Forum Cinema Hexham is delighted to be re-launching Tyne Valley Film Festival, their community programmed film festival which will bring together rural films clubs, venues, and community organisations for a 10-day celebration of film.
Between the 18th-27th March, 35 screenings will take place across 17 unique venues in the Tyne Valley, with a truly diverse range of films spanning the entire history of cinema, from pre-sound classics to new releases, and everything in between.
The eclectic community chosen programme includes films from 12 different countries as well as films dating back to 1912 right up to 2022! Tyne Valley Film Festival offers you the chance to both support your local film club and experience some of the best films from around the world.
Participating venues
Led by the Forum Cinema Hexham, Tyne Valley Film Festival is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network. Further support comes from community organisations including: Hexham Town Council, Hexham Book Festival, Queens Hall Arts Centre, Northumberland National Park, Hexham Community Partnership, Queen Elizabeth High School, Hexham & District Photographic Society, Hexham Town Twinning Association, Hexham Local History Society, Chrysalis Club Tynedale, Core Music, Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership, The Vault, Hexham Community Centre, Nordic Voices, South Tyne Cinema Circuit, Wylam Community Cinema, Forum Books, Corbridge Film Nights, Allendale Film Club, RCCS Community Cinema, Slaley Film Club, Feel Good Friday Acomb Film Club, Tarset First Thursday Films and Newbrough Film Club.
There will be screenings every day at Forum Cinema Hexham throughout the festival, but Tyne Valley Film Festival also spans the entire Tyne Valley. From Ryton to Haltwhistle, screenings will take place in unique locations including: The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre, Hexham Abbey, Forum Books (Corbridge), The Vault (Hexham), Queens Hall Arts Centre (Hexham), The Old Booking Hall (Haltwhistle Train Station), Wylam Institute, The General Havelock (Haydon Bridge), Ye Olde Cross Inn (Ryton), Tarset Village Hall, Slaley Commemoration Hall, Acomb Village Hall, Newbrough Town Hall and Hexham Community Centre.
Festival highlights
Opening the festival at Forum Cinema Hexham on 18th March is a ‘party screening’ of David Byrne’s American Utopia. The concert film will be screening simultaneously in the Forum’s auditorium and Café Bar, with audiences encouraged to come and go between the two as they like, providing a unique and immersive cinematic and musical experience.
On the 19th of March, there is a screening of the 1925 silent classic, The Phantom of the Opera, accompanied by a live organ score from Jonathon Eyre inside the historic and beautiful Hexham Abbey. Directed by Rupert Julian, and based on a novel by Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera stars Lon Chaney, in one of his most grotesque performances as the crazed man without a face, who lives in the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera, and falls in love with the voice of a young opera singer.
Then, on 20th March, Forum Cinema Hexham are shining a light on the life and career of the first female filmmaker, Alice Guy-Blaché, with a screening of documentary Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache, followed by some of her short films from 1912-1916. Narrated by Jodie Foster, Be Natural investigates the full scope of the life and work of cinema’s first female director, screenwriter, producer, and studio owner Alice Guy-Blaché.
To celebrate 1900 years since the building of Hadrian’s Wall, on both 20th and 27th March, join the Northumberland National Park team at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre for a screening of archive film, The Living Wall, which depicts life on Hadrian’s Wall in 1970s, followed by a guided walk along the wall itself. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about one of the North East’s greatest historical assets and experience some of the best countryside the region has to offer.
On the 23rd of March Hexham’s Queens Hall Arts Centre are screening a series of short films starring the legendary Buster Keaton accompanied by a live piano performance.
On 26th March, the North East Film Archive team returns to Forum Cinema Hexham with Hexham on Film, an unmissable presentation of archive films and clips of and about Hexham and Tynedale. This fascinating presentation features familiar places – and maybe even faces – from a century of local film history.
Throughout the festival, from 18th-27th March, you can watch Jean-Luc Godard’s seminal French New Wave classic, Breathless, from the comfort of your own home on Forum Cinema’s online streaming platform, Forum Cinema at Home. Visit athome.forumhexham.com for more information on Forum Cinema’s exciting new online streaming platform.
David Nixon, Manager of Forum Cinema Hexham and Founder of Tyner Valley Film Festival, says: “After the uncertainty of the past two years, we’re delighted to be relaunching the festival in March 2022.”
“Our mission at the Forum is ‘to create community through film experiences’ and Tyne Valley Film Festival really encompasses that. We are proud to be able to support all of these great film clubs and community organisations to help them bring the best films from around the world directly to rural communities across the region.”
For the full programme visit: www.tynevalleyfilmfestival.com or pick up a programme from Forum Cinema Hexham
