Contact: Jo Comino 07786 536424; Alison Chapman (images) 07969 393884
Date: 10th December 2009
Borderlines Film Festival -
Herefordshire director shoots close to home
Arriving in Herefordshire and Shropshire bright and early in 2010, the eighth Borderlines Film Festival is set to be bigger than ever.
Borderlines (www.borderlinesfilmfestival.co.uk) will screen more than 80 films in 33 venues in the two counties and beyond into the Marches between Friday 26 February and Sunday 14 March.
Where most film festivals bring people together in one location, Borderlines covers a huge span of countryside from Ross-on-Wye in South Herefordshire all the way up to Wem in North Shropshire, a distance of over 80 miles. As well as bringing a superlative selection of the best movies from around the world directly into the heart of communities in one of the most remote parts of the country Borderlines continues to showcase local film-making expertise.
Shot in rural Herefordshire, Tokyo and London, Shell Shock is an impressive debut feature from James Price, born and raised in Leinthall Starkes. An evocative portrait of a young war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder it's a movie that anybody who has friends or family serving overseas should see. James came back to his home village on his uncle's farm in order shoot the scenes of conflict while his new film, The Marches, currently in development, is set squarely within the county too.
He says, "I'm very pleased to be screening Shell Shock at Borderlines. My earliest memories of cinema are of going to the Hereford Odeon and The Regal in Tenbury. The area defines who I am."
Also showing, a sneak preview of Young Farmers from Hereford-based team, Anne Cottringer and Richard Branczik. The documentary follows members of Herefordshire Young Farmers Clubs over a year, as they face the challenges of keeping farming alive in this part of the UK. From 
one of the most isolated farms on the Welsh borders to the modern technology of building your herd through bull semen bought online, it captures the dramas, big and small of life on a farm: early starts, volatile markets, the threat of TB, the arrival of a new calf, leaving home. Not to mention the packed social calendar.
Chris Atkins, whose new documentary Starsuckers also screens, takes his hilarious earlier film about the demolition of our civil liberties under Tony Blair, Taking Liberties, to a venue that houses a copy of the Magna Carta, Hereford Cathedral, a brand new venue for Borderlines.
Confirmed guests for this year's festival include Sleep Furiously director Gideon Koppel who will make an appearance at a village hall on the Flicks in the Sticks network while silent film supremo Kevin Brownlow, introduces Winstanley, his 1976 film about the Diggers during the English Civil War. Brownlow's It Happened Here was shot around New Radnor in the early 60s.
Finally expect some lively debate with familiar personalities weighing in on global and local issues at the festival's 'citizen journalism' event that focuses on using the media, old and new, to get your voice across. The day features thought-provoking screenings, incisive discussion and even the chance to get 'hands on' in a special workshop.
Editorial notes
- Borderlines runs for 17 days from Friday 26 February to Sunday 14 March 2010.
- Venues include Aston on Clun, Ballingham, Bedstone, Bishops Castle, Bodenham, Bosbury, Brilley, Cardington, Chapel Lawn, Church Stretton, Clungunford, Dilwyn, Dorstone, Ewyas Harold, Eye, Garway, Gorsley, Hay-on-Wye, Hereford, Ledbury, Leominster, Lingen, Little Dewchurch, Ludlow, Lydbury North, Michaelchurch Escley, Moccas, Presteigne, Pudleston, Ross-on-Wye, Tarrington, Wem, Yarpole.
- Borderlines Film Festival is funded by Screen WM (with the UK Film Council), Herefordshire Council, The Elmley Foundation, Hereford City Council, Shropshire Council.
- Shell Shock is a Pixie Films production (James Price: 07968 206248 james@pixiefilms.co.uk)
- Young Farmers was made with the help and co-operation of the Herefordshire Federation of Young Farmers Clubs. Cantilupe Projects (Anne Cottringer: 01432 355460 email: anne@cantilupe.demon.co.uk)
Further images are available if required, please contact Alison Chapman on 07969 393884
