Bradford International Film Festival (April 19-29): Three to look out for

Damsels In Distress 1The Bradford International Film Festival opens tomorrow with the screening of Damsels in Destress (image above). Niki Bietron will be covering BIFF extensively for us, so look out for regular updates from her, and follow her on Twitter: @thebierton. Below she highlights three in particular that she is looking forward to.

In my previous article I mentioned the five films that were on my list of things to see at the 18th Bradford International Film Festival.  But for this article, it’s all about details.

Albert Nobbs (Rodrigo Garcia) – playing Sat 21st, 11:30am and Sunday 22nd 8:30pm, both at the Pictureville cinema in the National Media Museum

01bAlbert Nobbs is Glen Close’s second time as the character of Albert, she originally played him on Broadway in the eighties. She spent fifteen long years trying to make it into a film, but plagued with financial difficulties it seemed like it was never meant to be, until now, when, in December 2010 Albert Nobbs finally went into production. Telling the story of woman turned man – Albert Nobbs – and his struggle to find work in the harsh environment of 19th Century Ireland. The film looks set to ooze melodrama, romance and the realities of the time when women were unable to find jobs. Finding work as a hotel waiter, Nobbs meets all sort of characters, from the maid Helen Dawes to the hotel owner Mrs Baker; Albert finds a family he never had. I’m not going to go into too much more detail; after all, I don’t want to ruin the film for you. But considering this was a highly acclaimed Broadway show, I would definitely recommend seeing it.

The Inn Keepers (Ti West) – playing Saturday 21st 4:30pm and Monday 23rd 9:00pm, both at Cineworld Bradford

The InnKeepers 1Next up, The Inn Keepers. The film was written, directed and edited by Ti West, the film focuses on two employees of the ‘Yankee Pedlar Inn’ as the countdown to it closing down begins. The hotel is full of horror stories about a guest that killed themselves many years ago. So, naturally, the two employees decide, as the hotel quietens down, to do some amateur ghost hunting, but as old guests begin to reappear at the hotel, things start to turn a little creepy for the duo. The film has been likened to the recent ‘dv camera’ horrors of the last couple of years, ‘Paranormal Activity’ and such, however, the last film Ti West made, The house of the Devil remains with a largely cult audience, true horror fans. That’s not to say only horror fans with love The Inn Keepers, but it is definitely one to see if you are a true horror fan!

We Are Poets (Alex Ramseyer-Bache and Daniel Lucchesi) – playing Friday 2oth 6:15pm in the Cubby Broccoli cinema and Wednesday 25th 1pm in Pictureville. Both cinemas are in the National Media Museum

WAP_04We’ve also got We are Poets fresh from our own West Yorkshire city, Leeds. The documentary follows six young poets from Leeds Young Authors take a trip to Washington DC to take part in the International Poetry Slam. Whilst here they not only have to fight through poetry to become the top dog, but they must fight themselves and amongst themselves to be who they want to be.  We are Poets premiered at the 2011 Sheffield Doc/Fest, Europe’s largest documentary film festival, where it won the Sheffield Youth Jury award. Most films to win this award go on to see big things, so guess what I’m going to say about it? Go and see it! Not only for the great poetry pieces, but to support our young poets and give Yorkshire a big thumbs up in the sea of Americans vying for the trophy!

Friday’s screening will be followed by a special Poetry Slam event in the museum cafe at 8:00pm

Follow Niki’s BIFF experiences over on Twitter on @thebierton or my own ongoing BIFF commentary, also on Twitter, @DestroyApathy.

For more on any of these, or anything else BIFF has going on, check out their website at www.bradfordfilmfestival.org.uk