Banbridge takes part in world’s largest free film festival

Banbridge is one of the towns taking part in this year’s Into Film Festival which will see thousands of young people enjoy the magic of cinema from November 6-22.
The Into Film Team Nichola Clarke, Matthew Sharpe and Lorraine MageeThe Into Film Team Nichola Clarke, Matthew Sharpe and Lorraine Magee
The Into Film Team Nichola Clarke, Matthew Sharpe and Lorraine Magee

There will be four screenings including Missing Link at the FE McWilliam Gallery and The Kid Who Would Be King; The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Spider-Man: Far From Home at the Banbridge Omniplex. It is one of 20 towns across Northern Ireland taking part in more than 80 separate events.

Sean Kelly of Into Film said: “Last year we had more than 12,000 young people participating in the festival and this year we expect it to be even bigger!”

The festival will launch this year with the new climate change documentary 2040 in the Queen’s Film Theatre and Newcastle Community Cinema.

The first film aimed at young audiences to offer a hopeful response to youth ‘eco-anxiety’ will play simultaneously at cinemas across the UK and will include support from celebrity guests and a network of Greenpeace speakers. The screenings are being supported by Greenpeace and Unicef.

All screenings are specially chosen by education charity Into Film to allow teachers to address a host of themes and topics across the curriculum and pupils are encouraged to enter the annual Into Film Festival film review writing competition to promote literacy through film.

The Into Film Festival, hosted by film education charity, Into Film is supported by Cinema First and the BFI through National Lottery funding and backed by the UK film industry. It is notably one of the biggest, free cultural events of the year and is curated for UK pupils aged 5-19 offering over 3,000 film screenings and speaker events covering a vast range of curriculum-linked topics.

The Into Film Festival 2019 will take place from November 6-22. All events and screenings are free. For programme information, to sign up for priority bookings, book tickets and download resources visit: www.intofilm.org/iff19bookings