21 Sep 2024
The countdown has officially begun for the first Alban Film Week, a celebration of celluloid taking place at St Albans Cathedral in partnership with the St Albans Film Festival.
Running from Tuesday October 29 to Saturday November 2, highlights include a screening of Thelma and Louise in the Nave, a Gromit model-making workshop followed by a showing of Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death, Four Weddings and a Funeral including a Q&A with director and St Albans local Mike Newell, 1922 vampire classic Nosferatu on Halloween with a live organ, and a Grease Sing-A-Long.
Film Festival director Matt Bigg said the marketing machine had ramped up now the summer holidays were over, with posters around St Albans and vinyl banners outside the Cathedral>
“It’s really exciting. It’s an amazing space and we’re really lucky to have it and to work with the Cathedral team to bring something different to the city.
“It’s the Cathedral and the Film Festival coming together, we’ve co-labbed as the kids say, it’s a great relationship and it’s nice to come back and work with them to produce the Alban Film Week. We haven’t done the film festival for a couple of years and people are excited it’s coming back. I think the programme of events is really good, there’s some real crowd pleasers in there. I think Thelma and Louise is going to be our big night. It’s going to be a bit different from having it outside because you’re in the actual building this time, and all that entails.”
Yes indeed, and I’m thinking of the opening scene of Four Weddings and a Funeral – did he know there’s an American cut which replaces the F-word with the more harmless ‘bugger’?
“We might need to think about the language of that scene! But it’s harmless language isn’t it, it’s not aggressive swearing, it’s a little bit of jest, and although the language at times is a little bit fruity, I think it actually adds to the film. So hopefully they won’t get me to dub that out!”
Will this be the first of many Alban Film Weeks to come? “I think there’s talk that if it is a success then we can do more. But we’ll always do something in the future, however that works. But we’re excited to be bringing a festival back to the city. It’s always good to have a sing-a-long, especially acoustically in that amazing space!”
The Dean of St Albans, the Venerable Jo Kelly-Moore, is also looking forward to it.
“It’s going to be fantastic. What we always celebrate is that naves of cathedrals and churches have always been places of community gathering, so this is a continuation of our commitment to that.
“You know, Alban’s story begins with welcome. He welcomed an asylum seeker into his home and gave him safety. Coming here as Dean a few years ago there was just something about this place that has ‘welcome’ in its DNA. It’s undeniable, and the more people who come in here the better, we love that. This is your Cathedral, this is their Cathedral, and we want people to experience that.”
Occasionally however, the diverse range of activities which take place in the lively Cathedral prompt a small number of comments from people unhappy with this holy space being used for anything other than religious services.
“We want to assure everybody we treat this place with great care, we risk assess everything and we think about the impact of everything we’re doing on this really important piece of the world’s history. But you know, people came here to sell their sheep and their goats, this is what churches were about, they were community gathering spaces.
“It doesn’t take much guessing to say there’d be things we wouldn’t have in the nave, because we’re a Christian church, but sing-a-long Grease or Wallace & Gromit are good for the community, and community’s part of our mission, that’s what we’re all about.
“We’ve also got to think of creative ways to maintain Britain’s heritage, which we’re doing without any public monies.”
So what is she looking forward to the most? “Well, I did mention the Grease sing-a-long. I remember my parents taking me to see Grease, it was very exciting when it came out.
“We are fans of Wallace & Gromit in our house, so I might have a go at making my own clay model, but I’m not showing anybody, because I’m sure it won’t be terribly pleasant. And of course, you can’t beat Nosferatu on Halloween and to hear the organ playing will be quite something.”
And of course one of the Cathedral’s former choristers and a trustee of the Education Trust is Four Weddings director Mike Newell: “To have him in our midst and to be able to say to people, come and meet the director, that’s really good stuff!”
Cathedral marketing and communications executive Kate Klevit is also looking forward to the festival. In her spare time she runs a film school for youngsters at Townsend CofE School, and is keen to encourage the kids to watch movies as they are meant to be seen – on a big screen – rather than their phones.
“More and more people want the experience of seeing films in unique places. We love an experience!
“I mean, getting to see the original Nosferatu on Halloween with the organ in here and the lights off will be just so atmospheric! That’s what film’s all about to me. Seeing Thelma and Louise at home is fine, but seeing it with everybody in the Cathedral will be really cool.”
Find out more about this year’s Alban Film Week at https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/listing/category/the-alban-film-week
