Hastings Rocks–life as we know it
JAMES ROWLINS
The 4th Annual Hastings Rocks International Film Festival will run from 11-12 April at the Printworks this year, and will showcase 60 films made in this region.
This year’s festival puts documentaries firmly in the spotlight with a series of films charting aspects of life in Hastings. King Putt is an entertaining account of the 2024 World Crazy Golf Championships held in Hastings, in which reigning champion Marc Chapman’s no-holds barred approach to the sport is no laughing matter. A documentary by Adam Clements digs deep into the legend of Hastings’ America Ground– a story that, whether it be truth or myth, cuts to the core of the town’s idiosyncratic nature. It is followed by a fly-on-the-wall portrait of local thespian Patrick Kealey and the travails of keeping the Arts alive during a pandemic.
Hastings also provides the backdrop to much of the festival’s fiction. Shouting at the Sea sets scenes in Bottle Alley, the funicular railway, the pier, West Hill, and the FILO pub. It tells the ultimate ‘should-I-leave-or-should-I-stay’ story. Director Benjamin Verrall describes the film as a “love letter to the town” and, after its premiere at a Hollywood film festival, he is delighted to be screening it in his birthplace.
The Saturday feature film, The Devil Makes Work for Idle Hands, directed by Folkestone-based Colin O’Reilly, is a hard-hitting drama that highlights social ills facing today’s underprivileged. The Saturday programme segues from realist dramas – the majority directed and performed by women this year – to experimental and esoteric film. Late evening audiences can expect zany comedy and dark horror.
Attendees will have the chance to engage with the festival’s special guest, acclaimed local director Andrew Kötting, who will discuss the challenges facing independent filmmakers and the evolution of his own work towards new media.
Dates: 11-12 April Programme: rocksfestivals.com/screening Tickets: filmfreeway.com/HastingsRocks/tickets Venue: The Printworks: 14 Claremont, Hastings, TN34 1HA
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