FILM: International film festival ditches Bognor - claims it was forced out of town

Festival director and founder Bryan Gartside said Bognor Regis simply couldn't offer the certainties he needed for the festival's long-term future.

Instead, he's switching the festival base to Worthing, offering screenings there plus in a string of satellite venues including Brighton, Chichester Cineworld, Southampton, Havant, Weymouth and Eastbourne '“ all places which have shown a keenness to be part of the festival which Bognor simply hasn't shown, Bryan said.

"I am just so exasperated with Bognor politics and Bognor regeneration. Unfortunately Bognor is in such a mess politically I just can't afford to develop a film festival in a town that might not actually even have a cinema soon."

Previously, the festival has used the Regis Centre extensively, but with the regeneration debate rolling on, Bryan again feels he can't get the guarantees he needs: "The Regis Centre may or may not carry on. Who knows?

"From the long-term point of view, the Regis Centre is meant to be redeveloped, but who knows. We can't build a festival in a town that somewhere down the line might not have any venues at all.

"If they do redevelop it, will it be two years, three years, four years, five years before we get the new one? There is a high probability the Regis Centre will be there in April and May, but that is not enough for me. We need to work to develop a long-term relationship."

The result is that unless there are some concrete proposals soon, Bognor will draw a blank on the festival front '“ though Bryan is keen to build up his contacts with the University of Chichester to develop the educational side of the festival.

In the meantime, the festival will be based in Worthing with satellite screenings up and down the coast, Bryan confirmed: "We are creating

a network of independent cinemas where we can put the content that

goes into the film festival."

No support from Bognor which does not even have a good pub - claim

As for Bognor, there really won't be much support to lose: "Out of the population of people in Bognor, there is little or no interest in the film festival.

"It has been our experience that maybe a dozen people come to screenings on a regular basis, but most of our audience are people

not just from outside the area, but outside the country.

"I have spent nearly a quarter of a million pounds on the film project since 2001 based in Bognor, but not only have we had little support, we have had little interest. There is not a big enough population."

Nor the willingness.

"When we approached hotels in Bognor about becoming partners, all

I got was five per cent from the Royal Norfolk. We are getting

30 per cent reductions from hotels in Worthing.

"And people at the festival ask where they can eat in Bognor Regis. I can't actually recommend a pub in Bognor that is a great place to have a drink. But I could recommend several places in Chichester."

Bryan takes the view it is Bognor's loss: "Bognor is really missing out. It is missing out hugely. Bognor has already missed out on the Birdman. It's just a sign of the times. But I am seeing big interest in Worthing. People there are saying 'How can we help you?' Worthing will be our home for 2009.

"Worthing has more people living there. We have Northbrook College very close. We have more screening venues and we have better-quality accommodation, better restaurants, better facilities."

And that's where the festival will continue with its mission, unchanged since its start '“ to gain exposure for new young independent and low-budget film-makers from around the world.

"We are still 100 per cent focused on that goal and are developing more and more ways we can do that."

One area that is growing particularly strongly is feature films. They had just three among all the short films four years ago; now they have a couple of dozen, though the chances are they will not be able to show all of them.

"Although we will always stick to our main principle which is to be a short-film festival which is basically an open competition, we will develop the feature-film side '“ for a couple of reasons.

"One is feature films are more attractive to a public audience. The second is there is a kind of natural progression for short-film makers who then want to go on and make a feature film.

"We have set up an EOTP development fund to assist new directorial talent with the basic premise that if you make a short film and send it into the film festival, we can then develop your first feature presentation through the festival.

"We are not saying we have a big bag of money and will say 'Here, go out and make a feature film'. But the festival can help independent film-makers with the premiering and the marketing and the distribution of the film. We have found those are the areas where young independent film-makers often struggle most."

* The sixth End of the Pier International Film Festival will open to the public in Worthing on April 25 with the world premiere of a new British feature presentation Ambleton Delight, an all-Sussex film starring Brighton actor Brian Capron.

The festival will then continue at its various venues until May 2. More details on www.eotpfilmfestival.com

What do you think? Click here to send a letter or leave a comment below.

Click here to go back to Chichester news

Click here to go back to Bognor Regis news

Click here to go back to Midhurst and Petworth news

To tell us where in the world you are reading this story click on the link below to add yourself to our readers' map.

MAP