2023 Festival


Welcome to the 23rd Keswick Film Festival

Thank You

The festival has come to and end and we hope you all had a great time. We've added up all your ratings and on the scores page you can see how the films fared. All of the film pages on the website have a comments section so you can share your views or if you'd like to leave us feedback you can contact us or find us on Twitter and Facebook.

We hope to see you again next year for another fantastic festival.

A collage of images from films showing at the 23rd Keswick Film Festival

News

  • Osprey Short Film Award Winners

    27 February 2023

    Congratulations to all of the short films that were screened at the Theatre By The Lake on Saturday afternoon. The Judges Prize was awarded to MOVING WITH by Jonny Randall, a short film which captures the precious moment in time between mother and son and their local landscape. Featuring dance artist Lucy Nicholson and her son Benji in their home village of Staveley. Jonny and Lucy collected the award from Winners' director Hassan Nazer.

    The audience selected THE CHAMELEON WOLF for the Audience Award which was announced by Sarah Beddington the director of Fadia's Tree. This charming animation about a flatulent wolf cub who gets lost in the forest was made by 8-11 year olds at a Signal Starters Film-in-a-week workshop. The work of Jorgie, Byron, Jon Joe, Ruby, Benjamin, Imogen, Isla, Darcy, Laila & Mila filled the theatre with laughter.

  • Sunday at the Festival

    26 February 2023

    Seven more films to choose from on the final day of the festival including three different representations of the LGBTQIA+ community for LGBT+ History Month in All The Beauty and the Bloodshed, Joyland and The Blue Caftan.

  • Saturday at the Festival

    25 February 2023

    Today we head out to Rheged for EO ("Bizarre, beautiful, moving and playful" - Robbie Collin) and Lunana, A Yak in the Classroom sponsored by KE Adventure Travel. There's plenty to see in Keswick with the Osprey Short Film Awards and feature length films such as the powerful Blue Jean and The Dardennes' latest Tori and Lokita.

  • Friday at the Festival

    24 February 2023

    It's the first full day of the festival and there's plenty to see:

  • The 23rd Keswick Film Festival Starts Tonight

    23 February 2023

    Our opening film GODLAND is now sold out but it's just one of 25 feature films showing over the next 4 days at the Alhambra, Theatre by the Lake and Rheged. The Alhambra will be open from 5:30pm for passholders to collect lanyards and ticket holders can join us for a glass of wine between 6.30pm and 7.00pm before the film.

    There will be more wine on offer before Friday's gala screening of WINNERS with the director Hassan Nazer. Drinks will be available between 8.15pm and 8.45pm leaving plenty of time for those of you wanting to see RIMINI, to get down to the Theatre.

    On Saturday, director Sarah Beddington will be doing a Q&A after her film FADIA'S TREE (Theatre 11am). Sarah and Hassan will also be joining us at the Osprey Short Film Awards (Theatre 2pm) to announce the winners from the selection of 10 short films all with a Cumbrian connection. 

    Sunday starts with the Oscar nominated documentary ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED (Alhambra 11am) and chances to see brand new critically acclaimed films such as JOYLAND (Alhambra 2pm) and BROKER (Alhambra 8:30pm).

    Please see the full programme or download the flyer or planner for full details of all the films.

  • Please Book Your Place for Godland

    21 February 2023

    The Film Festival is almost upon us and we look forward to welcoming you to Keswick.

    Our opening film, Godland, is proving really popular and there are very few seats left. Passholders who have not reserved a seat are urged to do so – they will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

    Update: The screening is now sold out. 

    As with any festival, we will start with the time-consuming admin of issuing lanyards. We will be issuing them from 5.30pm from the Alhambra. Please arrive in good time and then join us for a glass of wine between 6.30pm and 7.00pm.

    Talking of wine, there will be more on offer before the gala screening of Winners on Friday, between 8.15pm and 8.45pm – still plenty of time for those of you wanting to see Rimini, to get down to the Theatre.

    There are still a few places left on Sunday's shuttle bus to Rheged, please see the travel page for information on how to book.

    All that remains to say is Enjoy the Festival and...

    See you on Thursday!

Featured Trailer


Keswick Film Club
Theatre By The Lake
Alhambra Cinema
Rheged Centre


Staying in Keswick for the Festival?

Keswick Film Festival has joined forces with Sally's Cottages, an award-winning holiday cottage company run by people that love the Lake District and Cumbria, with an office just across the road from our beloved Alhambra Cinema.

Over 260 beautiful holiday cottages in and around Keswick.

Book Now

Keswick Film Festival is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.



Film Hub North
BFI Film Audience Network

All programme and film details are correct at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.