This summer has heralded a bright new future for the creative community of Preston. Across two days – Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 June – filmmakers and film enthusiasts alike packed into The Ferret in the heart of the city to celebrate the inaugural weekend of the North West Independent Film Festival.
Founder Martin Law – who set up the festival to fill a “cultural gap” in Preston’s movie-making scene – introduced the slew of shorts, submitted by filmmakers across the UK, which spanned genres and feelings, from heart-warming and humorous, to the uncomfortable and the absurd.
Day one was a smorgasbord of unique and deftly-crafted works; not shying away from hard topics, but equally unafraid to revel in the humour and lightness of darker moments. Kicking off the entire festival was the animated short Gorilla, Filmmaking – a satirical take on the bureaucratic restrictions facing crafts-people in the industry – by director Ellie Larkin, who travelled from Liverpool to see the film in NWIFF’s opening line-up. In Gone Fishing, a quiet day by the river turned into an opportunity for vulnerability between two friends bonded by a shared grief, a subtle yet poignant film about masculinity, informed by director Christopher Deakin’s personal experiences with losing loved ones to suicide. The mockumentary format of BUFOSA belied a slightly unnerving look at loneliness and eccentricity; Looking for Alan tenderly examined enduring affection in the face of ageing. Gobstopper, NWIFF’s winner of ‘Best North West Film’, explored a complex mother-daughter relationship amidst themes of addiction and abandonment, while remaining visually colourful and tinged with youthful optimism. Domestic difficulties reached a breaking point in Karyna, a family-made project (the actors proudly in attendance at the screening) from the perspective of a young girl growing up at an intersection of love and violence. Tension coiled tight in MUSH, a Blackpool-based short directed by Olivier Richomme, whose confident use of sound created an uncomfortable atmosphere from its murky beginning right through to its chilling end.
After that – in an appropriately placed 15-minute interval – guests mingled, filled up on popcorn and grabbed drinks by the bar as they ruminated on the films so far, before gearing up for the second act.
An absurd espionage comedy, From Mother, With Love, eased the audience back into their seats, before transitioning into the documentary portion of day one. Awarded the NWIFF prize for ‘Best Documentary Short’, Pegs & Bacon was a delightful look into the life of May, the 84-year-old Yorkshire shopkeeper, whose farm shop remains the beating-heart of her small village. Filmmaker Sarah Nicola Mason hopes that her story “reminds us that even in change, there are constants: community, kindness, and the people who keep us going.” This was followed by UHURU from London filmmaker Olz McCoy, which highlighted the reality of those living with Parkinson’s in Tanzania – its title taken from both the Swahili word for freedom, and the name of Mount Kilimanjaro’s peak where this short was filmed. Next, the deeply evocative visual film, Five Stones, captured through sight and sound the atmospheric environment of the 4,000-year-old Duddo Five Stones in Northumberland. Nature’s splendour spilled over into Marjan – an earthy, empathetic insight into Dutch-born sculptor, Marjan Wouda, living in the oldest house in Darwen and drawing upon the local landscape and folklore to craft pieces of unique beauty.
These documentaries are emblematic of this fledgling festival’s ability to put a spotlight on local, regional, and global stories, supporting Martin Law’s vision for NWIFF to “create a new, much-needed space for audiences to discover British films” and an environment where artists can share their personal work with others. As a commemoration of their efforts, the filmmakers were each gifted a bespoke tote bag and water bottle.
Rounding out the first day of diverse films was Black Dog by Ed Kirk, a haunting black and white Gothic short, exploring generational trauma and grief in the Yorkshire moorland, which won the NWIFF award for ‘Best Short Fiction Film’.
Day two was similarly stocked with talent, and, despite a backdrop of appropriately northern rainstorms, an even bigger audience gathered for Sunday’s screenings.
Transformation, truth, and survival were the pervading themes of these films, starting with an affecting coming-of-age tale, Crossbar Challenge, about two boys struggling to communicate as they navigate the end of adolescence. Danny’s Song looked at cycles of abuse through the eyes of a young boy who internalises his parents’ violent arguments, making clever use of small spaces to reflect the mental claustrophobia caused by a toxic home life. Rejection and loss of innocence collided in Wuss, a poignant exploration of parental abandonment, with a brilliant performance from Joseph Davison as Zach, who desperately searches for his missing cat. In The Bench, loss and love were wordlessly conveyed by a journey through the woods, emphasising the ability of the wilderness to help us find peace.
After this came a quartet of student films. Following the aftermath of a murder, Scratched Nail focused on atmosphere to evoke an eerie paranoia, before bleeding into the cathartic A Cancer Story from Praveen Zacharias, whose vulnerability shone through in the animated short, which detailed his journey with testicular cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. A particular highlight of the festival, Zacharias’ film embodies the power of cinema to express individual truths which can have far-reaching impacts. Biet (Home) documented the repercussions of displacement on Karam, whose education was cut short by the start of the Syrian war in 2011. But it was Will Stogden who ultimately took home the award for ‘Best Student Short Film’ for his Fire Cat documentary – an emotional and visually rich true story of survival, charting the rescue and recovery of a kitten which narrowly escaped death in a bonfire.
The room’s collective anxiety then spiked with three horrors: Teeth and Rock Paper Scissors Death both infused gore with an unexpected comedy, whilst the quiet terror of Disposable had the audience gripping the edge of their seats. OK/NOTOK cautioned against an over-reliance on technology; a portrait of relationships in the near future, the genre-defying short cut to the heart of modern anxieties around dating amidst algorithm over-saturation.
It was up to Fudge Sundae to close the festival. The dark comedy, starring Outlander alum Ed Speleers, left the audience amused (if not a little grossed-out), as they launched into a delighted round of applause for the whole line-up.
With this triumphant first weekend, the North West Independent Film Festival joins the ranks of important festivals championing film in the north, alongside events such as Blackburn Festival of Film (5-6 July), Wigan and Leigh Short Film Festival (27-28 September), and Bolton International Film Festival (1-5 October). Local film lovers should take heart: Preston is proving to be an exciting hub of talent and enthusiasm for moviemaking, with NWIFF cementing itself as a key facilitator of the growing community of creatives in the North West, its crowd of supporters hopefully growing in years to come.
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