Chichester Cinema at New Park

The 19th Chichester International Film Festival:
August 19 - September 4 2010








The 18th Chichester International Film Festival is a TRIUMPH !


Chichester Cinema at New Park brought its 18th International Film festival to a glittering conclusion with a gala screening of ‘Dorian Gray’ directed by Oliver Parker and starring Ben Barnes and Colin Firth. A total of 77 films and documentaries were shown, often to sell out auditoriums. In addition to this the cinema hosted several post film question and answer sessions with luminaries of the world of cinema, directors, producers and cinematographers, whose work was screened during the festival.

These included Bernard Rose (The Kreutzer Sonata); Billy Williams (She Who Would be Pope, recently rediscovered and re-mastered since it was first shown in the early 70's), Ken Russell (Gothic) who paid tribute to the late actress Natasha Richardson and David Hare who was guest of honour at a retrospective season of his major films: ’Licking Hitler’ and ‘Plenty’ among others.

Artistic Director, Roger Gibson, and his management team were congratulated for having masterminded this year’s notable success that was all the more remarkable for a small cinema with a seating capacity of 114 seats. UK premieres were also plentiful during the festival with ‘I am from Titov Veles’, ‘(500) days of Summer’, ‘31North 62 East’ and 'Dorian Gray' drawing particular attention and commendation.

The Chichester audience always gets a vote to choose the best film of each year's festival. Last year saw 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' taking the accolades, this year, it was a beautiful French film called 'Seraphine', closely followed by 'The September Issue' and 'The Crimson Wing'.

The open air screening of 'Oklahoma' in Chichester Cathedral’s grounds was well received by an audience of over 500 people, and now looks to be one of the highlights of the Chichester calendar.

For the first time this year, there was a Surprise Screening on the final Saturday evening of the Festival. Close to a full house turned out, and it was not until the title was beamed up on the screen that the audience knew they were witnessing a special preview screening of ‘Julie & Julia’… needless to say, everyone was happy with their gamble.

This Festival could not have taken place without the invaluable support of Screen South, Chichester City Council, Chichester District Council, West Sussex County Council, and of course the wonderful volunteers who are always willing to lend a hand.

In the words of one of this year’s patrons: "Chichester Cinema is a small cinema with a mighty spirit!"







You can click on the Festival Banner at the top (the one with the bird) to see 2009's films.