31/3/2022

There are over a hundred films on offer at this year’s Beeston Film Festival, over a hundred different stories in all sorts of genres, and here we will go through some of the films showcased and discuss their genres.

What makes a film fit into a particular genre? Films will usually feature stories with certain criteria, meeting particular genre conventions in order to get us to watch and enjoy them. These conventions and genre tropes set an audience up to expect certain things; mysteries will have secrets & lies, family Christmas films will have Santa Claus and mince pies.

The genres that we have in this festival are wide-ranging and I shall go through them and state some of the films in each of these genres.

First we have Drama. Drama can be a pretty catch-all genre! Anything could be classed as Drama really, and all films should have at least some element of drama in them, even comedies. It’s about conflict and struggle, the issues faced by real people. Some of the Drama films that we have are All That Glitters, Nimmerland, Birthday, Piglet Piglet and of course many many others across the festival.

All of the Drama films on offer will make you grip the edge of your seats to see what happens next. That is the point of a good drama; to engage you and make you want to keep watching, to see what happens.

However, if Drama is not your thing we also have other genres. Let’s look at Comedy. Comedy has many variations in itself, such as slapstick, sarcasm, dark humour. But the overall point of a comedy film is always the same: to make you laugh, of course! Whether it’s witty dialogue, ironic situations or perfect comic timing, there’s always something to giggle at when it comes to Comedy.

Some of the Comedy films we have at the festival this weekend include Finding Dad, Numb and Swipe. Of course there are also other films across the categories which could be considered comedies and therefore there are plenty of films that’ll make you laugh this festival this weekend.

We also have documentary films if you are looking for something more serious and informative. Non-fiction films may not be as popular in the cinemas but they have become very trendy on streaming sites as new ways to tell real-life stories in the form of a documentary have come about. So, to see the world through new eyes in films told in unique and genuine ways, check out some of our documentary films at the festival which include; Immigrant Voices of America, It Was A Time of Poetry and Pointe Blacke.

Genre can be good for us to differentiate between films and to market to the right people. We as an audience want to know what a film will be like before we bother to watch it. For example, many people don’t like Horror films. So, we as an audience want to know if a film is going to be scary before we go, as it may not be our cup of tea. The intensity of a creepy mood, the bloodiness of a gory murder… it’s not for everyone!.

That being said, we do have some Horror films on offer for the thrill-seekers among you. If you are someone that likes to be scared out of your mind then maybe check out these films, including Room 217, Smiles, and Aquamarine.

Of course we also have Thrillers too which are slightly different to Horror. They focus on suspense over fear. They may have some scary moments but overall are not too scary - even we can handle them!

Hollow is a thriller which draws on themes of revenge, morality and injustice. It’s a dark story of a grieving mother torn between faith and anger, a hard-hitting exploration of crime and punishment.

There are plenty of thrillers on offer at the festival for those that want to be thrilled and chilled but not so terrified they can’t sleep at night!

We also have Animated films which is more of a medium than a genre. Contrary to popular belief, they are not just for kids; they are more complex than many people think, and often deal with very real themes. We encourage you to check out some of the ones that we have on offer, maybe you’ll be surprised by the likes of The Soloists and My Friend Who Shines in the Night.

You’ll often find that stories try to tell you similar things, timeless stories of love and loss, struggle and triumph. The biggest difference is in how they’re told. They change things up to keep the stories and messages fresh and new, and they play with genre to entice you to watch.

So, as you can see, we have a wide variety of genres represented in the festival. There’s bound to be something for everyone! Perhaps this is why the film festival is such a good thing, as we are able to experience new films without the constraints of tying each film to a genre we’re familiar with.

This year we’re back face-to-face, at Beeston’s Arc Cinema. All safety measures have been taken place for the event, all in line with recent Covid rules.

All of the opening night’s shows will take place in Screen 8 between 8pm and 9:30pm. Over the weekend there’ll be a joyful celebration of film, stories of all different types and genres.

You may even get a chance to see some of the film-makers at the festival, as well as seeing the films which will go on to win the coveted B’Oscar awards.

Come back tomorrow for another blog post on the festival when we get into the actual festival itself.

– Rebekah Hemmens