International Film Festival to open with a special celebration

20 September 2018

100-year anniversary of the founding of former Czechoslovakia to be celebrated at annual event

The annual Preston International Film Festival will be opening this year with a special evening to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the former Czechoslovakia.

The Worldwise Learning Centre, part of the School of Language and Global Studies at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), is welcoming representatives from the embassies of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, University of Pardubice academics and prominent Preston resident Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines MBE, who was one of 669 children evacuated from Czechoslovakia during World War Two on a special train organised by Nicholas Winton.

Members of the public are also invited to the free event, taking place at 5.00pm on 15 October in UCLan’s Mitchell and Kenyon Cinema.

A panel discussion will take place followed by a food and drink reception with traditional Czech and Slovak nibbles and Moravian wine. A screening of Czech film ‘A Dark Blue World,’ by Academy award-winning director Jan Svěrák, will follow at 7.30pm.

The 12th International Film Festival, which runs from 15 to 21 October, will screen films in eight languages with English subtitles. The other films are:

The Idol (Arabic) on 16 October at 7.00pm
I Am Not Madame Bovary (Chinese) on 17 October at 7.00pm
Who Will Save the Roses (Italian) on 18 October at 7.00pm
The Sweet Escape (French) on 19 October at 7.00pm
Summer 1993 (Catalan) on 20 October at 5.00pm
Sweet Bean (Japanese) on 20 October at 7.00pm
The Villainess (Korean) on 21 October at 7.00pm

Tickets for the screenings cost £3 for adults, £2.50 for concessions or a festival pass, which gives access to all eight films, is available at £15.

 Register for the free event and purchase film tickets.