Film festivals are still rolling in Leeds

The Leeds Young Film Festival will also be taking place as scheduled next month, organisers said today.

Confirmation that the two Leeds City Council-backed events are happening comes just days after it emerged that another of the jewels in West Yorkshire’s cultural crown, the Bradford International Film Festival, will not be continuing in its traditional form.

And cinema lovers in Leeds are being promised a blockbusting series of treats that should make up for any sadness at the problems that have hit the Bradford celluloid extravaganza.

The full programme for the Leeds Young Film Festival – which runs from March 24 to 31 – is not due to be revealed until the end of this month.

But it will include special screenings at Leeds Town Hall of classic flicks Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and The Shawshank Redemption.

Next month’s festival will also feature a strand dedicated to the wonderful world of animation, thanks to recently-secured Arts Council funding.

The Leeds International Film Festival, meanwhile, will run this year from November 3 to 17.

Its programme is still being worked on but a spokesman said the team would be pulling out all the stops to mark the annual event’s 30th birthday in style.

He also said last year’s festival had clocked up a total of 42,000 customer visits, the highest in its history.

For more details, visit www.leedsfilm.com or www.leedsyoungfilm.com.