Swale Film Festival Film Guide 2009
Swale Film Festival 9th 10th 11th & 12th July 2009

Please click here for an at a glance programme.

Stolen Youth As the inhabitants of a quiet rural village enjoy their Sunday lunch a young tear-away embarks on a violent and destructive tour. His opportunism leads him out of the village to the meticulous home of a single man, where he stumbles on a terrifying secret.

Memoirs of a Cigarette A tongue-in-cheek “homage” to the perilous, but for some the highly pleasurable, pursuit of smoking. Using celebrity interviews and provocative archive footage to chart the love hate relationship of the cigarette in society.   Well known smokers from Vic Reeves to Charlotte Rampling talk about their first drag on a fag while ex-smokers Michael Winner, Will Self and Joan Bakewell talk about their last. And defiant smokers like Bob Mortimer, Johnny Vegas and Motorhead’s front man Lemmy rant about the new ban.  Classic television archive including rare advertising footage charts the rise and fall of the cigarette, from the days when contestants on University Challenge puffed away and The Flintstones and The Thunderbirds lit up on kids TV.
A Sideways Launch Countrywide Productions has produced “ A Sideways Launch “, a film available on DVD, which tells the history of the shipyard established in Faversham by James Pollock & Sons (Shipbuilders) in 1916. The Faversham shipyard was developed at the request of Lord Fisher, the First Lord of The Admiralty. Faversham already had a tradition of shipbuilding, and it soon became a major contributor to markets throughout the world. Vessels such as the Molliette and the Violette both constructed of concrete were the forerunners to over 1200 ships built and launched from Faversham between 1916 and 1969. The film explores through interviews and original archive film the development of Faversham Creek with frank and often humorous anecdotes from some of the workforce.  The film is intended to chronicle Faversham, the shipyard, but most importantly of all, the people that gave most of their working lives to an industry that has now mostly been forgotten.
Unrelated Childless and in a deteriorating marriage, Anna fears she is condemned to a life on the periphery of events. Everything she is discovering now, she has arrived at too late. A summer holiday, with the family of an old school friend, becomes a reminder of a life she has not lived. Sexual tensions simmer and Anna believes she has found a second chance. But as events slowly unravel, and the strains within this affluent bourgeois clique are revealed, she has to finally confront her inner turmoil and sadness.

The Calling "The Calling" a film made in Kent by Medb Films director Jan Dunn, produced by Elaine Wickham and starring Brenda Blethyn, Amanda Donohoe, Susannah York, Rita Tushingham and Harriet Thorpe. Members of the cast will be attending the Swale Film Festival premiere which will be the first public screening of the film after the Edinburgh Film Festival
The Young Victoria "The Young Victoria" with Emily Blunt, Jim Broadbent, and Mark Strong. A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
The Hide 7.30–9.00pm £4.00 | £3.50 concs Filmed on the Isle of Sheppey, The Hide tells the story of a reclusive bird watcher who spends his time on desolate marshes. His peace is disrupted by the arrival of a stranger whose dishevelled appearance initially causes him some alarm. Surprisingly, the pair strike up a friendship, discovering that they have more in common than they first thought. Unfortunately, this is short lived. A police announcement on the radio alerting the public to a manhunt, throws the two into a deadly fight for survival. The Hide was erected on the marshy shores just below the Harty Ferry Inn. Other footage was shot a little further along at the Elmley Marshes Nature Reserve. Exposed to the elements, the bleak and atmospheric coastal marshland was the perfect backdrop for this tense thriller. The film stars Alex MacQueen and Phil Campbell and was directed by Marek Losey.
Film: Lost Property 6.00–6.30pm FREE This film was made by a group of children at Eastchurch Primary School with support from Jody Bodiam, a teaching assistant at the school. It tells the story of two groups of children, a group on detention and an anti-bullying group, who work together to defeat lost property, which has come to life.
Madagascar Escape 2 Africa In the highly-anticipated sequel to Madagascar, Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, King Julien, Maurice and penguins and the chimps find themselves marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar. In the face of this obstacle, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan  so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plan-sort of. Once aloft, this unlikely crew stays airbourne just long enough to make it to the wildest place of all – vast plains of Africa, where the members of our zoo-raised crew encounter species of their own kind for the very first time. Africa seems like a great place…but is it better than their Central Park home?
SWALE FILM AWARDS WINNERS We will also present the best films made by young people who entered our young filmmakers competition at the SWALE FILM AWARDS.

Please click here for an at a glance programme.

Please note times, venues & prices are correct at the time of publication. The organisers endeavour to show any changes to the programme here as soon as the information becomes available but we cannot take responsibility for any losses in the unlikely event that something has to be rescheduled or cancelled.