Islington based film festival announces this year’s programme with Pickups, starring Aidan Gillen, opening the week celebrating independent cinema.
Unrestricted View is delighted to announce the 2018 programme for its North London Film Festival. Launched in 2016, and following two very successful years, the 2018 Unrestricted View Film Festival is set to be bigger and better than ever before and will take place between 23rd – 29thApril 2018.
This year, the festival is expanding beyond The Hen & Chickens Theatre and the addition of two new venues (Everyman’s Screen on The Green and The Vintage Mobile Cinema) will help to fully establish the festival as a notable cultural event across Islington. With the The Hen & Chickens Theatre set to be the bustling core of the week-long event, the pub below will serve as the networking and meeting place for filmmakers and fans alike.
Amongst the two new venues is the premier Islington cinema, Screen on Green, which will host the opening night film for UVFF 2018 – PICKUPS.
‘Pickups’ is the new film directed by Jamie Thraves, that follows the story of a man called Aidan, played by Aidan Gillen, suffering from insomnia, back trouble and the breakdown of his marriage. Aidan finds solace in a number of strangers he picks up, although he is now concerned that someone is stalking him. Work is getting on top of him too; he murdered a couple of people last week and he still has more people to kill… Pickups will be shown at 7pm on Monday 23rd April at The Screen on the Green.
The Festival’s main hub continues to be situated at The Hen & Chickens Theatre; an independent theatre and cinema in Islington, North London. From the diverse line-up of films set to show here, here are some of the highlights…
The 12 (Director: James Whitehill) – Wednesday 25th April, 7:30pm A grieving, balaclava-wearing, widow attempts to hold a small countryside church congregation, and its Pastor, hostage after losing his wife to cancer.
Hippopotamus (Director: Edward Palmer) – Thursday 24th April, 7pm Ruby wakes up to find herself kidnapped, with two broken legs, and no memory of who she is or how she got there. As her kidnapper, Tom, helps to jog her memory, Ruby begins to question everything…
Consolation (Director: Michał Szalonek) – Friday 27th April, 5.30pm Patryk is a Polish man, returning home after 20 years in Germany. Paulina is young and wants to move to Germany to escape her dull life. When their paths cross, Patryk is forced to face his past.
In another first, The Vintage Mobile Cinema, the only surviving original Mobile Cinema from 1967, has also been chosen to air the festival’s impressive list of short films. This venue will be situated in the outside grounds of The Alwyne Castle pubic house from the 26th – 29th April and makes the perfect setting for the high calibre of short films chosen to air there. Whilst all the shorts are of a high calibre, here are a few to look out for…
Once Upon a Dream (Dir: Anthony Nion, Belgium) – Friday 27th April, 6:30pm
Vagabonds (Dir: Magaajyia Silberfeld, France, Niger, USA) – Saturday 28th April, 1.30pm
Run Rabbit (Dir: Emily Haigh, UK) – Saturday 28th April, 6.30pm
Burn (Dir: Judson Vaughan, UK) – Saturday 28th April, 8.30pm
Father’s Letter (Dir: Denis Filyukov, Russia) – Sunday 28th April, 12.30pm
Cupidity (Dir: Simon Connolly, UK) – Sunday 28th April, 3.00pm
The Creative Director of the festival, James Wren, says:
The UVFF festival is run by filmmakers for filmmakers we’re passionate about celebrating all aspects of independent film making. This year, we were overwhelmed with submissions and the finalised programme boasts a wealth of talent from across the world. We’re also hosting events and workshops throughout the week at The Hen and Chickens Theatre, so there’s lots for people to get involved in!
Awards will be presented on April 29th , at The Hen and Chickens, after careful deliberation by our panel of judges who include Martina Cole (author of 24 best-selling novels, sold over 14 million books), Emilie Arnold (for five years, produced the BFI London Film Festival and BFI Flare), and Richard Glover (actor who appeared in Disney’s Into the Woods, as well as The Darkest Hour, Rogue One, and recently alongside Kit Harrington in BBC’s Gunpowder).
The awards and prizes categories will be:
| Best Feature | Best Actress (Short) |
| Best Foreign Feature | Best Actor (Feature) |
| Best Short | Best Actor (Short) |
| Best Foreign Short | Best Score |
| Best Web Series | Best Cinematography |
| Best Documentary | Best Editing |
| Best Documentary (Short) | Best Screenplay |
| Best Director | Best Art Direction |
| Best Actress (Feature) | Best Make Up/Costume |
Tickets for all shows are available from www.unrestrictedview.co.uk or on the door.
