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It will run from April 22-24 at St Mary in the Castle and the Electric Palace – an ambitious project, says founder James Rowlins.

“The festival celebrates local film-making talent – scores of local film-makers and films shot in Hastings – with a focus on the esoteric (ie horror films), for which St Mary is the perfect venue.”

Full details are on www.rocksfestivals.com/hriff

“Film festivals involve a certain kind of madness (logistics etc), but also magic – the magic of cinema. In brief, I am a zealot for indie cinema and mad about film festivals!

“I discovered indie film as an undergraduate in Paris and subsequently won a scholarship to study film at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Instead of swotting for lectures, though, I tended to skip off to catch some of the myriads of film festivals held annually in LA, which was a great kind of education.

“As a lecturer I organised mini film festival competitions on campus, and these became local institutions. But I also aspired to have an impact in the real world or industry. I launched Brighton Rocks Film Festival five years ago. It started small but has gone from strength to strength.

“I chose Brighton because it is such a mecca for free-spirited creatives from all walks of life. It’s incredibly rewarding to give a platform to kids – the film-makers are often young or at least young at heart – and to share that buzz when they are brought together and the thrill of seeing their work on the big screen.

“The festival showcases a wide range of independent talent, but above all films that stray from the mainstream by offering some kind of alternative way of seeing the world – whether that be a different time/place or the vantage point of gender, sexuality, race etc.

“I moved to Hastings three years ago and quickly set about creating a sister event. The pandemic delayed it, unfortunately, but it also presented us with the opportunity to carefully develop the festival’s identity.

“We decided that Hastings Rocks should focus on films that are esoteric in keeping with the town’s history and heritage (the infamous witches and ghosts, Jack the Ripper connection, Aleister Crowley, faded gothic architecture etc), as well as films made by local film-makers and/or shot in Hastings.

“Our venues (St Mary in the Castle and the Electric Palace) have been very supportive in helping us launch the festival, and in turn, we hope to help them with their post-Covid reboot.

“We want to encourage people to step outside of their comfort zone and to watch something different from their usual weekend viewing – whether it be a LGBTQIA+ documentary or experimental horror film. Above all, we hope that visiting local residents and film-makers will forge connections and be inspired by the films they see. We have film-makers coming from Canada and the United States to present feature films (eg Camping Trip and Skagit on Friday, April 22), so we hope that they will get a warm welcome from Hastings’ moviegoers.

“We also hope this will be the first of many annual festivals and that over time, we will get international recognition like Cannes, Berlin and Sundance. One day people will talk about the winners of Hastings Rocks Film Festival and this recognition will help indie film-makers in a market where blockbusters – alas – still reign.”

www.rocksfestivals.com

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