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Portobello Film Festival 2–19 Sept 2010
At its heart, the 15th Portobello Film Festival had
the same three principles that underpinned the first
festival in 1995:
Film submissions for the
Festival were free and came from
all over the world. Without exception, all were shown.
All screenings and events were free to the public.
The Festival was organised almost entirely by volunteers.
This year, we screened over 600 new short films to an
estimated audience of 10,000. We also staged popular
mainstream movies at children’s matinee shows.
We recruited 18 volunteers for our Event Management
Practical Work Experience programme for unemployed people.
The volunteers were a key factor in the overall success
of the Festival.
We used four venues on and around Notting Hill’s
Portobello Road: Westbourne Studios, The Pop Up Cinema;
the Inn on the Green; and the Tabernacle.
In the Artist’s Eye programme, artists introduced
their favourite films at the Pop Up Cinema and gave
a short talk on the films they’d chosen. Artists
and their choices included Blek Le Rat (Performance),
Andrew Logan (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Patrick Hughes
(Buster Keaton’s The Boat) and Matt Clark (the
Empire Strikes Back).
The London Film Makers Convention programme ran over
six days and featured over 200 new films by London filmmakers.
The Festival commissioned local historian Tom Vague
to write an essay on the history of art and artists
in Notting Hill and Portobello. This was published in
part in the Festival programme and is still available
in its entirety on the Film Festival website, portobellofilmfestival.com
Another Festival highlight was a screening of Carl Theodor
Dreyer's 1928 classic The Passion Of Joan Of Arc with
a live soundtrack from In the Nursery.
The 2010 Awards Ceremony, held at the Pop Up Cinema,
was, as always, a celebration of the entire event, and
open to all. Twelve films won awards in categories like
Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Comedy and Best Art
Film.
Audience survey
This year we decided
to canvas the opinions of our audience. We used a short
survey form and 97 of those were completed. The main
findings were:
The audience were 49% female, 51% male
Their average age was 33, with 44% under 30.
Eighty percent came from London and 27% were from the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Of those who answered the ethnicity question, 39% defined
themselves as other than white. Fifty-one percent had
attended the Festival before while 49% were visiting
for the first time. Participants in the survey were
invited to rate the Festival from one to five, with
one indicating poor and five good. The average score
was 4.6.
Respondents were near unanimous that they would attend
the Festival again, with the exception of one who wrote
‘maybe’. Asked if they would like to attend
future networking events associated with film, 88% said
yes, 4% answered maybe and 8% answered no.
Press coverage
As well as coverage
in the major listings publications like the Guardian,
Independent, Times and Time out, the Festival had editorial
coverage in The Times, The Guardian Guide, Grazia magazine
and The Independent.
Guardian Guide, Saturday 28th August
The Independent’s New Review, Saturday 28th August
Grazia, September edition
The Times, Thursday September 2nd
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