Last weekend The Kino Cinema Rye hosted the first annual Rye International Film Festival or RIFF. The three day event saw visitors from far and wide as well as local film buffs.
The director and producer of ‘Wander’ traveled to Rye from the South West of England to see their film on the big screen, and they said : “What a fantastic place for a film festival, all of the components are perfect, the town and the venue are ideal – we’ll definitely book a hotel next year and stay the whole weekend. The industry line-up is impressive too”.
Several local visitors came and enjoyed RIFF and were keen to see the festival back next year, saying what a terrific opportunity for local film fans and that the business RIFF could bring to the town would be most welcome.
Saturday’s masterclass ‘Music in Film’ with local award winning film composer Michel Duvoisin and film director Marc Isaacs was very well received and a valuable resource for local aspiring film composers and directors.
The RIFF industry panel were: Ben Roberts, Head of the BFI Film Fund ; Matimba Kabalika from the BFI NET.WORK which supports new and emerging talent ; Jo Nolan from Screen South ; Local filmmaker Nichola Bruce ; Producer Ashley Luke and Director Julia Stovell.
We had full houses for the RIFF panel Q and As on Sunday afternoon with part one geared towards young or up and coming film-makers and part two geared towards more experienced filmmakers. For information on opportunities for young filmmakers please keep an eye on the RIFF website www.ryeiff.com or look up Screen South and the BFI Film Academy.
Rye Studio School students were given work experience opportunities with RIFF; Poster designed by Callum Inskip, Programme and certificates by India Schermuly-Lewis, RIFF title sequence was shot and edited by Jake Bowers (media teacher), Dominic Buxton and Abigail Webb, Social media contributions from David Swarbick and Abigail Webb and last weeks Rye News article was written by Izobelle Fleckney and Mia Eccles-Jones. The RIFF team would like to thank all that were involved from The Studio School, with special thanks to staff members Karena Callen and Jake Bowers.
RIFF Awards:
Best Sussex and Kent Student Short – David Swarbick – The Rye Wurlitzer Academy
Best Sussex and Kent Short Film – Cheryl White – Before Babel
Best Short Film – Lifelines – Jane Dyson
Audience Award – The Flock – Dr. Christopher Morriss – Roberts.
We had several offers from local artists to contribute to next year’s festival, as well as members of the public who had ideas for next year’s RIFF. We welcome suggestions and to join our mailing list or discuss RIFF in anyway please email festival@kinodigital.co.uk
Festival Director Hayley-Marie Axe said : ” I am delighted with the success of the first RIFF and look forward to the next one”.
Source : RIFF
Photos: RIFF