A FREE film festival aimed at encouraging a love of cinema in children will start in Glasgow on Tuesday.
Leading film education charity, Into Film, will open the programme of free movie screenings with Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical.
Speaking to The National, the Into Film programme delivery manager Katherine Auld said the aim of the festival, which has been running since 2013, is to give the next generation of cinema lovers the opportunity to "have a great experience with their friends".
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All kinds of movies will be available to watch for those aged 5-19 from the biggest blockbusters to independent movies.
The Glasgow Film Theatre will play host to a screening of relationship drama Ali & Ava which will be followed by a Q and A with Invisible Women – an archive film collective which champions the work of female filmmakers.
Given that many are feeling the effects of the cost-of-living crisis, Auld believes making all screenings free of charge is vital.
“I think it’s massive. Just getting any kind of luxury on top of everyday life at the minute is hard for a lot of people," Auld said.
“So to be able to put something on with no cost attached is so important to us because it still allows for an amazing experience which so many of us take for granted.”
The festival has also provided travel bursaries to schools located further away from the cinemas in Glasgow to cover transport costs.
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As much as encouraging a love of film, the festival also wants to encourage a love of the cinema.
Auld continued: “We have to show children why it’s special to see movies on the big screen especially when you consider that films are at our fingertips now. It’s all about audience development.
“We can watch stuff on Netflix but it’s special to turn your phone off and get away from the outside world, sit in the dark and escape into a story.
“Cinemas are the cultural backdrops of most communities and without them the film landscape wouldn’t be the same.”
The festival has also provided several extra-curricular materials for schools to make use of when they attend screenings.
Auld believes the cinema can be a formative experience and hopes that it will instil the same passion for film as her first trip to the cinema did.
“You have to start that love of film early. The first movie I seen was Chicken Run and it was an important experience, it’s vital to go from a young age because you create a cinema-going habit," she added.
The festival will take place from November 8 to 25 and the full programme of events can be found HERE.
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