AN exciting, red carpeted film festival, which hopes to showcase the creative efforts of local directors, filmmakers and video artists, will be coming to Colchester.

 Now in its third year, the Colchester Independent Short Film Festival will see two evenings of film screenings from short film submissions from a wide range of practitioners, from local filmmakers to national and international filmmakers.

The event hopes to find talented filmmakers and help them promote their work, screening all entries in the live public event. Genres featured include low-budget horror, comedy, drama and LGBTQ shorts.

After the evening’s screenings are done, there will be a Q and A session and a panel with some directors and the Essex Film Collective.

The evenings will end with award ceremonies and a laurel presentation to a select few filmmakers, including a special red-carpet moment for winners. There will be post-festival networking.

Speaking on the event, organiser Nick Pelas said: "I've directed fringe theatre in London since 2008 and launched my own film festival in 2021, the Colchester Independent Short Film Festival, which is now in its third year. 

“The festival runs over two days and the purpose is to showcase talent, particularly local filmmakers."

The event will take place on the evenings of Friday, May 19 and Saturday, May 20. For tickets and more information, visit bit.ly/3YHaoyd.