A FOURTH Wellington Film Festival is being pencilled in for dates in April, 2027, town councillors were being told this week.

It follows the success of the latest festival, held in October across nine Wellington venues and featuring 10 feature films and several shorts.

Somerset Film creative director Deborah Richardson presented a review of the film festival to councillors in a report being considered at the economic development committee on Wednesday (December 10).

Ms Richardson said: “The steering committee are already buzzing with ideas for the next festival.”

She said the format of holding it every 18 months was proving effective and dates for the next one would be considered at a steering committee meeting in January.

Ms Richardson said more than 1,000 people attended this year’s festival, which also featured mask-making and prosthetic make-up workshops and other activities.

She said: “The festival provided an opportunity to see films that are rarely shown publicly or via streaming platforms.

“Two young composers wrote and performed live an original score for the 1926 film ‘Faust’ directed by Murnau.

“This was a definite highlight in the festival.

“New venue Braziers hosted a capacity audience for the screening of two Buster Keaton classics.

“Heavy rain the night before the start of the festival resulted in sodden ground for the outdoor film screening, but partner Wellington School stepped in to provide an alternative venue.”

Ms Richardson said two documentaries were created especially for the festival, the first by Phillip Asiawo telling the story of Wellington’s growing African community.

The second, by Jem McCluskey, of Reflexeye, captured the town council and community’s efforts to create a green corridor by planting 4,000 native trees.

A discussion with author Kate Hughes followed a screening of ‘Wilding’, and an informative talk by producer Gavin Maxwell accompanied the screening of some short films selected for the International Wildscreen Festival, in Bristol.

Mr Maxwell’s experience included ‘Hidden Kingdoms’ and the triple-Emmy nominated ‘Wild China’ series.

The Wellesley Cinema hosted three films, bringing classics ‘Labyrinth’ and ‘Life of Brian’ back to the big screen, while three sea shanty groups welcomed audience members to their seats for a screening of ‘Fisherman’s Friends’, which was introduced by festival patron James Purefoy, who also starred in the movie.

Ms Richardson said the strong branding and reputation of the event, plus an excellent social media presence developed by town council communications officer Rebecca Hunt, gave the festival a flying start.

She said: “While Somerset Film were the delivery partners, this festival was strongly rooted in the community, thanks to those on the steering committee who brought excellent ideas to the programme.

“Additional volunteers also returned during the festival run.

“The steering committee chose a good diversity of films and there was something to appeal to all ages.”

Ms Richardson said lessons learned could next time see all films packaged to include a talk, film introduction, or other special element, more time allowed for talks with filmmakers after the locally-produced movies, and the outdoor screening could be replaced with an immersive experience.