In 1990, Bath Film Society screened a handful of French films. They were so successful that the society was left with £50 profit. Buoyed by this, Chris Baker approached local businessman and film buff, Philip Raby, sound engineer Alastair Goolden and the three cinemas in Bath at the time, to propose a film festival.
Since then, locations have changed and been added to, eminent industry names have given us their patronage and film distributors have recognised that FilmBath Festival (previously Bath Film Festival) is a great outlet for previews of their upcoming gems.
The success of Bath Film Festival has led to bigger ideas and new initiatives, giving birth to FilmBath in 2017.
FilmBath encompasses five constituent parts:
The F-Rating champions women in film by highlighting films directed by, written by and starring women with a Fairtrade-type stamp;
FilmBath Festival (previously Bath Film Festival) screens the best new and upcoming films from around the world with a stimulating and eclectic programme of films, workshops and film events in venues across Bath and beyond;
The IMDb Awards support and reward emerging talent with the Script to Screen Award and the New Filmmaker Award;
FilmScore offers 14-19 year olds the opportunity to write a score for a short film and we help them begin a career in film composition;
Pop-up Screenings show popular films in hard to reach areas around Bath and North East Somerset to low income communities, focusing specifically on families.
Our mission is to champion and showcase diversity on screen and behind the camera to as widely inclusive an audience as possible, and to inspire exhibitors to programme more diverse films both in the UK and beyond.
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Click here for more information about the event, including the programme.