What to watch at this year’s Hull Film Festival

The popular Hull Film Festival is back this week, celebrating its fifth annual edition with a fantastic lineup of the very best in new movies from around the world.

You can expect to see titles that are award-winning, critically-acclaimed, unashamedly independent, and a little out of left field. Organised by local film buff charity Hull Independent Cinema, the festival will take place at Vue Cinema Princes Quay from Monday 2 to Sunday 8 July.

As well as films, the festival also offers an exciting opportunity for local filmmakers to get helpful advice and find out about new sources of funding from Alice Ramsey, the BFI Network’s Talent Executive for Film Hub North. Filmmakers are able to book a free 30-minute one-to-one surgery session at the former festival venue, Hull Truck Theatre, taking place on Thursday 5 July.

This year’s programme features 16 films that are all Hull exclusive screenings, and even multiple regional premieres. For a taste of what’s on offer, we’ve rounded up some of the best films that you really shouldn’t miss.

Terminal
The festival opens with the Yorkshire premiere of neo-noir thriller Terminal, starring Margot Robbie, Simon Pegg and Mike Myers.

In the dark heart of a sprawling, anonymous city, Terminal follows the twisting tales of two assassins carrying out a sinister mission, a teacher battling a fatal illness, an enigmatic janitor, and a curious waitress leading a dangerous double life.

Mary Shelley
Forever remembered as the writer who gave the world Frankenstein, the real-life story of Mary Shelley is nearly as fantastical as her fiction.

Raised by a renowned philosopher, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin is a teenage dreamer, determined to make her mark on the world when she meets the dashing and brilliant poet Percy Shelley. So begins a torrid love affair that will transform Mary and fuel the writing of her Gothic masterwork.

Mary Shelley brings to life the world of a trailblazing woman who defied convention and channelled her innermost demons into a legend for the ages.

Apostasy
As devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, sisters Alex and Luisa and their mother, Ivanna, are united in The Truth. Alex looks up to her confident older sister, while striving to follow in Ivanna’s footsteps as a ‘good Witness’.

But when Luisa starts to question the advice of the Elders, she makes a life-altering transgression that threatens to expel her from the congregation.

Apostasy is a remarkable and authentic debut film, providing rare insight into the complex nature of faith, family, duty and love.

Sicilian Ghost Story
In a Sicilian village at the edge of a forest, Giuseppe vanishes. Luna, his classmate who loves him, refuses to accept his mysterious disappearance.

She rebels against the silence and complicity that surround her, and to find him she descends into the dark world that has swallowed him up and which has a lake as its mysterious entrance.

There are also opportunities to re-watch some retrospective classics, provided by WeWatchFilms with stylish romcom Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and by Cult Cinema Sunday with cult favourite Donnie Darko.

For more information on the Film Festival and a full look at the programme, visit www.hullfilmfestival.co.uk