Organisers of next year’s MINT Chinese Film Festival in Keswick have plans to make the annual event bigger and better than the two that have gone before.
Among the attractions they are exploring about bringing to the town is an Asian arts and crafts market that would fill the market square with Chinese colour and activities.
It was discussed at a meeting of Keswick Town Council last week, when councillors heard that more than 20 stalls were anticipated.
The Keswick Alhambra Cinema will once again host the festival which will run from February 21 to 23, and there are grand plans to expand the complementary programme of free activities for the whole town to enjoy: a full Chinese New Year extravaganza in Keswick.
Cinema co-owner Carol Rennie, who has spent many years in China, is joining forces with fellow Braithwaite mum, Malaysian Chinese Yen Doran, and the Lancaster Confucius Institute, to bring an authentic Chinese New Year Lion Dance and orchestra to Keswick market square on Sunday February 23.
Keswick Museum’s community gallery will feature an exhibition about Chinese New Year, and the attraction will also host Chinese crafting activities on Wednesday February 19 and Saturday February 22. Keswick’s Saturday market may well also be filled with Chinese colour and lanterns.
Carol said: “The call is out now for volunteers to help at the MINT Chinese Film Festival, and the town once again looks forward to welcoming a host of Chinese-speaking film buffs from across the UK to enjoy a fantastic selection of original films from the Chinese speaking world — as well as wider Asian content — and hopes once again to attract large numbers of locals too, to dip into Chinese culture and get an insight to the fascinating world of Chinese film, primarily by, or reflecting the experiences of, Chinese women.”
Yixiang Lin, who is co-founder and lead curator of MINT Chinese Film Festival, said: “I can’t believe we’re stepping into the third edition of MINT CFF in Keswick, a lovely place I first visited alone for Carol’s collaboration proposal on running a Chinese film festival in 2022.
“I am so proud of us for introducing the best Chinese cinema to local audiences in the past two years.
“I am very grateful that we haven’t given up working on this dream-like festival but the pressing issues, like visas, fundings, and life changing circumstances, are concerning all of us.
“If there isn’t anyone like us passionate about Chinese cinema and cross-cultural communication, then who else can make it engage and keep this alive?
“This year, our curatorial focus expands beyond Chinese cinema to embrace a broader Asian presence, with the introduction of the ‘Asian Spark’ competition category and a new co-event-Asian market with our friend at Hello Art.
“I can’t wait to fly from Beijing to Keswick and meet our team and women from the community in Keswick next February.”
