MORE than 40 short films from across Europe, Asia, North and South America are coming to the big screen in Saddleworth and Oldham for the ninth Sahar International Short Film Festival.
Kickstarting the festival is a live screening event on Wednesday, August 24 at Saddleworth Museum on Uppermill High Street from 5pm-8pm.
A selection of ten premiere films will be shown, with an introductory talk by SISFF President Mandana Ansari. There will also be live music from top rock and blues guitarist Colin Walker.
Tickets cost £5 and are available in advance from the festival website or pay on the door. The films are suitable for ages 15 and over.
Then over the next month there will be a series of short films shown via online streaming or at live screening events.
The festival reaches its climax on Tuesday, September 20, with a ‘Best of Fest’ screening of 12 films in the Performance Space at Oldham Library on Greaves Street from 3pm-7pm. Tickets are free, but donations are accepted.
These short films are from Iran, Spain, France, Colombia, Argentina, Sri Lanka and USA. The films are suitable for audiences aged 15 and above.
The Sahar International Short Film Festival was created in 2014 by Saddleworth film director, writer and artist Mandana Ansari.
With the lifting of Covid restrictions, this year marks the return of live screenings to complement the online format which has been used for previous editions during the pandemic.
Mandana said: “This year, as always, we have a diverse range of drama, documentary, animation, docudrama, experimental and music video.
“Some films are from young filmmakers, with brave ideas who are looking to break a taboo, even with a low budget, films have great words to share.
“Others are from experienced filmmakers with professional techniques in acting, directing, camera and so on, and higher budgets, but all of the filmmakers have professional standards of artistic and technical creativity.
“We support all short filmmakers who belong to a variety of spectrums and colours. We are not a religious or political party or organization.
“I am grateful to the festival distributors, especially Click for Festivals team Manager, who provided us this range of diverse filmmakers with high standard quality films to select from.”
Festival Editor Martin Gleeson added “We are excited about using Saddleworth Museum for an event for the first time.
“We believe art films should be situated in community arts and cultural environments rather than commercial cinemas.
“By bringing the screenings to Saddleworth Museum and Oldham Library we are hoping to build an audience on both sides of the borough.
“Our Middle East manager Sahar Ansari suggested the great idea to donate all profits from the festival to charity. We hope with a supportive audience we will be able to support the people of Ukraine.”
See social media and the Festival website for further details and to start streaming: https://saharfilmfestival.wixsite.com/sahar-film-festival
To find out more, email saharfilmfestival@gmail.com or call 07722 351152.
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