds cast and crew to attend the screening, it is a story that is completely linked with Yorkshire – we thought it would be a great film to open the festival with,” says Fell.

“Also, don’t forget, before The King’s Speech became the major success it was, it started out as a relatively small film and it wasn’t that well known when we screened it as our opening night gala film last year.”

The closing film is another impressive coup, the new film from artist-turned-director Steve McQueen, whose new film Shame is screened at the closing gala of the festival on November 18.

Featuring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, it is the follow-up to McQueen’s debut film, Hunger, which marked an impressive debut.

The festival, however, is not about the big films with impressive names. It is about movies that, as Fell says, “audiences won’t see at the local multiplex”.

He adds: “The reason we have been successful is because we have been able to build a loyal audience that comes back every year.

“We listen to our audiences and we also carry out research with people who don’t come to the festival, to find out how we can get them here. Our audiences trust is. For most of them, the only place they will be able to see the films we screen are at the festival – they won’t make their way into mainstream cinemas. It means there has to be a real trust between us who are programming the festival and the audiences who are coming because they trust our choice.”

As with every year there are different strands to the festival, with the Official Selection standing alongside Fanomenon featuring ‘genre’ films, Cinema Versa, featuring documentaries, Short Film City and Cherry Kino, where audiences can see the best – and strangest – in experimental films.

A budget of £220,000 helps make the festival a success year on year, which last year attracted an audience of 30,000 and this year expects close to 40,000.

Fell says: “Over 25 years the audiences have steadily built which means, while we do receive funding from the council and we used to receive money from Screen Yorkshire, we rely on ticket sales to fund the festival and, because we attract such a large audience, we are able to bring in sponsors.”

Highlights of the 25th LIFF

Premieres: Heat Wave: a simmering drama of intersecting lives in a French town.

Involuntary: A dazzling and original black comedy from Scandanavia.

New Jerusalem: A soldier returning from Afghanistan is befriended by an evangelical Christian.

The festival programme is launched tonight at Leeds Town Hall as part of Light Night, with a screening of Sir John Betjeman’s A Man Goes North, a Quay Brothers film and Nosferatu 6pm to 11pm.

Leeds International Film Festival, Nov 3-20. Tickets and passes on 0113 224 3801. Info at www.leedsfilm.com