Northern Lights Film Festival set to shine

Feb 13 2010 by Sam Wonfor, The Journal

And in a twist worthy of The Apprentice, the event will also see the culmination of a challenge set for professional and student advertising teams to reinvent Whitley Bay as a Hollywood location.

Meanwhile an all-week Sci Fi Night event, at the Centre For Life in Newcastle, will offer visitors a night at the Planetarium, finding out how media technologies are used to communicate the excitement of science, the life of an astronaut and the wonder of other worlds.

They will also get to see the classic 1950s disaster movie, When Worlds Collide before setting off a UFO lantern into the night sky.

Organisers say that through a mix of events, film screenings and soup sessions, leading risk takers and mischief makers from the worlds of advertising, film, games and science will explore various topics – with opportunities for those in attendance to question, challenge or take part.

Altogether there will be 16 films and 21 screenings (some of them in out-of-venue locations to be confirmed) made up of premieres, previews and just plain old good cinema.

A short film programme is also present and correct, and will accept submissions until Monday.

And this is to say nothing of the participatory sessions, talks, censorship debates and workshops.

Lisa Laws, programme director at NLFF, said: “This year’s festival boasts a rollercoaster ride of events that will grab people’s attention and make them experience an emotional reaction whether excitement, fear, sadness, hope, horror or joy.

“Each day of the festival will deliver a chance to listen to tales about different parts of the industry and gain fascinating insights.”

Carol Bell, head of programme development at culture10, added: “The Northern Lights Film Festival has historically attracted a lot of visitors to the region as it is a unique and challenging event that pushes boundaries and questions ideas.

“The programme for this year’s festival will bring together different art forms and has something to appeal to everyone – whether it’s film, people, music or technology that they are most interested in.”

Northern Lights Film Festival 2010 forms part of NewcastleGateshead’s world-class festival and events programme managed by culture10.

For more information, the latest programme updates and to book places at Northern Lights Film Festival, visit www.nlff.co.uk.