Wigan and Leigh film festival to celebrate 10th anniversary in style

The 10th edition of Wigan and Leigh Film Festival will take placeover two nights at Leigh Spinners Mill on September 15 and 16, and once again film buffs will be treated to a bumper crop of cinema.

In excess of 25 films will be shown during the event and organisers are particularly keen to highlight the international nature of the festival. Submissions being received from across Europe and as far afield as Iran and the USA, along with the quality of short film being sent in for consideration continuing to grow.

For the second year in a row the film festival will take place on the fourth floor of Leigh Spinners Mill in Leigh Film Society’s purpose-built, 115-seat independent community cinema.

Wigan and Leigh Film Festival chair Paul Costello said: “The first short film festival was in September 2014 and was set up to support local film-makers. It’s hard to believe we are now 10 festivals on and will be screening this special anniversary event in our own cinema at Leigh Film Factory.

“The annual short film festival remains run entirely by volunteers and not for profit which makes us stand out against other festivals around the country.

“Every year the quality and submissions increase, making it very difficult to select the finalists and winning films. This years line-up promises to be a great two-day event with many outstanding short films.

“The films this year have come from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iran, Germany, United States, Mexico, Turkey, Sweden, Russia, New Zealand and Canada. It is great that the festival attracts such interest from around the world.”

Five awards will be given out, with prizes for the best animation and documentary as well as the best film by a young film-maker and the overall festival winner.

A total of 28 films will be screened over the two nights, from offbeat comedies to sombre dramas. A huge range of subjects are covered including office politics, cancer and grief, social issues around poverty and disadvantaged communities and problems facing refugees.

As the country still proudly reflects on England’s Lionesses heroics at the Women’s World Cup there is even a film about women’s football in the line-up.