Celebrating films from home and abroad, Bolton Film Festival acts as an amplifier of emerging and established talent. Through its industry talks, masterclasses and networking sessions it aims to break open the door to a creative industry that many people find difficult to access and navigate.
The festival is a BIFA and BAFTA Qualifying short film festival and a Creative England CE50, it has been consistently voted a "Top 100 reviewed" festival from over 10000+ worldwide on FilmFreeway since inception.
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Creative England CE50
"I planned on staying for one day and I ended up staying for five. The quality of films, industry talks and networking is all exceptional but what really makes Bolton special is the friendly and welcoming vibes from everyone.
Cannot recommend this festival enough!"
Joseph Walker (Director)
The festival team seems to be made up of the kind of people who make a positive difference and impact in other people's lives. Seeing the film festival basically take over the entire city was inspiring. Screens everywhere! I connected with a large number of filmmakers on my few days in Bolton.
Ryan Mekenian
Director
Simply one of the Best Indie Film Festivals in the world! Great film selection, competent jury, great organisation and most importantly- big enthusiastic audience. I'm really honoured that my film was
finally accepted to this festival and even won an award!
Dusan Kastelic
Director
You can see all the hard work that goes into every aspect of the Bolton Film Festival, from the fantastic range of talks and masterclasses, through to the high quality film screenings. The programme is packed full of choice, and you'll wish you could clone yourself so you could attend everything on offer!
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Andrew Muir
Director
Competition
The festival is competitive with awards for the films and film-makers across 20 disciplines including the categories International, UK Shorts, Documentary, Animation, Comedy, Horror, Women in Film, Dance, Music and Fashion.
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We also have dedicated strands for students at undergraduate and postgraduate level offering an even playing field for all the competitors.
Industry Talks
Our industry talks come from talent that's both behind and in front of the camera. We invite award winning writers, producers, directors, location production crew and post production specialists to share their knowledge alongside potential film funders and partners.
We host Q&A's with all our film-makers after each screening inviting the audience to delve deeper into the making of the film and the creative decisions they see on screen.
Fantastic Festival, super supportive of filmmakers. Great communication and the first festival which has contributed to childcare costs so I could not only attend my screening on opening night but also so I could speak specifically about my film and my career as a part of their programme. I see this festival going from strength to strength each year.
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Tessa Hoffe
Director
Such a wonderful festival to be part of. Not only a very high quality of films programmed but the amount of industry events going on across the three days was incredibly impressive, a filmmakers dream.
A festival that will no doubt expand in the coming years in duration and prestige.
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Stefan Georgiou
Director
This is a fabulous festival, so friendly and welcoming. It’s like hanging out with old friends! They have an eye for picking a beautiful variety of captivating shorts from across the globe. We were honoured to attend the whole festival! Brilliant industry program runs alongside the Festival which is worth checking out! It’s only their second year but you feel as if they’ve been running for years! Thoroughly recommend!
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Karen Newman
Producer
