NEW for next year is the Five Villages Film Festival -a month-long event showcasing student films and movie classics.

The five rural villages in the Forest of Dean/Herefordshire area: Gorsley, Linton, Clifford's Mesne, Huntley, and Pauntley, aiming to bring cinema to rural communities.

It’s a chance for audiences to enjoy the best international cinema and hear powerful voices from a new generation of film-makers, all in their local village hall.

The stunning Gloucestershire/Herefordshire borders and the banks of the Severn and the Wye is an area that has served as location for a variety of films and TV series including Star Wars, Merlin, Dr Who, Sex Education.

At the various screenings at the five village halls there will also be a short film or two from students of the Film & TV Production course at the University of Gloucestershire.

The festival is a way of supporting the emerging film makers at the beginning of their careers who will talk about their work.

The festival begins on Saturday, January 31, with the screening of ‘A Private Function’ at Pauntley Village Hall – a dark comic tale of class struggle set in the austere aftermath of the Second World War.

The next screening is on February 7 at Linton Village Hall with the showing of the ‘Isle of Dogs’ –an animated story of loyalty and friendship between a boy and his lost dog.

The third screening is at Huntley Village Hall on Saturday, February 14 is ‘The Way We Were’ starring Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand.

The film ‘Mrs Lowry and Son’ is being screened at Gorsley Village Hall on Thursday, February 19 and finally at Clifford’s Mesne Village Hall on Friday, February 27 is the screening of ‘Shoplifters’ – a film about the unconventional journey of resilience in Japan.

To be certain of a ticket, please book in advance online using TicketSource.co.uk/FiveVillagesFilmFestival, Tickets are priced at £5 (plus 42p booking fee).