Quality screenings guaranteed at 25th Chichester Film Festival

Here, New Park general manager Walter Francisco discusses the 18-day event and the ethos of his cinema.

There is a “nervous excitement” at festival HQ at the moment as the independent cinema gears up for a landmark few weeks, says the man responsible for its everyday running. This will be Walter Francisco’s thirteenth festival, and by now he is well-versed in the dual efforts of trying to coordinate daily operations whilst planning an international event.

“This particular festival has about 140 films, in six different locations, so there is a lot to put together. It’s difficult to get all of that sorted. There is a definitely a buzz around the place, though.”

Indeed, the work burden is significantly lightened by the abundant enthusiasm of Francisco, and the New Park team in general. Festival director Roger Gibson is at the heart of the event, travelling far afield to negotiate with distributors for the right to show new films.

“I let Roger select the films for the festival,” says Francisco, “while I sort the summer and autumn season. He basically says ‘this is what we are showing, deal with it Walter.’ He has a good rapport with all of the relevant people, and can sometimes get screenings and previews a couple of months before they come out elsewhere.”

A good example of this – and of the cinema’s sterling reputation in film circles – was the closing gala at last year’s festival; a film called Two Women, starring Ralph Fiennes speaking entirely in Russian, that still hasn’t been released anywhere else.

“That time Roger went to a film festival in Russia and spoke to a lot of the Russian companies,” Francisco says. “It actually worked out perfectly because Ralph Fiennes came down for the screening, direct from shooting a film in Rome.”

The cinema also counts Maggie Smith as a patron, and Jack Dee has been spotted from time to time – at one point allegedly walking out of Terrence Malick’s spectacular but divisive 2011 film Tree of Life. He wasn’t the only one, to be fair.

On Gibson’s impressive ability to capture exclusive films, Francisco says, “It’s just his negotiating skills: ‘oh please can we show it, come on! It will be in the opening gala, it will be on the front of the programme!’ That sort of thing.”

The appeal of films with limited screenings is obvious. If movies appear solely at New Park, filmgoers will always associate that film with the cinema, and the experience in general. As Francisco says, “people will look back and think, ‘ah yes, we saw that at New Park.”

This year’s closing gala film, UK-Hungarian film The Carer starring Brian Cox, can be filed under this bracket; Francisco says “it probably isn’t going to get too much of a wider release.” In a similar vein, the festival’s surprise film – not announced until the day it is screened – has won the audience choice award twice in recent years, a sign that viewers value a sprinkle of unpredictability amid mass-produced mainstream pictures.

Gibson founded the earliest incarnation of the cinema, the Chichester College Adult Education Film Society in 1979 (the first picture shown was Woody Allen’s Love and Death). When the sole cinema in Chichester, Granada, closed down a year later, the society was the only remaining platform offering movie screenings to the public.

Since moving to their current base at the New Park community centre, the cinema has continued to provide a classy, homespun alternative to the identikit multiplexes seen across city centres everywhere.

The abiding ethos behind New Park, says Francisco, is the emphasis on quality over profile when curating programmes and approaching filmmakers. “We’re here for the films, and we try to choose only what we’d consider to be a quality film. Everything else is just stuff that comes with that.”

Incidentally, the manager believes that this purist approach to cinema may put some younger people off attending screenings at New Park. Francisco admits that the relatively low number of students booking to see films is a “bit of a frustration.”

“Teenagers want that experience that you get down at the multiplex, lining up for the popcorn – it’s all a bit artificial.” Unsurprisingly, New Park don’t sell popcorn, although they do have a bar.

“We try to work with the university (of Chichester), and we have great deals for students, but I think they just prefer the atmosphere at the multiplex,” Francisco adds.

Nonetheless, this year’s festival is selling quickly and promises to cater for a wide demographic. ThisThishisThis weekend alone sees outdoor screenings of Pixar’s Finding Dory, 1853 Wild-West musical Calamity Jane, and the classic romantic drama Casablanca. The first two movies will be screened in Priory Park, while the latter – a special event for the 25th anniversary – is hosted in Northgate Car Park. Francisco proudly states it will be shown on the biggest outdoor screen in the UK.

There were rumours of the cinema hiring roller-skating waiters to top off the recreation of the American drive-in aesthetic, but these prove to be unfounded. “I don’t think Mr. Health and Safety from the council would approve much of that,” laughs Francisco.

Elsewhere, there is a big emphasis on Iranian and Chinese cinema this year. Just as the programme was going to print it was announced that the legendary Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami had died. Three of his films will be shown and Francisco is dedicating the entire festival to him. For a cinema that broadcasts Iranian pictures throughout the year, this is a fitting and poignant touch.

As for the future of New Park, plans and fundraising schemes are afoot to expand to accommodate another state-of-the-art screen – but Francisco would never want the cinema’s intimate, authentic feel to be lost in construction.

“It will have the most modern technology, but we’ll keep the Victorian school building look.”

Programme highlights

Alan Rickman retrospective

As Francisco rightly says, this retrospective was an “obvious choice, for a bad reason.” Paying tribute to the British actor who died earlier this year, the festival is showing seven of Rickman’s films, from Truly Madly Deeply (1990) to Eye in the Sky, from last year.

The former is introduced by film journalist Derek Malcolm, and film historian Philip Kemp gives a talk entitled Alan Rickman: A Much Loved Villain, examining the actor’s career.

Screen times and prices can be found on the festival website.

Special events

Open-air screenings in Priory Park are Finding Dory (Saturday, 8.45pm) and Calamity Jane (Friday, 8.45pm). Casablanca is showing in Oaklands Car Park on Sunday at 8.45pm, with gates opening at 7.30pm.

Chichester Cathedral is an apt host for adaptation of TS Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral (August 25, 9.15pm), while several Laurel and Hardy silent shorts are played to a live piano accompaniment on August 24, 2pm, in the main cinema.

The surprise film of the festival takes place on August 25, 6.45pm.

Iranian and Chinese films

Among the many Chinese and Iranian films broadcast this year, Francisco highlights three by the late Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami - Taste of Cherry (pictured, Aug 12, 4.15pm), The Wind Will Carry Us (Aug 14, 6.15pm) and Ten (Aug 19, 6.30pm) - as must-sees.

Of the Chinese picks, two are new: Mountains May Depart (Aug 26, 3.45pm) and Paths of the Soul (Aug 28, 1pm).

Spring in a Small Town (Aug 12, 1.45pm), meanwhile, was released in 1948. Francisco recommends In the Mood for Love, too, showing on August 21, 9pm.

New UK films

Speed Love (Aug 14, 4pm) is shot in various West Sussex locations: a case of “watching it and going, oh I know that place!” as Francisco says.

He is excited about sci-fi thriller Capsule (pictured, Aug 13, 4pm), too, a UK preview screening. There is a new adaptation of classic children’s novel Swallows and Amazons (Aug 13, 2pm), and an English premiere of The Childhood of a Leader, a gripping psychodrama (Aug 12, 8.45pm).

Hide and Seek, meanwhile, showing on Aug 19 at 3.45pm, involves four young Londoners attempting to start a communal utopia.

Andrei Tarkovksy

Thought of by many as the true master of cinema, the famous Soviet filmmaker is honoured at the festival with seven of his films being screened.

From Ivan’s Childhood in 1962 (Aug 12, 11am), to 1986’s The Sacrifice (Aug 27, 11am), all of Tarkovsky’s films are run in chronological order.

Known for its long takes and spiritual themes, his work is analysed by film historian Ian Christie in an illustrated talk (Aug 27, 2pm). Christie has interviewed Tarkovsky and written extensively on Russian cinema, so is an authoritative and well-informed guide.

Documentary focus

The Killings of Tony Blair

Tuesday, August 16, 6.15pm

Coming soon after the release of the Chilcott report, and the intense scrutiny around Tony Blair, politician George Galloway dissects the former Prime Minster’s actions in electing to go to war in Iraq. Galloway channels Michael Moore in his confrontational approach - he chases Blair and other New Labour figures and puts them on the spot. The cinema hope to welcome Galloway to introduce and discuss the film.

Leni Leni

Monday, August 22, 2pm

Allistair Audsley and Tom McNab will introduce their short documentary Leni Leni, a portrayal of influential filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, who gained infamy for producing propaganda films for Hitler’s Third Reich. They will present clips from her most famous pictures, including Triumph of the Will (1934) and Olympia (1938). Having been in contact with Riefenstahl in the 1960s, McNab will shine a light on the true character of the German film director.

Around China with a Movie Camera Friday

August 26, 2pm

China in the first half of the 20th century is rendered through a collection of rare video material from the British Film Institute National Archive. Made by British and French filmmakers, the collection includes a film that has gone unseen for over 115 years - the oldest surviving film to be shot in China.

Ingrid Berman: In Her Own Words

Monday, August 22, 11am

A look behind the scenes of the young Swedish actress, who become a star of Hollywood’s ‘golden age’ in the 1940s. Includes never before seen private footage and diaries.

New Park Cinema, New Park Road, Chichester, 11 - 28 August, 01243, 786650. Visit: chichestercinema.org