Bournemouth has just come off the back of its second Bournemouth International Film Festival, which took over the Hilton Bournemouth on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October. The whole thing was built around the theme of 'Social Realism' (Realismo Social), with the tagline 'Real Stories. Real Cinema' and a focus on how film tells stories about real lives, communities and the issues shaping the world — community, work, identity and a sense of belonging in particular.
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The Hilton on Terrace Road carried the bulk of it, with screenings, industry sessions, talks, hospitality and the awards ceremony all under one roof, though some events spilled out into surrounding venues. The programme pulled together British and international feature films, shorts, documentaries and animation, with industry talks, workshops and live discussions running alongside. Among the screenings, the documentary 'LOMU' had its final cinema showing on the Friday at 17:30, and 'Hot Flash' ran on the Saturday afternoon, a menopause-celebration story about Geri, played by Gaynor Faye, becoming an entrepreneur. 'Rule', 'Poise', 'Phoxtrot' and 'Not A Wind Up' also played across the two days, with the latter specifically noted on the Friday. The whole thing wrapped up on the Saturday evening with the BIFF Black-Tie Awards Night, a gala celebrating direction, acting, writing and the wider screen industry.
On the industry side, Oli Tridgell, director of 'Made in Chelsea', gave a special talk at the Hilton on the Saturday at 13:30. The documentary award was judged by Dominika Scott-Jones, Simon Lazenby of Sky F1 and producer Victoria Barrell. Behind the scenes, the festival was run by Steve McCarten as director, Cherene Bracegirdle-Smith as head of programming, Khushpreet Singh on social media and Louis Molyneux as digital expert, with Christopher Eccleston, the former 'Doctor Who' star, as festival patron. Not Just Travel came on as lead sponsor.
Screenings ran from roughly 10:30am to 9:30pm on the Friday and 10:30am to 11:30pm on the Saturday, so there was a lot to get through. Tickets were tiered: the Day Tripper at £24.99 gave access to at least five feature films, the short/documentary/animation showcase and the industry panels; the Screen Fiend at £44.99 covered all public screenings across both days plus the full workshop and panel; and the All Access pass at £75.00 added the after-parties, a table at the Black-Tie Awards Night, an official festival bag and a sponsor listing in the programme. Registration ran through FilmFreeway and tickets were sold via Eventzilla.
It is worth knowing what sits behind the festival, too. BIFF is a Community Interest Company registered in Bournemouth, founded in 2025, and it runs as a non-profit, with all proceeds going back into bursaries, training, production opportunities and community-led cultural initiatives. That non-profit status is a big part of why it leans so hard into social realism and community stories rather than the usual red-carpet fare. With the second edition now wrapped, the festival has firmly set up its place on the south coast's cultural calendar.
Published Date
11 October 2026
