There are hundreds of film festivals in the UK from the very small right up to the large events such as the Edinburgh and London festivals. This is a selection of them which could most appeal to film society and community cinema programmers, and are organised by broad category, and then by (rough) date when they occur during the year. There is a bit of a London and south-east bias, I’m afraid, simply because that’s where we are. If there are any others that you think should be on our radar, do let us know. One day we might get to a few more of them…

Features/General

1. Glasgow Film Festival: February: Glasgow
2. Keswick Film Festival: February: Keswick
3. London Turkish Film Festival: February: London
4. Bradford International Film Festival: March: Bradford
5. Bird’s Eye View: April: London
6. Italian Film Festival: April: London and elsewhere
7. TaiwanCineFest: May: London
8. Edinburgh International Film Festival: June: Edinburgh
9. East End Film Festival: July: London
10. London Indian Film Festival: July: London
11. Chichester Film Festival: August: Chichester
12. Raindance: September: London
13. London Spanish Film Festival: September: London
14. Cambridge Film Festival: September: Cambridge
15. Southampton International Film Festival: October: Southampton
16. London Greek Film Festival: October: London
17. BFI London Film Festival: October: London
18. Africa in Motion: October: Edinburgh
19. London Iranian Film Festival: November: London
20. French Film Festival: November: London and beyond
21. UK Jewish Film Festival: November: London
22. Cine-City: November: Brighton
23. London Latin American Film Festival: November: London
24. London Korean Film Festival: November: London
25. Leeds International Film Festival: November: Leeds
26. Russian Film Festival: November: London
27. Romanian Film Festival: November: London
28. Bath Film Festival: November: Bath

Documentaries

1. London International Documentary Festival: May: London
2. RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film: June (biannual): various
3. Sheffield Doc/Fest: June: Sheffield

Animation

1. London International Animation Festival: October: London
2. Bradford Animation Festival: November: Bradford

Children’s

1. Cinemagic: November: Belfast

Shorts

1. Future Shorts: Often: London and beyond
2. London Short Film Festival: January: London
3. Edinburgh Short Film Festival: June: Edinburgh
4. Colchester Film Festival: October: Colchester
5. Aesthetica Short Film Festival: November: York