16th to 19th september 2021

As the 2021 Southend-on-Sea Film Festival came to a close, I gave my customary thanks to my colleagues in the Festival Team who did so much to make it happen. This year, my thanks were especially sincere as they had been with me on the long road from late 2019, when the planning for the 2020 festival, due to be presented that May, had started.

Well, we all know what happened next! But the team stuck by me, even as our usual date in May 2021 came and went, and they eventually helped me to present a festival that delivered on all fronts.

In between our Opening Gala, the bitter sweet comedy drama Brighton, to Killing Dad, the Closing Gala feature that we had the pleasure of watching in the very hotel where it had been filmed, we were able to present our usual mix of documentaries, World Cinema, heritage presentations, new features and classic films.

It was particularly pleasing to see our wonderful patrons once again, and to see them enjoying our presentations. There’s no doubt they were as pleased as I was that we were ‘back in business’!

So thank you, once again, to everyone who helped make this festival the success it was, in particular the Festival Team and our wonderful sponsors. And a big “thank you”, also, to our lovely patrons.

I hope to see you all again in May 2022! 

Paul Cotgrove : Festival Director

These pages will be updated once the 2022 Southend-on-Sea Film Festival details are announced

festival calendar