Colchester and Tendring residents will be able to enjoy free festive events, along with the Colchester Film Festival, thanks to our Arts and Cultural Fund.
Held at Firstsite, the Colchester Film Festival will be showing screenings from Monday 7 November to Friday 11 November from 7pm. On Saturday there is also a guest panel speaking about ‘how to create an award-winning film’.
The panel features lead speaker, writer and director Mike Leigh - a Palm d’Or winner and a nominee for several Oscars - Academy Award winning writer and director of ‘The Silent Child’, Chris Overton, Colchester’s BAFTA award-winning writer and director, Caroline Bartleet, and Deborah Moggach, screenwriter of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Tulip Fever’.
Both the film screenings and guest panel events require booking, however due to the funding received from the our Arts and Cultural Fund, ticket prices have been kept low to ensure the Colchester Film Festival is accessible to as many people as possible.
Having also received funding, the award-winning Colchester based arts and education charity, Signals, are launching the BFI Film Academy.
Costing £25 for the full course of 11 sessions - which take place from Saturday 19 November 2022 to Saturday 4 February 2024 – the BFI Film Academy is for young people aged 16 to 19-years-old and provides them with the required skills, along with commercial and cultural knowledge, to make a career in film a reality.
Also, taking place from Wednesday 16 November until Sunday 8 January 2023, Colchester residents and visitors can experience Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ with a difference.
The free digitally accessible Christmas Carol Festive trail will take people on a 12-stop journey around the city centre with disused retail areas transformed into a magical Christmas moment.
During the festive period, visitors and residents will also be able to experience a Winter Window Wonderland courtesy of The Grand Theatre of Lemmings.
Occurring from Thursday 1 December to Saturday 24 December, a Winter Window Wonderland will take place in Manningtree which will see an illuminated ‘advent calendar’ window unveiled each night.
Find out more about the Winter Window Wonderland at the Grand Theatre of Lemmings website.
Expressions of interest for the second year of the Arts and Cultural Fund are now open.