This weekend Rye will be hosting Rye International Film Festival, RIFF. This excellent festival will be taking place from December 11-13 and will be held at the Kino Cinema, showing the top short films submitted from all over the world. However not only will guests be able to watch these short films, but there will also be free workshops for children and young film makers or more experienced people who want to be film makers.
The festival kicks off on Friday with welcome drinks and snacks at the Kino from 6:30pm and the first screening will begin at 7pm with a one hour screening of the judge’s favourites. Among the films will be Fifth Continent, a documentary about Romney Marsh and the surrounding area. Come along and vote for your favourite of the judges’ picks. An audience award will be announced on Sunday.
The audience vote and opinion gives an excellent opportunity for all professional and student film makers in Sussex, Kent and surrounding areas to bring more attention to themselves and their work. Submission for Sussex and Kent films was free of charge encouraging local film makers to get their work out there. By doing this, RIFF is helping link Rye and its community to the outside film world.
Continuing on Saturday, the day will begin at 9:30am with a kids film workshop for ages 5 and up, this workshop will continue until 11am. At 12pm a 1.5 hour screening will be followed by a short break before A Music In Film Masterclass with award-winning local film composer Michel Duvoisin and film director Marc Isaacs begins at 2pm.
They have both been kind enough to give their time to participate with RIFF. The workshop will go on until 4pm and the next set of films will be shown at 4:30pm until 5:30pm.
Last but not least, Sunday will commence at 11:30am with the final screening and at 2pm, there will then be an industry panel workshop. The panel includes Ben Roberts and Matimba Kabalika from the British Film Institute (BFI) academy, Jo Nolan from Screen South, Julia Stovell, Nichola Bruce and Ashley Luke.
The first hour workshop is for young and up and coming film makers and will show how to get short films funded and screened and many more opportunities. The next workshop will start at 3pm for progressing professional film makers from shorts to features and will include subjects such as funding bigger budget shorts, to the transition from short films to features.
RIFF welcomes visitors of all ages and all workshops and screenings will be free. Many people have helped enable RIFF to happen including students from Rye Studio School who have created the RIFF logo, poster flyer and programs. Be sure to come along to any of the day’s events and get involved.
The overall local winning short films from the East Sussex and Kent student category and the East Sussex and Kent Professional category will be shown alongside commercial releases at the Kino Cinema Rye from the festival until Christmas. See you there.
Images courtesy Rye Studio School