Belfast Film Festival

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The Belfast Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes places in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Co-founded in the mid-1990s by former Provisional Irish Republican Army member Laurence McKeown,^[1] it was originally held as part of the West Belfast Féile an Phobail but became a citywide event in 2000.

Two weeks after the 2004 event, the festivals offices in Donegall Street's historic North Street Arcade were decimated by fire. Despite losing their base, entire history and all their records the festival recovered and was able to stage the event again in 2005.

The 2005 festival was held from 7 April to 16 April. Opened by local actor Stephen Rea, the festival featured screenings including Bullet Boy, Les Choristes and Palindromes. Jonathan Caouette hosted a workshop about the making of his film Tarnation, which was the festivals closing night screening. A strong emphasis is put on showcasing the work of local film makers.

Later in 2005 the festival hosted two drive-in cinema nights as part of the Belfast Festival at Queens.

The 2006 festival featured premieres of locally made features GuinnessSize Me, Wilderness and The Secret Life of Words. The festival also featured the inaugural Maysles Brothers award for best documentary feature. The award was won by Kim Longinotto.

In September 2006 the Festival organised an event called 'The Hills are alive', an outdoor film screening at Belfast Castle on Cavehill.

The 7th Belfast Film Festival opened on March 23 with the premiere of Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute. Guests included Oscar winning actress Julie Christie presenting her new film Away From Her. Other festival guests included Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey and screenwriter Jimmy McGovern.

The 8th Belfast Film Festival is due to take place on 10 - 19 April 2008, and will host over 120 screenings, workshops, discussions, masterclasses and special events in a 10 day period. The festival also holds an international documentary competition - Maysles Brothers Documentary Award and a national short film competition - Jameson Short Film Competition in association with Kodak.

The festival takes places in various venues around the city including the Strand Cinema, the Waterfront Hall, the Culturlann Centre, the John Hewitt Bar, Queen's Film Theatre and the Black Box. For six years the festival has hosted the Belfast World Pong Championships.