Folkestone documentary festival – watch, develop, explore 

The Folkestone Documentary Festival had its 2024 outing from 17th to 20th October 2024.  With screenings at Quarterhouse and Silver Screen Cinema; there was also the ever successful Industry Day, and Q+A sessions happened across town in venues such as Kollectiv and Space Bar and others. The calibre of films showing was, as usual, very high.  Directors Charlie Phillips and James Collie took Folkelife through the programme.

Charlie: “There are three of us on the team; James Collie who set up the screenings of documentaries back in the day before the Festival existed, Cheryl Pierce and myself.  James had done monthly screenings called Doc Club at Quarterhouse.  These were a selection of really great documentaries and it started to build an audience of people.  Documentaries are a rather neglected form of art; visual arts and culture get a lot of support but film tends to be forgotten rather.   As Folkestone is such a supportive place for creatives in different art forms, we thought it would be good to have a Documentary Festival to fill that little gap.”

Year on Year

Charlie:  “We’re now in our fourth year and have seen the Festival grow year on year.  In 2023 we decided to do a launch party about a month before the festival.  This really made sense and allowed us to tell people in person about the films we’ve chosen.  It’s a chance to play some trailers and talk about the films.  I think it’s easier to choose what you want to watch if you’ve heard someone talk about it.”

James: “We organise documentary festivals in different places around the world, and it would be weird not to do a launch party.  You spend a lot of time choosing the films for your festival, and once they’re locked in, it’s now the time to tell people about what they are going to see.  So people get excited, and start buying tickets, which makes it much easier for us to see what’s popular and how many people to expect.”

Charlie: “We were also more ambitious with the films we put on show, going for top tier international documentaries.  I love looking at what’s out there and deciding to put it on here.  There are more and more film makers, film reviewers and film screeners who have moved to Folkestone.  That audience is growing year on year. So let’s show them!” 

little amal

Charlie: “Our opening film for this year is ‘The Walk’ by Oscar-nominated film maker Tamara Kotevska.  It’s about the whole journey that Little Amal, the giant puppet representing child refugees made across Europe 3 years’ ago.  She visited Folkestone twice which makes this story more personal.  

“At the launch people were excited about a film we’ve got called ‘Silent Men’.  It’s about male mental health through the eyes of this really dour Scottish filmmaker who is incapable of expressing his emotions. And some were saying to their partners ‘oh, you should come and see this’ and their partners replying with ‘ah yes, and maybe you’ll understand me better!’ So that should be a good one to watch.

“There’s also a very beautiful film which is all shot on film rather than digitally.  It’s made by a collection of neurodiverse filmmakers called ‘The Stimming Pool’.   This is the world seen through the eyes of neurodiverse creators in an uncompromising way.  The world can be confusing, but really creative and interesting. It’s a beautiful piece of work.

“Stimming is also welcomed at our festival.  We’re setting aside different areas for people so you can join others stimming, or sit apart if that suits you.  It’s important that everyone feels welcome and safe in our environment.”

as the tide comes in

James: All these films are little babies of mine but one I particularly like is called ‘As The Tide Comes In’.  I saw it in a programme for another film festival in Switzerland and it’s about this small Danish island off the mainland with 27 inhabitants.  It’s got everything I look for in a documentary: am I going to learn about something new, is there some humour, and so on.  The islanders are facing climate change in a huge way as there is a lot of flooding that separates them from the mainland.  But also there’s someone who turns 100 in the film, and the incidental family lives bring an accidental humour to the film which is rather lovely.  I hope people will embrace it.

“Another one of mine is ‘Black Snow’ which is a Russian film.  It has everything going on in it with Ukraine and Putin, but it’s one where the character grows in front of your eyes.  They become an activist, and gain more confidence as the film progresses.  As the film was made over a number of years, you can really see this turning into a battle against the Russian government. It’s set in a coal mining town, and that’s the black snow that they talk about.  I’m not going to tell you what happens in the end, but they get visits from increasingly more important politicians…”

doc club

Charlie: “This isn’t just a festival in October.  Doc Club has been running for years, and it’s really useful to continue our festival all year round.  There are loads of films we wanted to show but weren’t able to due to release dates. So Doc Club makes it easier to show films at other times of the year. It keeps our community growing.”

To buy tickets for the Folkestone Documentary Club visit their page or CreativeFolkestone.org.