Festival celebrating filmmakers returns to city

A festival to shine a light on filmmakers will be returning to the West Midlands.

The Wolverhampton Film Festival will see more than 70 films being screened throughout the five-day event, with TikTok star Tayyib Mahmood and comedian Smash Bengali set to host free workshops.

Last year, hundreds of people flocked to the city to attend and more than 160 films were submitted, co-founders Arun Kapur and Gurjant Singh said.

Now in its fifth year, it will take place from 29 April until 3 May at the Arena Theatre.

"The increase of calibre of films selected within the festival has increased massively, we now have filmmakers who have credits from Netflix, Paramount, Sky, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV," Kapur and Singh said.

National Film and Television school alumni Paul Carey as well as Rick Joaquim, Max Burgoyne-Moore and Salvatore Scarpa have all been billed to host workshops and offer industry tips.

This year, a new category for feature-length films has been introduced and more international films have also been included.

Kapur and Singh added: "As creatives we want to sit down with other creatives and just talk about films and the process - it's a really great time to come together and network.

"We also want to promote the West Midlands-based scene."

The festival will be rounded off with an award ceremony on 3 May.

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