UK Jewish Film Festival Returns to Brighton for 30th Anniversary
The UK Jewish Film Festival is marking three decades by returning to Brighton, where it was founded in 1997.
Festival Returns to Its Origins
The UK Jewish Film Festival is bringing its landmark 30th edition back to Brighton this November, three decades after the city served as its birthplace. The festival was founded by Judy Ironside MBE in 1997 and has since grown into a major cultural event with a nationwide reach.
Ms Ironside will introduce both of the Brighton screenings, which form part of a four-week tour across the UK. She said: "In our 30th anniversary year I am so delighted to bring these two wonderful screenings to Brighton where the Festival first began. It gives me great pleasure to meet Brighton audiences and to be able to celebrate the early beginnings of the Festival with so many of our loyal supporters."
November Screenings
On Sunday 22 November at 6pm, Duke's at Komedia will host British-Jewish Life On Film, a collection of new short films exploring contemporary British-Jewish identity and experience.
On Thursday 26 November, also at 6pm, the venue will show the Brighton premiere of The Soundman, a wartime love story from Belgian director Frank Van Passel. The film is set in a Brussels radio station in May 1940.
Looking Back and Forward
Ms Ironside reflected on the festival's growth, saying: "In 1997 we could not have dreamt that UK Jewish Film and the Festival would grow and develop in so many ways and I feel sure it was thanks to the enthusiasm in those early years in Brighton that we have been able to bring the power of Jewish themed films to so many audiences across the UK."
Michael Etherton, chief executive of UK Jewish Film, added: "Thirty years ago the UK Jewish Film Festival began in Brighton as a modest but ground-breaking cultural event. Today, it is the home of Jewish cinema in the UK, with a nationwide reach. We are delighted to return to Brighton, where it all began, and hope everyone, Jewish or not, will join us."
The wider festival begins in London on 5 November and will visit 14 further cities across the UK, with digital streaming also available online.
Tickets and further information are available at ukjewishfilm.org.
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