Film fever set to grip east Antrim

Pupils from Hazelwood Integrated College help launch the film festival which is coming to east Antrim venues in November.

With 21,677 free places available for screenings and events for 5-19 year-olds, bookings are now open for the sixth Into Film Festival 2018.

Carrickfergus Omniplex is showing Early Man, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and A Wrinkle in Time.

The Omniplex in Larne is screening A Quiet Place, the Greatest Showman and Paddington 2.

And the Movie House in Glengormley will have Peter Rabbit, Early Man and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

The festival, which uses the magic of film to engage young minds in a broad range of topics, will feature 98 events in 34 different venues in the province.

It is made possible through a wide collaboration with the UK cinema industry and funding from Northern Ireland Screen, Cinemagic, Nerve Centre and support from the BFI through Lottery funding and Cinema First.

The festival is part of an on-going initiative to place film at the heart of young people’s learning and personal development.

With support from all the major UK cinema chains and a variety of other venues, it provides access to the big screen at its best.

The festival opens on November 7 with simultaneous pupil premieres of Illumination’s The Grinch, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, in Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, London and Manchester. Additional pupil premieres in Northern Ireland include Cannes Palme D’Or winner Shoplifters and Christmas caper, Nativity Rocks.

The programme ranges from independent titles to popular classics to engage young minds in a broad range of topics from foreign language films, documentaries, animation, classics and hidden gems from the archive.

Highlights from this year’s programme include: Ark Farm showing The Zoo; Cartoon Saloon’s award-winning The Breadwinner with a talk from director Nora Twomey; The Greatest Showman with jugglers and stilt walkers performing; tying in with Digital Cities Festival (BBC), there will be a VR event with Ready Player One in Queen’s University Sonic Arts Lab with a talk about virtual reality; talks by a journalist from Empire Magazine on film reviewing; Love Movies will give a piracy talk; a prosthetics workshop; a screening of Wonder with a talk about bullying and mental health.

For further information about the programme, to book tickets and download resources visit www.intofilm.org/festival