Hebden Bridge Film Festival
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
Hebden Bridge Film Festival has announced its 2023 programme and it is absolutely stacked with international stars, UK Premieres and hits fresh from world renowned festivals such as Cannes, Sundance and Toronto.
Running from 24 – 26 March, highlights of the festival this year include Q&A screenings of British action comedy Polite Society billed as “the feel-good hit of this year’s Sundance festival”, and Lyra, an emotional portrait of Belfast journalist Lyra Mckee, who was shot dead in 2019 while covering a riot in Derry.
Acclaimed BAFTA-nominated drama Blue Jean – about a lesbian P.E. teacher forced to live a double life due to Section 28 – screens with a Q&A with actor Kerrie Hayes and producer Hélène Sifre, plus Catherine Lee and Sarah Squires, who inspired the story.
There’s a dash of Hollywood in the form of Zach Braff’s A Good Person starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman. While other international titles are led by Hassan Nazer’s Iranian drama Winners, which took home the Audience Award at Edinburgh International Film Festival.
If that wasn’t enough, there is also a documentary masterclass, Hebden Bridge Film Festival’s annual Short Film Competition, and a short film and Q&A from festival patron Maxine Peake. Plus, attendees can sup Vocation Brewery’s ‘Hope and Resistance’ pale ale – brewed especially for the festival.
