Cameras, action! How we won starring roles (From Worcester News)

Cameras, action! How we won starring roles

3:10am Saturday 14th November 2009

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A NUMBER of sites in Worcestershire will get a starring role in a forthcoming film festival.

Several films have been shot across the county in recent years, from British romantic comedy Faintheart to revenge thriller Straightheads starring Gillian Anderson of X Files fame. A selection of them will soon be shown on the big screen as part of Screen WM’s Festival of Film.

The festival, which runs from this Monday to Sunday, November 29, will see 12 different films screened at eight venues across the region. The aim is to celebrate the West Midlands’ film-making heritage.

On Tuesday, Justin Edgar’s Special People will be showing at the Courtyard in Hereford. The heart-warming movie about disability was filmed on the Malvern Hills. It premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2007 to critical success.

Faintheart, the movie made by users of website Myspace and filmed at various locations across Worcestershire, will be screened at the Birmingham AMC Cinema next Saturday. Parts of the British comedy, starring Eddie Marsan and Jessica Hynes, were shot at Nunnery Wood School, Worcester, and the Sutton Arms Pub, Kidderminster.

Straightheads, a thriller starring Anderson which was partly filmed in the Wyre Forest, will be shown in Shrewsbury.

The Festival of Film features titles that have been inspired by, produced, or filmed in the West Midlands in conjunction with Screen WM’s Film and Media Production Fund.

All the screenings are free of charge and some will also include special question and answer sessions with the writers and directors.

Dr Samir Shah, chairman of Screen West Midlands board, said: “The Festival of Film is a great opportunity to celebrate the region and our film-making heritage.

“All the films in our programme have either been inspired by the West Midlands, shot on location in the region, or written and directed by our home-grown talent. We hope that the Festival of Film will give people another opportunity to enjoy these exceptional films that all have their roots in the West Midlands.”

For more information, visit screenwm.co.uk/festival-of-film-2009.

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