An award-winning film about Emmaus communities helping people build back from homelessness in the North West has been selected as part of the guest programme of BAFTA-accredited Bolton Film Festival.
An Introduction To Emmaus North West will air free of charge at a special screening of community films at the KUDOS Cinema in Market Place Shopping Centre in Bolton on Saturday 5th October from 1:20pm to 2:50pm.
The Emmaus film will be shown alongside US, a short documentary made for Lancashire County Council for refugee week, and a series of 90 second micro-shorts that put the spotlight on working class women’s history, as explored by Bolton art and literature group, the Cotton Queens.
Festival Director, Adrian Barber, said: “Bolton Film Festival is delighted to include An Introduction to Emmaus North West as part of its guest programme of community film projects this year.
“As a community-driven festival, we are excited to share a film that surprised us with the great range of work Emmaus charities do across the whole region. To see the different aspects of the charity on film, makes this a very rewarding film to watch.”
The 7-minute and 50-second short features people supported by Emmaus alongside volunteers and staff, speaking about their experiences in the Emmaus communities and social enterprises.
Emmaus charities provide a home, support and work opportunities for formerly homeless people, providing services that meet the need of each local area. In Bolton these include a food bank where people can choose their own goods, charity shops providing preloved goods, a recycling point, a ‘scrap store’ of recycled art and craft supplies, an on-site furniture-making workshop, an upcycling service, a café and a seasonal garden centre.
The film was commissioned by the partnership of seven Emmaus communities in the North West and won bronze in the ‘People’s Choice’ category of the Charity Film Awards, with award-winning photographic duo Photography by Anderson assisting with the production.
Bolton Film Festival will show over 300 films this year on four cinema screens at Market Place Shopping Centre in Bolton from Wednesday 2nd October to Sunday 6th October from 10am to 10pm each day.
Visitors can pay £8 per screening or £20 for a day pass, with the airing of the community shorts free of charge inside the KUDOS Cinema and Callery, which hosts a mining exhibition and the opportunity to try out immersive insights into the industry through virtual reality headsets.
For information about tickets to Bolton Film Festival visit: www.boltonfilmfestival.com/