Do believe The Truth
 | | The Truth |
Top of the bill is the red carpet treatment for The Truth, a darkly comic thriller which features Salfordian actor Stephen Lord amongst the leads. The story of seven strangers on a journey of spiritual growth plays out in the wilds of Scotland and takes in jealousy, hatred, sexual perversion and a little murder along the way. Lord, who has previously appeared in Ken Loach’s Raining Stones and Juliet McKoen’s Frozen, sees the festival as “a way of showing people doing new work and bringing in what people have been doing over time. We’ve had some great people come from Salford. They predicted a riot…
 | | Storm Over Asia |
There’s a screening for Storm Over Asia, a film that has remained banned in city for 75 years. Back in 1930, the Manchester and Salford Film Society tried to show Storm Over Asia, Pudovkin’s 1928 avant garde two hour silent Soviet-made, revolution-inspiring epic, depicting exploited Mongol fur trappers driving out British imperialists, led by a descendant of Genghis Khan. The Salford Watch Committee promptly banned the film from being shown in the city, fearing it would provoke an uprising on the banks of the Irwell. Thankfully, today’s council is more lenient. Salford City Council leader Councillor John Merry agreed they could still ban the film, but says he’s "confident that there will be no storm over Salford if this film is shown today." Life Is Sweet
 | | Mike Leigh |
Salford is the birthplace of more film luminaries than you’d imagine, with the likes of Sir Ben Kingsley, Christopher Eccleston and Albert Finney all coming from the city. This year, the film festival pays tribute to another famous son, the acclaimed director Mike Leigh, with a retrospective of his short films and features, including Naked, Vera Drake and The Permissive Society. Leigh himself won’t be appearing at the festival, but he did send his best wishes to festival, thanking the organisers for choosing to show his films. Tinseltown or Ordsall town?
 | | Peter's Story |
As always, the festival is as much a celebration of new talent as it is existing brilliance, and with the burgeoning Salford film industry (there’s now just under 20 film companies set up in Salford, plus the ever mushrooming Web Lighting Studios in Little Hulton, which is often used by the BBC and Red Productions), this year is a celebration of the new community-driven cinematic wave. There’ll be ten premieres of short films made in the city, many devised by and starring young people from the most marginalised communities, ranging from Cloud 8.5, a bizarre abstract tale of good and evil, to Peter’s Story, made by pupils at Harropfold High School in Little Hulton. Alongside those debuts, there’ll be showcases for short films made in the city by established film makers, covering every subject from Bert Trautmann to teachers’ love lives. Meanwhile, REELMcr’s comedy, Fameless, a parody of the trend to make dramas in working class communities for the amusement of the 'cultured classes', gets a screening following its sell-out premiere earlier in the year. You just buy the popcorn… Best of all, every screening at the festival is free. Salford Film Festival Chairman, Mike Knowles sees it as an important part of the idea of the festival. He says it’s good that the festival continues to grow and become “even more magnificent. All the events remain free and open to everyone in the City and so get down to there and see what Salford cinema has to offer." | 
