Westside Short Film Festival is to be held from Friday to Sunday at Gnien il-Gardjola, a bastion ravelin in Valletta. Starting out as a waking dream inside the head of a resident on Carmelita Street, located on the west side of Valletta, this three-day event is now a prestigious festival bringing together filmmakers, film festival organisers and works of renowned directors and animators from the distant landscapes of Argentina and Singapore, as well as from the more familiar territories of Tunisia and Israel. Westside Film Festival is also a unique opportunity for local filmmakers to screen their films for a public audience.

The works of eight British artists will be shown at this year’s festival; four of these artists will be attending the event with the support of the British Council. This year’s festival will see special emphasis on Nordic cinema in collaboration with Danish film festival Cosmic Zoom. The organisers of the Danish festival will be present at the event to introduce Nordic underground cinema and the rare works from one of Denmark’s most prolific and artistically successful animators Lejf Marcussen who in 1991 received the Norman McLaren Heritage Award for his body of work.

Kinemastik will also be holding an exhibition of Neil Fox’s works at The Pub in Valletta to run concurrently with the festival. Mr Fox will be present at the opening of this exhibition dedicated to Oliver Reed, the oft-soused late British actor who spent his last hours in this very pub. The exhibition opens on Friday 5pm. The public is encouraged to attend.

A workshop on Saturday will provide a unique opportunity for the local audience and filmmakers to meet with the British artists and the Danish festival organisers. This is to be an informal, intimate gathering at a remote cinematic location in the south of the island. Those wishing to attend need only be curious and passionate about film.

This year’s festival will be awarding an audience prize for best film. The festival is organised in collaboration with the British Council and Malta Film Commission. It is also sponsored by St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, Malta Tourism Authority, Vogue Printers and Marks and Spencer.

Kinemastik is concerned with the peripheral, seeking to show rare and elusive material. Kinemastik also distributes Maltese short films through its dialogue with various other festivals on the international film map.

The activity will be held between Friday and Sunday at Gnien Il-Gardjola, Valletta, at 8.30pm

Tickets are available from St James Cavalier. Ticket prices: Lm4 (one night), Lm7 (two nights), Lm10 (three nights).

More information and the full programme are available from the websites: www.kinemastik.org, www.

kinemastikfest.org.

Those wishing to attend Saturday’s workshop, to be held at 11.30am should send an email to: kinemastik@ gmail.com.