Indie film-makers appeal for Festival of Making cinema

Indie filmmakers are being invited to showcase their talents as part of Blackburn's Festival of Making.

Festival promoters are seeking the best and brightest to take part in a 'pop-up' cinema experience as part of the 2024 event, which takes place on Saturday, July 6, and Sunday 7.

Auteurs have regularly documented the cavalcade of activities at each year's festival - and focused on special attractions like Art in Manufacturing.

But this is an opportunity for fledgling directors, across all genres, to be featured in a collaboration with Clitheroe-based film studio Dirty Faces.

A festival spokesman said: "The infamous Tony’s Ballroom will be transformed into a creative film hub, hosting film screenings, Q&As, DJs and artwork, curating a casual space to reflect, connect and converse about what it means to be a young creative in towns across the North and beyond."

Those interested are being asked to send a cut of their film to dirtyfacesstudio@gmail.com. There is no minimum runtime but the deadline is Monday, May 20 for entries.⁠

A leading light of Dirty Faces is Brody Salmon, who has been responsible for creating a raft of short films for a variety of purposes.

One such offering was 2019's Edgelands, commissioned to raise awareness of issues surrounding food poverty, featuring a cast from across East Lancs.

Another was The Same Boat (2021) where Salmon worked with spoken word artist Ellis Howard on a piece for Challenge Poverty Week.

Meanwhile, festival organisers have announced the first events which will be taking place as part of their 2024 incarnation.

Events will range from a Makers Market in Blackburn Cathedral, hosted by Hopeful and Glorious, and the Taste Lancashire Market in King William Street, to colourful productions such as Teabreak, by Bristol theatre group Trigger, the Latin beats of Suco Samba and performances by the Blackburn Festival of Light Band.

Four artists - Nehal Aamir, Margo Selby, Horace Lindezey and Sam Williams - who have been working with Making Rooms, The Cardboard Box Company, Darwen Terracotta and Standfast & Barracks as part of the Arts in Manufacturing initiative will be giving talks across the weekend.

Elsewhere visitors can sample everything from paper weaving, leather workshops and rocket designing to the Discobug DJ stage, Folk Dance Remixed and The Poetry Machine with wordsmith Beth Calverley.⁠