Sedbergh, England’s Book Town

Thanks to everyone who came along to the People’s Hall on Gala Day to watch The Golden Compass. A thoroughly entertaining film, and a lot better than i’d been led to believe by some of the reviews i’ve read. Only the second film we’ve shown to receive a round of applause as the credits rolled too! An interestingly upbeat ending (compared to Northern Lights, the book on which it’s based) which leaves the story open for a sequel.

What with the increased media coverage of the situation in Tibet recently, we thought it might be timely to show Seven Years in Tibet at our next screening on Saturday 14th June at the People’s Hall. We’ve also asked the local branch of Help Tibet to come along and sell refreshments, and hopefully some of their lovely Tibetan-made merchandise.

It’s around 10 years since the film was released, but this gives you a chance to see the stunning scenery on the big screen (and Brad Pitt too).

In the afternoon we’ve plumped for Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, starring Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman, which looks a lot of fun and suitable for all the family.

Full details and times for both films can be found here.

You wouldn’t believe the amount of phoning, typing and teeth-gnashing it takes to organise a Flicks in the Fells screening. It‘s not just a case of popping along to the Spar and renting a DVD off the shelf, they have to be booked by email from a company who are the “leaders in non-theatrical film distribution” (according to their website) weeks in advance. They then send us the disk by special delivery 3 or 4 days in advance of the screening. We show the film, count how much money we’ve taken and then, after we’ve sent the film back along with our box office returns form, they send us an invoice for a hefty percentage of those takings (with a minimum amount guaranteed).

Or that’s how it’s supposed to work anyway…

What usually happens is that we select the films we’d like to show and email them a booking form weeks in advance. About a week before the screening I ring them up to confirm the booking (if i’m very lucky I won’t have to keep trying all morning before I can speak to a real person and not their answerphone). Without fail they then tell me that they don’t seem to have a record of our booking. I then give them our email address and they look again and tell me that they have got our booking.

At this point it can go two ways, the lady (it’s usually a lady, who, incidentally has a very attractive telephone voice) on the other end of the phone might tell me that the booking’s fine and she’ll arrange to get the film sent out. If this happens I do a little dance and get on with doing the posters, and the tickets…

Other times she’ll tell me that they haven’t received their copies of the film yet, or they haven’t got a copy available for our screening date, or the Orcs of Mordor have stolen all the disks*, or it’s not available in the format we need (even though their website says that it is). When this happens, as it did today, I groan and put my head down on the desk (and possibly swear a little).

We then have to select an alternative film, check on the website that they have it, and start the process all over again.

After all this, setting up the equipment and the chairs in the hall is the easy part!

*This hasn’t actually ever happened yet.

By a curious coincidence, not only is the theme of this year’s Sedbergh Gala ‘Films’, but Saturday 17th May is also the next screening date by Sedbergh’s community cinema project Flicks in the Fells.

So, at 6pm, after a hard day’s watching fancy dress competitions, fell runners, Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestlers and much much more, why not head up to the People’s Hall to catch The Golden Compass?

We’re not talking flickering black and white silent projections onto an old bedsheet here. We’ve got a huge 12′x9′ screen, a formidable Sanyo 5500 lumen digital projector, and a breathtaking Fohhn Experience sound system, not forgetting our shiny red popcorn maker, dispensing hot fresh organic popcorn! All this adds up to a cinematic experience that has to be seen (and heard) to be believed, with the added bonus that it’s right on your doorstep, er, if you live in the area that is… 

Further details of both the Gala, and the film screening can be found on the events page of the Sedbergh website.

Flicks in the Fells is still a fairly new project, and we’re still trying out different genres of films to get a feel for what you, the people want. Usually we try and have a screening once a month in Sedbergh, showing two films on a Saturday. One in the afternoon aimed at all the family and then an evening film perhaps with a slightly more adult theme (no, not that kind of adult!)

We’ve also held screenings in Dent and Barbon, hopefully to return again, and we’re more than willing to talk to other organisations in the area about coming to you to screen films.

On screening days we also offer various local groups the opportunity to sell refreshments as a way of raising funds for themselves.

To get in touch, either for film details, or to talk to us about how we can work with your group, or to subscribe to our emailing list, see the details on the events page.

Hope to see you at the People’s Hall next week!

Three of today’s most important topical issues lie at the heart of this year’s Festival of Ideas which takes place in Sedbergh from 17th - 20th July.

In recent months the UK’s press and media have given intense coverage to prominent topics such as Diversity, Democracy and Climate Change - probably the most vital and contentious issues of our day. Together they form the backbone of this year’s festival in Sedbergh, now rapidly gaining national recognition as England’s Book Town thanks to its growing programme of live events and book-related activities. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve introduced an online questionnaire on the Sedbergh Booktown website to help us plan future events and improve our service to people visiting Sedbergh and district. We would really like to have your input and views, and particularly your suggestions and we hope that you will give up a few minutes of your time to answer the questionnaire on the Sedbergh Booktown website.

Sedbergh’s biennial festival of music runs from 13th to 29th June 2008 and includes a wide variety of events. Visit the Sedbergh web site for full details.

Sedbergh’s first Festival of Books and Drama took place in 2005, just three months after the launch of the project to turn Sedbergh into a Book Town for England.

This year sees our fourth Festival of Books and Drama will take place between 6th and 21st of September 2008. Plans are already taking shape Read the rest of this entry »

Sedbergh’s first Festival of Ideas was held during the weekend of 20 to 22 July 2007. There were 30 speakers presenting a range of challenging opinions and experiences. Subject areas included philosophy, politics, history, religion, social development and walking. The presentations all had a respectable number of participants in their audience and included dialogue and feedback from those present. Read the rest of this entry »

KwaZulu Natal - not exactly the sort of place that you would imagine as a centre for literary tourism is it? and yet, as the literary trails they are developing prove, it has the most stupendous literary credentials. Read the rest of this entry »