The 2016 Cambridge Film Festival (CFF) will take place from the 20th to 27th October at the Arts Picturehouse Cinema and select venues around the city. For the first time in its 36-year history, the Festival will debut in October, and will offer an extensive programme including retrospectives on musical titan Roger ‘Syd’ Barrett and legendary film actress Ingrid Bergman, as well as the Camera Catalonia series, a showcase of the best work in contemporary Catalan cinema.

The third-longest running film festival in the UK, the CFF prides itself on celebrating both veteran filmmakers and first-time directors, bringing together a dynamic line-up of entertainment from around the world.

This year, Pink Floyd aficionados and music lovers alike will delight in a specially curated film night, paying homage to vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and Cambridge native, Syd Barrett. Headlining the tribute is the UK premiere of Get All That Ant?, a documentary directed by Barrett’s former school friend Anthony Stern.

The free-form film features exclusive footage of iconic performances and music promos, together with rare stills of legendary bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Pink Floyd and Donovan. The archival material is combined with never-seen footage of the musical genius, much of it shot by his friends, colleagues,and former girlfriends Libby Gausden and Jenny Spires. In honor of the 10th anniversary of Barrett’s death, the site of his last ever performance will also host a memorial concert organised by Cambridge Live.

Fans of the inimitable and unforgettable Ingrid Bergman will enjoy a programme that explores the actress’s early performances in German and Swedish productions. Scenes from Intermezzo (1936), The Four Companions (1938), A Woman’s Face (1938) and A June Night (1940) will be screened, alongside the documentary Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words (2015) by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Stig Björkman. Narrated by Academy-Award winner Alicia Vikander, this unique film marks the 100th anniversary of Bergman’s birth, and takes an intimate look inside the actress’s personal world through her own letters, diary entries, photographs, and 8mm and 16mm footage. The portrait that emerges reveals the multifaceted character of arguably one of the world’s most talented actresses, at once charming and wilful, hypnotic and intractable, fascinating and delightfully nonconformist.

Barcelona Summer Night (2013) and its sequel Barcelona Christmas Night (2015) will kick off events for the Camera Catalonia series. Aside from these two comedies, which delve into the hilariously entangled love lives of six couples living in Barcelona, the series will also premiere the documentary Sex, Maracas & Chihuahuas (2016), the story of acclaimed musician Xavier Cugat, and The Virus of Fear (2015), a chilling tale helmed by prominent Catalan director Ventura Pons.

The festival has also partnered with the Cambridge African Film Festival to present a curated selection of exceptional documentaries and features from the region, as well as the Cambridge Family Film Festival, a programme of family-friendly entertainment. On the slate for the Cambridge African Film Festival is As I Open My Eyes (2015), the debut film by talented Tunisian director Leyla Bouzid, Zanzibar Soccer Dreams (2016), an eye-opening documentary about the impact of sport on the lives of women in Zanzibar, and The Unseen (2015), the story of three young men attempting to find their purpose in post-colonial, contemporary Namibia. The festival will also exhibit Dare to Dream, a programme of short films that explores myriad issues facing young Africans across the continent. The timeless comedic exploits of Buster Keaton, curated by Neil Brand, will be front and centre at the Cambridge Family Film Festival. Keaton for Kids 2 will be accompanied by a live piano performance, and featured together with favorites such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982), James and the Giant Peach (1996) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (2011), among others.

Rounding off the festival are screenings of Arsenal (1929), Aleksander Dovzhenko’s trailblazing film set to a live score by Bronnt Industries Kapital, A Brilliant Genocide (2016), a harrowing documentary uncovering the dictatorship of Ugandan dictator General Yoweri Museveni, From Afar (2016), the directorial debut from Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas, and the UK premiere of The Interrogation (2016), a gripping adaptation from the autobiography of Rudolf Höss.

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