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Film festival for 'rebels and mavericks' to return

Alex Pope
News imageKhandie Photography Three people on stage, in front of a screen. The woman on the right is wearing a red top, jeans, is holding a clapper board prize and has long dark hair. The woman in the middle has short hair, and a black and white dress on and the man to the left is wearing a T-shirt, jacket and trousers. Khandie Photography
Winners included The Girl and the Chair by Core Creates in Corby, with Becky Carrier, the festival's director, in the middle

A film festival that celebrates "rebels and revolutionaries, misfits and mavericks, creatives and changemakers" will return next year after the clapperboard came down on its successful fifth event.

The Northampton Film Festival (NFF) ran from 28 February to 8 March and showcased 80 films across five venues.

Director Becky Carrier said 50 of the films were then put forward for the event's awards final, and there was a real "breadth" of storytelling on display.

One of the winners, Helen Tither, said the whole event lived up to its expectations.

The festival showcased "emerging voices and established talent from across the country, including a strong contingent from Northamptonshire," organisers said.

News imageKhandie Photography A large group of people on a stage, in front of a screen. Some are kneeling, others are standing up. Some are holding clapper boards. They are all smiling and looking at the camera. Khandie Photography
The winners of the film festival were celebrated at an event at the Royal & Derngate on Sunday, 8 March

Tither, the director of the documentary feature film The Corinthians: We Were The Champions, said it prided itself on celebrating "being rebels and revolutionaries, misfits and mavericks, creatives and changemakers - and the Northampton Film Festival certainly lives up to that brilliant promise".

She said winning the prize "means such a lot to us with such tough competition".

Steff Lee, from Kettering, director of Of All The Things, said she was "overjoyed to win the Best of Northants animation prize.

"To win something in my home county feels extra special," she said.

"We were lucky enough to see some of the winning films and their trailers and there was so much talent in that room, it was an honour to be there."

News imageKhandie Photography Two people, smiling at the camera, at a film festival. The woman on the right has long dark hair and has a red top on and necklace, the person to the left has red shoulder-length hair, glasses on, a black leather jacket, red top and earrings in their ears. Khandie Photography
Some of the creative team behind the film 48 Hours Later came to the awards event

Carrier said: "We really put our all into NFF 2026 to celebrate our fifth birthday and we were absolutely met by the same energy from filmmakers.

"We're extremely proud of the quality and breadth of storytelling we brought to local and national audiences during the festival, and we've already started to plan 2027's festival to make sure we can build on the positivity, diversity and quality of this year's films and events."

The event was organised with the help of 40 young people from the Young Programmers scheme, to ensure "everyone knows Northants is a place alive with creativity, culture and ambition", the organisers added.

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