2018 Guests and Special Events

According to Wikipedia, Bruce Parry first appeared on television in 2002 in an episode of BBC1's Extreme Lives series entitled Cannibals and Crampons, his TV career coming after a six year stint as an Officer in the Royal Marine Commandos.

Parry was chosen in 2002 to lead the Children's BBC expedition show Serious Jungle, taking four boys and four girls aged 11 to 15 to Borneo to work with orangutans. The show won the 2003 Royal Television Society Award for Best Children's Factual.

In 2004, Parry started filming the prime time BBC2 documentary series Tribe in which he lived with various tribal groups exactly as they do in order to better understand their culture. The first series of Tribe saw Parry living with indigenous peoples in Gabon, India, Indonesia, Ethiopia Mongolia and Venezuela. Two further series of Tribe followed, along with the documentaries Amazon and Arctic.

Tawai – A Voice from the Forest is Bruce's first feature film, giving him the scope to explore more deeply the profound concepts and issues from his earlier travels.

Simon Hunter made his first film, Spaceman, at seven years old. Starring his parents and his dog, the 3 minute film told the story of a spaceman flying down to earth and wrecking havoc on a remote cottage in the Scottish Highlands. Simon then went on to make nearly fifty short films, whilst growing up in Dumfriesshire.

After graduating from Film school in 1993 Simon went on to write and direct a handful of short films - one of which, Wired, impressed British Screen so much that they invested in Lighthouse, a $2.5m feature film. At the Cannes advertising festival in 2001 Lighthouse attracted the eye of Bob Isherwood, the creative director of Saatchi and Saatchi, who selected Simon for the New Directors Showcase. This prestigious honour is awarded to the twenty-five most promising directors in the world. Isherwood admired Lighthouse, saying, "few films demonstrate so clearly how tension gets attention. The tension is dynamic".

In 2016 Simon completed his third feature film, his passion project, Edie which tells the tale of an old lady who heads to Scotland to climb a mountain. The movie was an official selection in the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2016.

Lewis MacDougall made his film debut in 2015 as Nibs in Pan, after attending an open audition in Morningside and in 2016, he starred in A Monster Calls, opposite Felicity Jones and Liam Neeson. In the film, a dark fantasy drama, he plays a boy whose mother is dying of a terminal illness, and who begins communicating with a tree monster seemingly living outside his house.

His talent as an actor has been recognised with a host of award nominations. in 2016, the London Critics' Circle gave him the award for Young British/Irish Performer of the Year and in 2017 he won the Entertainment Award in the Young Scot Awards.

Next, he will co-star in the road trip drama Boundaries, opposite Vera Farmiga and Christopher Plummer, set for release in 2018.

We are so pleased to welcome Anwen back to Keswick, albeit in such poignant circumstances. Anwen first came to Keswick in 2012 in her role as Producer, when she brought In Love with Alma Cogan to the Festival as its opening film. She also brought her husband John and Keswick fell in love with the pair of them. Since then she has had a credit on a number of films that we have enjoyed at KFF such as Peace and Conflict and Chick Lit.

When the opportunity arose to screen That Good Night, John Hurt’s last lead role, we were delighted that she accepted our invitation to introduce the film.

Neil Sinyard is Emeritus Professor of Film Studies at the University of Hull. He is the author of 25 books on film, including studies of directors such as William Wyler, Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, Richard Lester and Jack Clayton. He has also written and provided commentaries and interviews for a number of dvd and Blu-ray releases, including being interviewed for the recent Blu-ray release of Shane. His book on the films of George Stevens is due to be published this year.

We are pleased to welcome Neil back to Keswick. Neil was a speaker at the very first KFF in 2000, where he spoke about Shakespeare in Film. His talk on George Stevens' career is set to be a highlight for cineastes in 2018.

Neil Sinyard on George Stevens - Sunday 25th 3:30pm Studio

Lisi Tribble was born in the USA and was previously married to Ken Russell. She is an actress and musician, known for The Fall of the Louse of Usher: A Gothic Tale for the 21st Century, Boudica Bites Back and Puzzleface.

As with Anwen Hurt, Lisi has a previous connection with Keswick, having accompanied Ken to the Alhambra in 2009, as part of the Film Club's Ken Russell Weekend. It is thanks to Lisi that we are able to screen Clouds of Glory showcasing the best of the county – its landscape, our literary heritage and the amazing characters that make Cumbria their home.

Clouds of Glory - Friday 23rd 8pm, Studio

Patrick Glen is a Postdoctoral Research Associate working at UCL History on the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project 'Remembering 1960s British Cinema-going'. Extensive interviews with cinema-goers from the period reveal much about the importance of film on social attitudes and behaviours at a time when smoking in the Odeon was the norm.

He is the ideal person to set the scene for our screening of Night of the Living Dead.

Scared Stiff in the 1960s! - Saturday 24th 10:30pm, Alhambra

David is the author of 'An A-Z of Cumbria & the Lake District on Film' published by Hayloft in late 2016. After being shortlisted for the 2017 Lakeland Book of the Year Awards, it received a Runner-Up prize in the 'Striding Edge Productions Award for Guides and Places'. His strong interest in film developed during a BA History of Art course at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where he graduated in 2007. He then went on to study Lake District Landscape Studies at postgraduate level at Lancaster University in 2011. All of these subjects combined when researching the films and pieces of social history that were spliced together throughout the A-Z.

He currently lives and works in Cumbria.

Cumbria On Film: An illustrated talk - Friday 23rd 5pm, Studio