The Ultimate Definitive Guide to the 2021 FilmBath Festival

Contents

• FilmBath Festival
• FilmBath Festival Venue
• Other FilmBath Festival Venues
• A Guide to FilmBath Strands
• A Guide to FilmBath Tickets and Passes
• Tickets
• Passes
• FilmBath Festival Films
• French Films
• Strong Female Leads
• Festival Perfect Pairings
• FilmBath Recommends

The FilmBath Festival, formally known as Bath Film Festival, is a celebration of cinema in Bath. In 2021, this integral Bath festival is back for its 31^st year, screening 33 films over 7 days, between 29 Oct – 4 Nov. Based mainly in the Little Theatre, Bath, this UK film festival is not to be missed. Keep this handy guide close to ensure you don’t miss a thing.

FilmBath Festival

Welcome back to this, FilmBath’s annual film festival. With a full & varied programme featuring new releases (Previews & Bath Debuts), old classics (4 O’Clock Club) and a Halloween theme, there is something for everyone.

• The FilmBath Festival screens the best new and upcoming films from around the world with a stimulating and eclectic programme of films, workshops, and film events in venues across Bath and beyond.
• The IMDb Awards support and reward emerging talent with the Script to Screen Award and the New Filmmaker Award

FilmBath Festival Venue

This year Screen One at The Little Theatre Cinema has been rented for the week. Apart from a few special events, all festival screenings will be based here.

Enjoy comfort in the heart of Bath at The Little Theatre Cinema.

For more information, please visit the venues page.

Other FilmBath Festival Venues

• Christ Church – Where Now Are The Dreams Of Youth, a silent Japanese film accompanied on the organ by David Bednell
• The Tivoli – IMDb New Filmmaker Awards

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A Guide to FilmBath Strands

• Previews – Be the first to watch it in the UK
• Bath Debut – Never before screened in Bath (and might not be again)
• F-Rated Gems – The F-Rating is a film rating awarded to films directed by and/or written by women. If the film also stars significant women in their own right, the film is Triple F-Rated, the gold standard. For more information about the F-Rating, visit this page.
• 4 O’Clock Club – 7 films showing at 4pm every day, these are a collection of films for all the everyone to enjoy, particularly as an after school activity
• Halloween – A selection of films showing on 31 Oct
• LGBT+ – As the name suggests, this strand covers LGBT+ themes, such as gender identity (Tomboy) and sexual orientation (But I’m a Cheerleader, The Miseducation of Cameron Post & Sweetheart).
• World – Non-European and US films
• Documentary – Non-fiction films
• Special Event – One-off events or special screening

A Guide to FilmBath Tickets and Passes

Tickets

This year you can purchase either individual tickets or passes.

• Daytime Films (starting before 6pm) – £5 for everyone
• Evening Films (starting after 6pm)– £13
• Evening Films (concessions) – £7.50

For more information on who qualifies for a concessionary rate, please visit the FAQs page.

Passes

Passes allow you to buy tickets to multiple film screenings. You can only use your pass for 1 ticket per film: you cannot buy multiple tickets to a screening.

A full festival pass, whether you pay full price or the concessionary rate, allows 1 person to watch every single film in the festival (make sure you reserve your seats for every film).

• Full Festival Pass – £150
• Full Festival Pass (concessions) – £75
• Daytime Pass (5 films) – £20
• Evening Pass (5 films) – £52
• Evening Pass (concession price for 5 films) – £26

Please visit the FAQs page for more information about purchasing tickets and passes.

For help with booking tickets, you can visit the page here.

FilmBath Festival Films

You can find a full list of all the 2021 films here.

If you are not sure which films to see, or would like some recommendations, then read on for the definitive guide to the FilmBath Festival.

The opening night film is Mothering Sunday, a big budget film with plenty of star power, much like The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Mothering Sunday (Odessa Young, Josh O’Connor, Olivia Colman, Colin Firth) follows a maid as she meets the man she loves, before he leaves to marry to another woman.

With a potential Oscar-nominated performance by Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye follows the life of Tammy Faye Bakker; her rise and fall from grace. Also starring Andrew Garfield, this will be your first chance to see it in the UK, as it’s not released until next year.

For something similar to Mothering Sunday, Hope boasts star power in the form of transcendent performances by Stellan Skarsgård and Andrea Bræin Hovig. A couple’s relationship is put to the test when a life-threatening diagnosis is received. While it might not sound it, Hope is the perfect film for 2021, offering hope while exploring the complexities of human relationships. The film was Norway’s submission for the 2019 Oscars, which is a promising recommendation.

“The effect of Hope is anything but depressing; it’s reassuring proof of art’s ability to comfort as it clarifies.”

Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com

If foreign language films and family drama is your kind of movie then My Little Sister, featuring excellent performances by Nina Hoss and Lars Eidinger, is for you. Do not miss Nina Hoss’ “magnificent” performance.

My Little Sister could not have come at a better time. ”

Joseph Braverman, We Live Entertainment

French Films

Petite Maman continues the theme of familial bonds in a charming film by Célinne Sciamma. The French director’s latest offering creates an epic in miniature, with the Guardian awarding it a 5-star rating. It’s important to not give too much away, but this film would be a great film to watch with your mother (or daughter).

We have two more Célinne Sciamma films on the bill, with Tomboy and Girlhood. Tomboy explores gender issues in a thoughtful and sensitive way, and remains a highly relevant work of art today.

Girlhood concerns adolescent women growing up in the Parisian suburbs; these aren’t the glamourous images of Paris you expect, but an empowering study of life on its fringes. Sciamma explores the joys and pains of female friendship on a Parisian housing estate.

Other French films in the programme include Paris, 13^th District and Gagarine. Paris, 13^th District is directed by Jacques Audiard, with the script co-written by Célinne Sciamma. It follows the love affairs of four young people, illuminating the complexities of being alive in a style that radiates “a classic French cinema glamour”.

Cité Gagarine is a housing project in Paris named after Yuri Gagarin, first man in space. The film, named after said housing project, follows Yuri (also named after the astronaut) as he tries to save his beloved building from demolition. A story of fighting against the odds, ““Gagarine” manages to import a coming-of-age dynamic into a rich, historically significant milieu” Eric Kohn, IndieWire

Strong Female Leads

If Gagarine tickles your fancy, then Wadjda is another story about a young person with big dreams. By rights, Wadjda should not even exist. It’s the first Saudi film made by a woman, Haifaa Al-Mansour, and concerns the titular character, Wadjda, who wants a bike, but women aren’t allowed to ride them.

“This is Wadjda, hear her roar!!!”

Debbie Lynn Elias, Behind The Lens

Another woman who wants to do things her way is Jenny in An Education. Carey Mulligan is astonishing here in her breakout role, and it’s a great film to revisit. “This is a nostalgically elegant, comically restrained, cleverly scripted film which, in parts, is also extremely moving.” Deborah Ross, The Spectator

The Miseducation of Cameron Post concerns an education of sorts. Cameron, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, has to find her way in the world after being outed and sent to a gay conversion camp. Part of the LGBT+ strand of films.

Leave No Trace features an extraordinary performance by Thomasin McKenzie, who will shortly be seen in Power of the Dog and One Night in Soho. A veteran with PTSD lives with his daughter in the wilderness. When the authorities come calling, the two must find their way in the world.

One of the films that the FilmBath team agrees that you must not miss is Clara Sola. This amazing Costa Rican film is about a woman whose powerful connection with her white horse transcends human contact, until a man appears to steal her attention.

Festival Perfect Pairings

• Belle & Zola – Both showing as part of black history month: Belle is an historical tale about a woman who must fight to be seen, while Zola follows a woman on a wild road trip (it’s not family friendly)
• Hit the Road & Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth – World cinema
• Julie & Julia & Faces, Places – unlikely pairings, people coming together and bonding over a common purpose.
• Ninjababy & Whip it – what do these women want from life?
• Pig & Lamb – Other than the titles and star-power leads, there’s not much similarity, but you may be pleasantly surprised.
• The Secret Life of Bees & Queen of Katwe – family friendly.
• The Diary of a Teenage Girl & But I’m a Cheerleader – Bonds of sisterhood and friendship.
• The Love Witch & Sweetheart – L.O.V.E. These are all about love.
• Babadook & Titane – Love horror? Then you’ll love these. If you can stomach either you’ll probably like the other.

FilmBath Recommends

• Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth | 1 Nov, 19:30 – An early comedy from one of the titans of Japanese cinema, this is a Hollywood-inspired film about four college friends coping with the unequal opportunities, expectations, and tribulations of life after uni. Exclusive screening, accompanied by David Bednall on the organ
• Ailey | 2 Nov, 18:25 – Superb documentary about a trailblazing pioneer who found salvation through dance, capturing what made — and still makes — Alvin Ailey so influential.
• Hit The Road | 3 Nov, 21:20– This Iranian road-trip movie is going from strength to strength. Possibly the best film at Cannes, it recently won the award for best film at the London Film Festival.
• Clara Sola | 4 Nov, 11:00– this will likely be your only chance to see this powerful Costa Rican film, featuring an impressive performance by Wendy Chinchilla Araya as a repressed woman believed to have religious healing powers. However, a new arrival appears to steal her attention.
• But I’m A Cheerleader | 4 Nov, 16:00– Elliot Page says this film helped them through difficult times. Featuring a standout performance by the fabulous Natasha Lyonne (old film, ..new Netflix series), this is the pre-courser to The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Book your tickets now

FilmBath can’t wait to welcome you to the festival.

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Written by Jenni Potter