The film programme will be screened throughout the city, including the Tyneside Cinema, Cineworld, Side Cinema, The Holy Biscuit and Cluny 2; and across the river at Vue Gateshead, with other venues across the region to be confirmed. Events will also be hosted at The Assembly Rooms, Aveika, Colonel Porters, The Mining Institute, The Biscuit Factory and the Newcastle Civic Centre as well as at Gateshead College, major sponsor of the inaugural festival which launched in Cannes last year.
Ambassador of the festival and Schindler’s List star Caroline Goodall will be back to host a question and answer session following a retrospective of the work of Indian actor Om Puri along with workshops with world famous directors, producers and actors. This is a chance for aspiring talent in the region to learn from the best. The Hobbit actor Richard Armitage is expected to attract fans in Newcastle as the star of Urban & the Shed Crew featuring music by Noel Gallagher - among the films set to have a first official screening at the festival. Another will be transgender-theme film This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous, by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopples.
Festival president Jacqui Miller Charlton said:
“As the opening date moves ever closer of the first ever international film festival that Newcastle, and indeed the North East, has ever held, it’s scary and exciting in equal measure. Scary because we want to ensure we deliver to the region an event that the people connect with and understand; and exciting because we are working on some truly amazing events to ensure that there really is something for everyone.”
And actor Craig Conway, who also works as a writer and director and is a producer of the festival, said that having been involved in theatre, TV and theatre the world over it is a "blessing" to be part of something being created in the North East "The Newcastle International Festival is the foundation and springboard needed to develop a sustainable industry that will create global success for us all," he said.
The festival programme is still being fine-tuned but tickets are on sale now HERE