Lights, camera, action

It's curtain up for the unassuming West Yorkshire town of Holmfirth as it celebrates its links with the early days of the British film industry. After nine months and a lot of hard work by more than 30 volunteers it is celebrating the magic of cinema and the important part that Holmfirth has played in its development.

Choosing movies outside the mainstream has been a deliberate policy on the part of the organisers, who are all passionate about film and making it accessible to everyone.

The week-long festival starts today, and among the films to be screened are the Oscar-nominated French crime drama A Prophet, the British movie based on Lynn Barber's memoir An Education, artist-turned-director Sam Taylor-Wood's debut feature about John Lennon's early life Nowhere Boy, the chilling German mystery set in a small village just before the First World War The White Ribbon, Swedish horror movie Let the Right One In and a 50th anniversary screening of the classic Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, made all the more resonant now with the recent death of author Alan Sillitoe, who wrote the screenplay for the film based on his own novel.

Stephen Dorril, chair of the festival committee and lecturer in film journalism at Huddersfield University, is one of the key figures behind the venture. "It just seemed obvious to me to have a film festival in Holmfirth because of the Bamforth company and its associations with the early film industry," he says. "So I put a piece in the local paper to see if there was any interest in the idea. Last spring we had a meeting and a number of people came forward which is when we set up the Holmfirth Film Festival Group."

One of the first people to come on board as a member of the group was local filmmaker Tim Copsey. "We discovered that there are a lot of people in the Holme Valley who are connected with the film industry – people who either make films or are involved in film in some way," he says. The group decided to use the festival as a hub to bring like-minded people together with the longer-term hope that there might eventually be a greater recognition of the work of the Bamforths and a more permanent tribute to the company in the town.

James Bamforth started out in the 1870s as a studio photographer before specialising in producing slides for magic lantern shows. The business was extremely successful and a factory was built in Station Road in Holmfirth to cope with rising demand. With the development of movie-making in the 1890s, it was relatively easy for Bamforth to employ his models as actors and use the painted backdrops as film-sets.

A partnership with the Riley Brothers of Bradford led to a catalogue of 15 RAB (Riley and Bamforth) films being advertised by 1903. Many of these were very short, with titles like Boys Sliding and Leap Frog. However, later movies such as Kiss in the Tunnel, in particular, have earned Bamforth a place in cinema history as it contains one of the earliest examples of continuity editing while another, Women's Rights, employs switches in perspective.

Around the beginning of the First World War Bamforth abandoned film-making – almost certainly because chemicals required in film-making were needed more urgently by munitions factories. One of the festival highlights is a day centred on Bamforth's work which will include a special screening of some of the company's silent films and a Victorian Magic Lantern show of the kind presented in public halls and private drawing rooms in the 19th century.

Another main feature of the festival is a short film competition, entitled Beyond the Summer Wine, and the Festival committee have been delighted by the response to their call for submissions. "We have had material sent to us from all over the world and the quality has been very high," says Tim who has been in charge of running the competition and viewing the submissions. "America, Canada, Wales, Turkey and Iran are just some of the countries represented and it is a real mix of genres too – animation, documentary, drama, experimental. We have also had a very good response more locally from filmmakers in the North West, Derbyshire, the Midlands and, of course, Yorkshire." The films will be shown over two days – one day of international short films and another of films made closer to home. The winners will receive "Golden Compos".

Although the short film competition is subtitled Beyond the Summer Wine, the festival pays tribute to the BBC TV series with which Holmfirth will forever be associated, with a rare showing of the pilot episode of Last of the Summer Wine starring Peter Sallis, Bill Owen and Michael Bates. It was first shown as a BBC Comedy Playhouse in 1973 and is not available on DVD.

"The festival will centre on the Picturedrome in Holmfirth which is very appropriate because it was built in 1912 and is one of the early cinemas," says Stephen. "It has been through quite a few changes over the years – like many cinemas it was a bingo hall for a while, but recently it has been very successful as a music venue. We hope that the festival will revive the film side of it. The Picturedrome will be the main venue for screenings and events but we will also be using village halls around the Holme Valley."

Archive films made by amateur filmmakers in the area will also been screened, including movies about Holmfirth in wartime and the winter of 1947 as well as local low-budget features such as Rough Around the Edges, described as a gritty comedy-drama, that was filmed last year on a shoestring in Wakefield, Honley and Holmfirth.

Music is also playing a big part in the festival. "Huddersfield University music department have been composing original soundtracks for silent films," says Stephen. "There are some internationally known composers among them and they have chosen the films they wanted to write a soundtrack to and The Holme Valley Orchestra will be presenting an evening of well known popular film music – all the old favourites such as the James Bond theme, Titanic, Apocalypse Now, Star Wars."

Other highlights include a visit from respected film critic Barry Norman who will be showing clips from his favourite movies and talking about his encounters with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, and a day devoted to Huddersfield's own Hollywood star, James Mason.

The tribute will consist of the presentation of two rarely seen documentaries – a Yorkshire Television film made in 1972 when Mason revisited his home town as well as a 1984 Granada TV interview – and a screening of one of the actor's best movies and finest performances in Nicholas Ray's 1956 film Bigger Than Life, in which he played a small-town teacher whose life starts to unravel when he becomes addicted to the drug cortisone.

"What I love about going to the cinema is the public group experience of it," says Tim. "That collective experience is what makes it special; there's nothing like it."

The festival committee have been conscientious in ensuring that the programme appeals to as wide an audience as possible. "We are all doing it for the love of it," says Stephen.

"We would really like to make the festival a success, so that we can do it again next year."

Holmfirth Film Festival, May 22-29, information and tickets www.holmfirthfilmfestival.co.uk and tel 01484 681388, or www.picture drome.net tel 01484 689759.

YP MAG 22/5/10