“Northampton is a place of rare and mysterious beauty. Situated at the heart of English geography, English history and always, always at the heart of English trouble.”
Said by NFF 2019 judge and legendary Northampton Writer Alan Moore (Watchmen, From Hell, V for Vendetta). And we embody that spirit at NFF.
Northampton is a place of Rebels and Revolutionaries, Misfits and Mavericks, Creatives and Changemakers. We want to put on a great show for you but also make sure you leave feeling inspired, with fire in your belly or the spark for your next project.
As well as accepting submissions from around the UK which embody that spirit, we also want to show you that Northampton and Northamptonshire filmmakers are Kind of a Big Deal.
The Festival started as a pilot project in 2019 because we wanted to shout about the brilliant town of Northampton. Everyone should know Northamptonshire and its people are kind of a big deal, in Film and beyond. A group of young people devised that year’s festival theme: Coming of Age
The pilot had 739 admissions to 11 events and the short film competitions has a stellar line up of judges: Writer Alan Moore (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Watchmen), Director and Photographer Mitch Jenkins (Showpieces, The Show) and Editor Colin Goudie (Monsters, Rogue One) who are all connected with Northants, plus Film Festival Direcor Rebekah Louisa Smith.
We then passed that difficult Coming Of Age stage, we’re all grown up, and even if we say so ourselves, we’re Kind of a Big Deal!
This was the theme for 2020/2021’s online festival which had over 500 admissions online plus nearly 8000 additional film views. And we had some fabulous judges:
Actor Julie Hesmondhalgh (Broadchurch), Comedian Hugh Dennis (Mock theWeek), Actor Colin Salmon (Bond).
2021 was about saying We’re Kind of a Big Deal. We clashed with the Cannes Film Festival but we said screw the French Riviera, we’ve got Le Nene River Area! Plus legendary Director Gareth Jones virtually jetting in from LA…. Northampton has taken a bit of a beating in recent years but we think this is a pretty special place and if we don’t believe we’re a force to be reckoned with, who will?
For 2022 we got back together in the town centre and we challenged people to Know Their Place. We had over 900 physical admissions plus online and held our first Northants Film & Television Expo. This year’s judges were Northampton-born Actor Callie Cooke (Wedding Season), BBC Radio’s Kerrie Cosh and EMU Films Producer Jim Mooney (Small Axe, Benediction).
In 2023 Northampton Film Festival became an independent non-profit organisation.
To celebrate we opened up entries to feature length films AND to filmmakers from across Great Britain for the first time.
We challenging local and national filmmakers to Show Us What You’ve Got.
For 2024 we’ve really established our raison d’etre – we are using Film and the Creative Industries to radically change how a place thinks about itself, what it is known for and what it’s next generation of creators think is possible. We want to put fire in the bellies of our filmmakers, audiences and local residents.
Board: Becky Carrier (nee Adams, Founder of NFF), Tyla Sharp (Producer), Kate Dow (Head of Production, Ziggurat XYZ) and Tricia Adams MCLIP FRSA (Federation of Children’s Books).
Advisory Board: Amanda Johnson (Nene River Trust), Nick Allen (University of Northampton), Dr Audrey Tang (Chartered Psychologist), Robin Carlisle and Torie White (Sage Communications) and Magella Moreau (Communications volunteer)
Youth Advisory Board (in addition to our regional Youth Film Boards): Georgia 17yrs, Bianca 17yrs, Oscar 15yrs, Ella 17yrs.