Best of local film industry set to be showcased at festival event

The Wolverhampton Film Festival showcase will bring the best filmmaking from the city to the Wolverhampton Literature Festival in a celebration of the city and the creativity of people within it.

The event on Sunday, February 4 will see some of the best independent films featuring Wolverhampton or made by Wolverhampton filmmakers, as well as allow people to network with other film industry members and inspire ideas for their own projects.

It will be the second year the showcase has taken place at the Literature Festival and co-organiser Arun Kapur said he and his colleague Gurjant Singh had learned that there was a lot of support for the industry in the city.

He said: "What we learned from year one was that there's a lot of support in Wolverhampton and this is a city that does thrive on the sense of filmmaking and the film industry, so there was a lot for us to build on.

"We saw how much love there is for the creative scene in the city as it is such a creative city and somewhere that has been under-utilised for a fair bit now, but there's a lot going on based on the turnout we had last year."

Mr Kapur said the city was a great place to make films as it had a lot of locations and buildings which could be used to make films and celebrate the diversity of the city.

He said: "The whole essence of this event and of the film festival is to amplify Wolverhampton as a filmmaking city and to be able to amplify what can be utilised within the city in the buildings and the countryside.

"There's a mixture of everything as you've got a bit of old school and it covers everything that you would need as a filmmaker."

Films being featured at the showcase will include "The Sikh Soldier" by Sky Cheema and "Dog Run" by Lorna Nickson Brown, with other films set to be announced in the next week.

Mr Kapur said it was an honour to be part of the festival for another year and said he hoped it would help bring more support for the film industry in Wolverhampton.

He said: "This year's event is more about Wolverhampton and about getting more support for the independent film industry, so I'd like it to be able to create an equal playing field and ensure all people can have the same opportunities."

The Wolverhampton Film Festival showcase takes place on Sunday, February 4, starting at 6pm at the Arena Theatre.

To find out more, go to wolvesliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/wolverhampton-film-festival.html