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New date for the Southend-on-Sea Film Festival 2021
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Due to the Covid 19 Pandemic we are moving the Southend-on-Sea Film Festival 2021 from May to September in the hope that the Coronavirus restrictions will have been lifted or made easier by then.
The new date for next years SOSFF will be Thursday 16th to Monday 20th September 2021.
The SOSFF will again take place at the Park Inn By Radisson Palace Hotel in Southend-on-Sea. Our intention is to include a lot of the films and events that we was unable to screen at this years cancelled film festival.
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23rd-27th may 2019
FESTIVAL FRINGE 11TH MAY-3RD JUNE
I am absolutely delighted to welcome you to the eleventh annual Southend-on-Sea Film Festival. From its humble beginnings, back in 2009, this has grown to be the largest in Essex. I am immensely proud of what has been achieved.
As usual, we will be aiming to entice all members of the film-going public, from the youngest to the more mature. For the former, we are introducing Family Friendly Cinema, where Under 14s go free, when accompanied by a ticket-purchasing adult. So look out for these shows and give the kids a treat! At the other end of the spectrum, our more mature patrons are well catered for on Friday, in particular, when the likes of Fred Astaire, Margaret Rutherford and Gordon Harker will bring back the glory days of the 30s and 50s.
I am also delighted to showcase our local filmmakers. You will find their work dotted throughout the programme, including our Opening Gala, Under the Radar , a wonderful documentary about one of Southend’s favourite ‘sons’, Mike Edmonds, and our Closing Gala presentation of short films which have taken our town as their starting point. We also have the usual World Cinema presentations and a raft of fascinating documentaries and heritage events.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the support that you, and our sponsors, provide, and I thank you all most sincerely.
The Festival Team and I look forward to welcoming you to the Southend-on-Sea Film Festival.
Paul Cotgrove : Festival Director
festival guests
In addition to the celebrities and guests who will be joining us for the Opening Gala we will also be welcoming the following very special guests to this year’s festival:

RAY WINSTONE
Southend-on-Sea Film Festival Patron

VICKI MICHELLE
Southend-on-Sea Film Festival Patron
KAREN ANSTEE
director, Approval Needed
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STEWART ALEXANDER
co-director, The Bicycle Thief
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BRADLEY BARTON
co-director, A Walking Shadow
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MARC BLAKE
director, Axman
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HOWY BRATHERTON
actor, The Job
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MOLLY BROWN
director, Meanwhile, in Southend
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SAM BROWN
railway enthusiast, Chasing Trains
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TONY BURKE
director, Bottle Boy
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CARTER CLARKE
director, The Bandit
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LLIAM COKER
writer, Life After
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BOB DALGARNO
historian, Old Leigh Through the Ages & The EKCO Story
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PEDRO DEL BATTENBERG
director, The Job
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MARIE-ANN DEL BATTENBERG
producer, The Job
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DARYL EASLEA
writer, DJ and music consultant, RUDEBOY: The Story of Trojan Records and Kojey Radical
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JAMIE EVANS
director, It Starts with a Girl
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RORY JOSCELYNE
director, Human Cargo
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JENNIFER FARFORT
Child of the Sun Films, Circle of Support
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PETER FINLAY
director, Not Yet the Hero
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KRISTIAN FITSALL
director, Wallace Gets the News
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DAVID JACKSON
director, Winterlong
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MARK JOSEPH
film collector,
Gerry and Sylvia Anderson - on Film!
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MAHENDRA KANNANGARA
curator, The Forsaken Land
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DARREN KENT
actor, In Two Minds
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TOM KING
journalist, The Battle of the Sexes
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ATTILA KIRALY
director, Life After 'Operation Whirlwind'
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BEN LETTIERI
director, Life After and Lonewolf: The Awakening
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CAROLE MULRONEY
historian, Old Leigh Through the Ages
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MICHELLE PASSFIELD
WellbeingMatters, Circle of Support
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ROGER ROBINSON
author, The Laurel & Hardy Laughter Show
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PAUL RODRIGUEZ
director, Perfect Baby
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ALICE RYAN
co-director, A Walking Shadow
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CAROLINE SPENCE
writer/producer,
Do Something, Jake
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KERRY SKINNER
co-director, The Bicycle Thief
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JAMES SMITH
director, Do Something, Jake
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DAVID STREAMES
director, In Two Minds
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SAMUEL TURNER
director, I’m Coming Home
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JOHN WEST
associate producer, Simon Marsden: A Life in Pictures
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JAMES WILSHER
director, Pest
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NEIL WILSON
director, Lonewolf: The Awakening
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MICHAEL J. WOOD-WILSON
director, Sophie and the Danegeld
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ADAM RAMET
Lounge music
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principal sponsors
