THE very first Stroud Film Festival will take place at venues throughout the town in March, 2015. It will be a two-week celebration of cinema, bringing new opportunities for the whole community to enjoy a wide range of films.

Four local organisations have come together to organise the festival programme, from features, animations and documentaries, to short videos produced by local filmmakers and experimental films. Special events, including family screenings, live music, talks by local filmmakers, and the Stroud Film Awards, will run alongside the main film programme.

All the big screens in the town where film is regularly shown will be involved – VUE Cinema, Lansdown Hall, SVA Brunel Shed, and the British School – as well as less traditional 'cinemas', such as the Cotswold Playhouse, local pubs and cafés.

The programme is still growing, but likely feature films include The Last Song Before War, Beware of Mr Baker, Pina, Effie Gray, and the Nick Cave film, 20,000 Days on Earth. The superb children’s animation, The Wind Rises, will be part of an event run by the makers of Stroud’s own TV animation, Max Bear. A number of the films are connected with music and creativity, so locally produced music videos are on the programme, along with events where local filmmakers show their work.

The festival, which will run fromMarch 13 to 29, is being generously supported by Stroud Town Council, and is wholly run by volunteers. Anyone who'd like to be involved, by spreading the word, distributing festival publicity, or helping run events with filmmakers, can email info@stroudfilmfestival.org or see www.stroudfilmfestival.co.uk for programme details and breaking news.