International festival Deaffest returns with a packed programme

Deaffest, the UK’s leading Deaf-led Film and Arts Festival, returns on Friday 25 – Sunday 27 May at Light House Media Centre, Wolverhampton.

Deaffest-2012The festival programme will include free film screenings of films from all around the world, the Deaffest Fair in the courtyard of the Chubb Buildings, a seminar for filmmakers, the Young Deaffest Awards, the Ben Steiner Bursary Evening with live entertainment, and a ‘Keep Calm and Carry On Signing’ Deaf party. Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK there will also be a free Sunday matinee screening of The Muppets.

The festival is mainly free to attend with tickets available to purchase for the Saturday night entertainment and party.

The festival launch on Friday 25 May will see screenings of films premiering in the UK and films from new talent, ranging from a drama set in the gritty underworld of Amsterdam to a comedy comparing the merits of sex and chocolate. At the end of the evening there will be the opportunity to network in Lock Works café bar.

Saturday will see the Deaffest Fair from 10am until 4pm in the courtyard, with stalls from a wide range of organisations and artists.

There will be activities for families, including juggling and games for children. At noon there will be a seminar ‘Stop Signing and Inspire!’ for filmmakers and those working within the film industry which will look at using techniques such as body language and mime instead of signed or spoken dialogue in films. In the afternoon Young Deaffest will showcase films made by young Deaf people, with the announcement of the 2012 winner of the Young Deaffest Awards.

At the Ben Steiner Bursary Evening there will be a look at what the participants of the bursary scheme have been working on throughout this year. This project aims to give Deaf media practitioners the opportunity to produce a film and at the end of the evening the winner of the 2012 bursary will be announced.

To coincide with the jubilee celebrations dance act Def Motion will return to the festival, after their 2011 debut, with a 1950s inspired dance set. John Smith, the acclaimed Deaf comedian, will perform and talk about what being British means.

Saturday night will culminate with the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On Signing’ party, which will go on until late and include special performances from Def Motion, Visual Vernacular acts and burlesque dancing from the glamorous Mille Dollar.

Tickets are required for the Ben Steiner Bursary Evening and the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On Signing’ party. The cost for admission to both Ben Steiner Bursary Evening and the ‘Keep Calm and Carry on Signing’ party is £14.90. Admission to only party only is £9.95. Buy tickets at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/deaffest

On Sunday there will be more short films from around the world and a free subtitled matinee screening of Disney’s The Muppets.

For the full programme and more information about the festival visit www.deaffest.co.uk

Deaffest is supported by the National Lottery through the BFI and Creative England. It is supported by Light House, Wolverhampton City Council, Zebra Uno and University of Wolverhampton. Deaffest is sponsored by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK.