David Farnor | On 09, Jun 2020

The Cheltenham International Film Festival has launched an online edition this week, with a collection of 35 films available to stream.

The festival, which kicked off on 8th June, opened with Lost Transmissions starring Simon Pegg, an honorary patron of the festival. It runs until Sunday 14th June, with Rubika Shah closing the event with White Riot, which traces the roots of 1976 rock movement, Rock Against Racism. Both Pegg and Shah are hosting post-screening Q&As to accompany their films.

The Festival includes features and shorts – narrative and documentary – with the emphasis on emerging filmmakers. Other notable screenings include Days of the Bagnold Summer, the directorial debut of The Inbetweeners star Simon Bird, who is also hosting a post-screening Q&A on Tuesday 9th June.

Most films are available for seven days following their allotted timeslot, which means that if you miss a screening or a Q&A, you can catch up with them on-demand. All films are priced at £5.99 for a 48-hour rental period, with tickets limited per film and available to purchase in advance. Closing film White Riot will be priced at the higher sum of £9.99.

The film festival will be hosted within the event’s official site, which supports Chromecast and AirPlay, for viewing on a TV. Here’s the festival’s trailer – scroll down for the full line-up:

Monday 8th June

Lost Transmissions (plus Q+A)
A heartbreaking but sometimes comic story of highs and lows.

Walking on Water
Breathtaking documentary about the artist Christo and his colourful 2016 land art installation ‘The Floating Piers’.

Scheme Birds
An uncompromising portrait of teenage life in a dead-end town.

Supernova
Unfolding in real time – one place and one event that will irrevocably change the lives of three men.

Lucania
Pursued by a vengeful thug, farmer Rocco and his mute daughter flee across a beautiful but threatened land.

Darkness / Buio
Stella suspects her father’s lying, but dare she step outside?

Tuesday 9th June

Days of the Bagnold Summer (plus Q+A)
Simon Bird’s gentle, insightful debut adapted from the graphic novel of the same name.

Balloon / Qiqiu
Young pranksters cause uproar in Tibet when they make off with something precious.

Son-Mother / Pesar-Madar (plus Q+A)
Love and tradition collide in this moving first feature from Iranian documentarian.

Nevia
Sick of the poverty and corruption she sees around her, 17-yr-old Nevia is determined to escape.

Beyond the Horizon / Le milieu de l’horizon
Gus, 13, faces a long, hot summer during which everything goes wrong for his family.

Cook F**K Kill / Žáby bez jazyka
A pitch black absurdist comedy, exploring the repetitive patterns of abusive relationships.

Wednesday 10th June

One More Jump – 7.30pm
Young Palestinians try to escape the bombs and barriers of Gaza through parkour skills.

Antigone (plus Q+A) – 8pm
High-achiever Antigone sacrifices her future to save her dope-dealing brother.

The Beautiful Game / Det vackra spelet – 8.30pm
An insight into elite sport while exploring themes of globalisation and integration.

Stitches / Šavovi – 9pm
A mother obsesses over the belief that her son was sold into adoption at birth.

Thursday 11th June

Rounds / V krŭg (plus Q+A) – 7pm
Three pairs of police officers investigate a tapestry of incidents during one Sofia night.

Kuessipan – 7pm
A beautifully photographed portrait of the harsh lives of Québec’s Innu people.

Running To the Sky / Jo Kuluk – 8pm
12-yr-old Jekshen, the fastest boy in the village, struggles with bullies, a chaotic home life and the pressure to win.

Carlos Almaraz: Playing with Fire – 8.30pm
The brief, rich, and contradictory life of the artist Carlos Almaraz.

Adoration – 9pm
Young ‘Amour Fou’ runs riot across a lush and timeless Ardennes landscape.

Friday 12th June

The Space Between the Lines / Gut gegen Nordwind (plus Q+A) – 7pm
Love can depend on the slightest of chances – an misplaced letter in an email address, for instance.

Cleo – 7.30pm
Survivor of a crash which killed her parents, Cleo assuages her guilt with practice on Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C sharp minor.

Selfie – 8pm
A no-holds-barred satire on our love affair with all things digital.

Paradise / Una nuova vita – 8.30pm
A witness to a Mafia shooting and the shooter-turned-grass end up in the same ‘safe’ sanctuary.

Roy’s World: Barry Gifford’s Chicago (plus Q+A) – 9pm
David Lynch collaborator Barry Gifford recalls his colourful 1950s Chicago upbringing in this multi-faceted documentary.

Saturday 13th June

The Arctic Camels / Kamel – 11am
Two unruly snow-loving camels inspire a family trip to Mongolia to find a trainer.

Lillian – 8pm
Enigmatic and gorgeously cinematic road movie reveals the real America.

Cunningham – 8.30pm
Merce Cunningham turns the world of dance on its head.

Nobadi – 9pm
A grumpy Austrian nonagenarian forms a strange bond with a young illegal immigrant.

Sunday 14th June

My Year of Living Mindfully – 3pm
Award-winning health journalist Shannon Harvey faced a troubling paradox.

Keep it Short! – 4pm
Ten impassioned short films from across the globe.

Pop Aye – 7pm
A disillusioned architect searches for his lost youth – accompanied by a friendly and wilful elephant.

Ladies of Steel / Teräsleidit – 7.30pm
Three elderly sisters take an off-kilter road trip in this joyful Finnish road movie.

White Riot (plus Q+A) – 8pm
An exhilarating document of the glory days of the ‘Rock Against Racism’ movement.

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