Film / Features
Bristol Best of 2016: film events
1. Bristol Film Festival
Not so much a festival as a series of ambitious events – including two full programmes of horror movies in spooky Redcliffe Caves and a screening of The Medusa Touch in Bristol Cathedral, where it was shot. Owen Franklin and his team have established themselves as a welcome new addition to Bristol’s expanding event cinema scene.
www.bristolfilmfestival.com
is needed now More than ever
2. Bristol Sunset Cinema
Social media is awash with data-mining frauds claiming to run outdoor cinema events, but Bristol Sunset Cinema actually delivered with six diverse screenings at Ashton Court – including more Goonies than is safe for human consumption. Busy mainman Ti Singh’s other venture, Bristol Bad Film Club, also enjoyed a bumper year.
www.facebook.com/BristolSunsetCinema
3. Wildscreen
Every couple of years, Wildscreen treats us to the best in natural history filmmaking from around the world. But this year was special because so many of the winners of 2016’s Panda Awards were from round these parts. No fewer than eight were dished out to Bristol filmmakers, underlining the city’s reputation as ‘Green Hollywood’.
www.wildscreen.org
4. Everyman opens
Originally opened way back in 1921, the historic Whiteladies Picture House had been forlornly boarded up for 15 years, with various development schemes coming to nought. Then, finally, the independent Everyman chain restored the building sympathetically and reopened it as a luxury three-screener back in May.
www.everymancinema.com/bristol
5. John Carpenter at the Colston Hall
There was no shortage of great film and music events in Bristol this year, from The Godfather Live to the George Fenton Planet Earth concert. But nothing could beat legendary horror director John Carpenter’s crowd-pleasing sell-out performance at the Colston Hall in October as part of Simple Things festival. A cracking audio-visual show, this delivered virtually all the film scores we craved, plus material from his Lost Themes albums.
Read our review here
Top photo: The Medusa Touch
Read more: Bristol Best of 2016: films