Brighton's Film Festival

It seems like everywhere you look these days, a new film festival has sprouted up. Many non-film industry people see this with some skepticism, as they can appear to the outsider as elitist gatherings for press and 'business' people. The reality is that there are almost as many types of festivals as festivals themselves, from huge international, celebrity-studded events like Cannes to small, local affairs like our own CINECITY.

Given the amount of films released around the world each year, often festivals are the only place for films to be shown, and the circuit serves as a secondary form of distribution, giving access to audiences to films that some companies feel they can't make a profit on.

CINECITY is a hybrid of types of festival. We have some celebs (Nick Cave), we have some previews of big films (MICMACS, A PROPHET) but we also have moving image (Mark Lewis), short films, local filmmakers, director and place-specific strands of programming. It's open to the public and because it doesn't get the attention that something like the London Film Festival, it means there are more tickets available for our customers.

I think the more film festivals the better. If you're lucky enough to live in a city like Brighton, with a fantastic showcase of cinema like CINECITY - don't take it for granted and come see a load of films!