Ramsgate International Film & TV Festival Launched in Cannes  

Reproduced from Britflicks.com  Fri, 03 Jun 2016

The 1st Ramsgate International Film & TV Festival, which will take place from 23 to 26 March 2017, officially launched at the Cannes Film Festival, supported by the Ramsgate Town Team.  The fabulous Royal Harbour was featured on promotional material and the reception was amazing.  Many people had never heard of Ramsgate and the prospect of a vacation in the area encouraged filmmakers to enter their work straight away.  In just a few days, submissions, which opened on May 11th had already come from the UK, the US, Canada, India, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey.  Other countries have since joined the list.

The Ramsgate IFTV Fest is presided by Brenda Blethyn.  It will open with a Gala evening and the screening of the Out Of Competition movie "Leave Now" directed byStephen Frost, entirely shot in the Ramsgate area.
The best works in competition will receive Anchor Awards and the Special Brenda Blethyn Prize will be awarded to the Best First Feature Film.  All features in competition are UK Premieres.  Some celebrities are expected to attend.
 The amazing Anchor statuette has been especially crafted by local sculptor Dominic Grant.  The enclosed picture shows Dominic and the clay prototype.
The competition winners will be also be presented with original works of art by local artists, especially commissioned for the Festival, in collaboration with Ramsgate Arts.



A Youth Challenge will be organised earlier on to develop interest in films and film making in the younger mainly local generation. Each participant will have to write, shoot and edit a 3 mins film from a given title and genre over a set period of time.  During the weeks leading up to the Festival, a dedicated committee will review and select the best films, which will be screened during the Ramsgate IFTV Fest, with generous prizes for the winners. 

In addition to screening films from around the world, workshops and talks by highly regarded industry professionals, will be offered to the public and to visiting/local filmmakers.  Tim Highsted (Senior Editor - Chanel 4) and Codie Entwistle (Film Content Manager - The Vue Entertainment Group) are the first speakers to have confirmed their attendance, as they will participate in a discussion panel about Distribution and new Media.  Other events will be announced at a later date.

A local competition will be launched in July to design the Festival poster.

The Ramsgate IFTV Fest is a great opportunity to increase audience development as local residents will be able to discover new movies they wouldn't normally get the chance to see.  But his festival will also help put Ramsgate firmly on the map and attract more visitors to the area.