Historically the north-western French town of Dinard has always had strong links with Britain. A Englishman built the first villas in the town - which sits on the Brittany coast and lies closer to Cornwall than Paris. Alfred Hitchcock had a holiday home in the area. And the town hosts an annual event celebrating British cinema. The problem in 1990 when the Dinard Film Festival launched was that there wasn't really a modern-day British cinema, so the early years were predominantly a showcase for British films from the Golden age - the Lean years, as opposed to the lean years of the late 80s and early 90s, you could say.

The festival's emphasis has changed over the years, and as the event celebrated its 18th birthday on 4th-7th October there were over 20 new British movies on show, culled from a selection process of over one hundred features. There was also a retrospective for Shane Meadows, a filmmaker who has made five features in the past decade and who won the top prize (the Hitchcock d'Or) in 2004 for Dead Man's Shoes. Ironically, the festival began with a screening of a film made for TV - Ken Loach's topical drama It's A Free World..., which aired on Channel 4 but will play on big screens overseas.

BBC Film Network went to Dinard to find out why the Bretons are in love with British cinema. We also followed four of the directors competing for the Hitchcock d'Or - Asif Kapadia with Far North; Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane); Mark Jenkin (The Midnight Drives); and David Mackenzie (Hallam Foe).

Watch the video above to find out who won and see why you should keep October 2nd-5th free next year if you're a fan of British cinema.

Adrian Hennigan | Published 12 October 07

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