The Swansea Bay Film Festival is an annual film festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 that takes places in Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...

 has resigned as patron of the Swansea Bay Film Festival and Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen

Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...

 has resigned as vice president following criticism of the festival.

Festival mission

This is a festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 that promises to "honour the individual voice". Its goal is to provide a worldwide public forum for independent and experimental film

Experimental film

Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...

 makers and to offer educational outreach. The Swansea Bay Film Festival is a qualifying festival for the British Independent Film Awards

British Independent Film Awards

The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British...

. The Academy of Media, Recording, Interactive, Television and Stage Arts (AMRITSA) are organising the event and the festival's "Special Selection Committee" will comprise seasoned filmmakers, representatives from The City and County of Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

, The Dylan Thomas Centre

Dylan Thomas Centre

The Dylan Thomas Centre is an arts centre located in the Maritime Quarter in Swansea, Wales, UK.Formerly the city's Guildhall, which was originally built in 1825, the Dylan Thomas Centre was restored and refurbished to host the UK Year of Literature and Writing in 1995.It was opened in 1995 by...

, and The Department of Adult and Continuing Education at Swansea University

Swansea University

Swansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea following structural changes...

.

Critical response

• Director Michael Attardi says, "The Swansea Film Festival is better than Cannes."* On the other hand, the festival has been described by previous participants as "a sham" and "the worst film festival.". In June 2011 The Guardian headlined the Swansea Bay film festival as a 'disaster'

Winners

2010 - main categories

• Best International Documentary: Salt in Salad (Israel) - Michael Kovensky and Elena Mescheryavoka
• Best International Feature Film: Carmilla Hyde (Australia) - Dave De Vries
• Best International Environment and Ecological Film: Poison Wind (USA) - Jenny Pond
• Best in the Festival: Shooter (UK) - Ronnie Goodwin

2009 - main categories

• Best Documentary: War of the Gods (USA) - Jennifer Abbott
• Best International Feature Film: Blue Bus (USA) - Phil Scarpaci
• Best Feature Film: Gods of Circumstance (USA ) - Justin Golding
• Best in Festival: Jackson (USA) - JF Lawton

2008 - main categories

• Best International Short Film: Appassionata (Germany) - Mirko Echghi-Ghamsari

2006 - main categories

• Best Feature Film: Footsteps (UK) - Gareth Evans
• Best Feature Film Under 75 Minutes - Teenage Wasteland (UK) - Andrew Jones (filmmaker)
  Andrew Jones (filmmaker)
  Andrew Jones is a British screenwriter and director.-Biography:Andrew Jones was born in Britain, in Swansea in South Wales....
  
  
• Best Short Film (Under 20 Mins) : Tomorrow Never Dais (UK) - Anthony James
• Best Noir: The Girl the Gun & the Desert (UK) - Alun D Pughe
  Alun D Pughe
  Alun D Pughe is an award-winning Welsh film and music video director.-Biography:Alun's career began in 2005 with a fifteen minute psychological film noir entitled The Girl, the Gun and the Desert. After the film was optioned for a European graphic novel adaptation it was nominated and later won...
  
  

External links

• Official Website
• remotegoat.co.uk, "Swansea Bay Film Festival 2008"
• fargofilmmaking.wikia.com, Swansea Bay Film Festival
• news.bbc.com, June 3 2006, "Swansea premieres film festival"
• http://undercurrentsvideo.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-swansea-is-scamming-international.html"How Swansea is is scamming international film makers"]