Romford Film Festival Roundup

Between the 19th and the 25th of May, Premiere Cinemas hosted the 6th annual Romford Film Festival. I was lucky enough to be part of the film festival team, participating in the running of the Festival. My main role this year was centred around the bar. Before the festival began I helped curate a number of fun film themed cocktails with Carrie, who is part of the festival's selections committee. Our cocktails sold really well, with many people commenting on the fun drink gimmicks, and it was clear by the end of the festival that our most popular cocktail was 'Every Girl Loves Her Daddy' a Daddy's Girl themed, Whisky based, drink which came with a tiny water pistol. I also  spent most of the festival on the bar serving drinks to all the great attendees and filmmakers, which gave me ample opportunity to make quick conversations with the guests between my drink making. Overall, I had a great time working on the bar and being at the centre of the film festival buzz. 

Another role I took on this year was to write reviews for a number of the festivals wonderful films. This was a fantastic opportunity for me, as whilst I am often part of the festival team, I am given little opportunity to watch the films being shown due to being busy with front of house duties. Over the course of a few weeks I was able to watch a number of thoroughly unique and interesting films. Some which stood out to me were Beats, Venerable, My London Lullaby and Wool, as all of these films were able to provide riveting stories whilst also being extremely visually pleasing. Given that I was working front of house I was also able to meet filmmakers from each of these films, even If it was just a quick hello, which in some ways made my week. The Short Film which really stood out to me this year was Hold Up, which is a truly thought-provoking film that forces the audience to grapple with their own prejudices and preconceptions. Given my general admiration for the piece, I was extremely pleased when it was one of the films to win the audience choice award for Best Short Film. Another film that I was happy to see pick up a number of awards, including Best Feature, was Sweet Disaster. A Film which despite its often depressing themes maintained a continuously optimistic sentiment which highlighted the importance of building a supportive community around you. With its wonderfully creative visuals, I wasn't surprised that it also picked up an award for best Cinematography. Indeed, It was a great honour to review just some of the amazing films that were showing at this years festival. Im grateful that I was able to catch even a few of the films this year, as it allowed me to grasp just how difficult it must be for the selections committee to not only to pick award winners but to whittle down an official selection from a large collection of entries. 

I had a great time at this years Romford Film Festival, from reconnecting with some of our amazing regular attendees to meeting some wonderful filmmakers for the first time, theres no event quite like it. I cant wait for next years festival! 




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