Cumbrian Students explore 25 years of Film History

Students from Carlisle College of the Arts are reflecting on the 25-year history of Keswick Film Festival in an exciting new exhibition, Silver/Splice, at Rheged.

Since 2013, Students from the UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design course have produced work based on films in the Festival programme, creating incredible artworks, costumes and installations and for 2025, they have turned their attention to the Festival’s 25 year history.

Trawling through the archives they have selected iconic films and genres to interpret and display in Rheged’s Community Gallery up their Retail Street from 14^th February, just before the Film Festival opens on 6^th March.

Course Leader, Paul Taylor, said ‘This is a brilliant opportunity not only for students to display their work but also to experience the demands and deadlines of the workplace. There is not much time between the programme being announced and the opening date for the exhibition – to go from blank canvas to fully formed artwork in that time is an amazing achievement.

The challenge this year has been to produce an exhibition that does justice to this fabulous space – and I think they have pulled it off superbly.’

Festival Director, Ian Payne, said ‘Every year in our decade-long association with the College, I have been inspired by the way that the students have captured the essence of the films we have screened. To have them work on the history of the Film Festival is a real privilege and I would urge people to visit and see for themselves – we have a huge depth of talent here in Cumbria. I would also like to express my thanks to the team at Rheged for hosting the exhibition.’

Claire Logan-Stephens, Rheged’s Head of Community and Programming, responded ‘Keswick Film Festival is always a highlight of our year and this year we are screening 5 films from around the world over the Festival weekend. Having the students’ work on public display will be a great addition to the experience.’

Rheged will be using their giant screen to show films from the Festival, including The Monk and the Gun, by the director of the stand out hit from 2023, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom.

Silver / Splice

A Carlisle College art project reflecting on 25 years of Keswick Film Festival.

How do films work? What do we carry away from a film that stays with us? Breaking down images, emotions, dialogue, music, into stories that become our own?

The Art and Design Foundation course at Carlisle College has worked with the Keswick Film Festival since 2013, becoming a key part of the students’ experience as they learn about their chosen disciplines through the act of transcribing the ideas and themes of one artform into another.

This year, we have also dipped into the festival programmes of the last 25 years, making our own viewing lists of those classic films an art student should know.

The work you see before you has been influenced by the freedom of 1960s and 70s Eastern European posters, where artists, unrestricted by the commercial imperatives of Hollywood, made mad, bold images. Some are reminiscent of the energy of Peter Doig’s painted posters for his STUDIOFILMCLUB arthouse cinema in Trinidad.

The exhibition is fundamentally about the artforms across our course’s specialized disciplines and the visual conversations these provoke.

Keswick Film Festival runs from 6^th – 9^th March 2025 at The Alhambra Cinema, Rheged and the Theatre by the Lake

• brief history) Brief History of a Family and White Rock are posters designed by Lucy Fleming for films in this year's festival

• (pandoras box) "Pandora's Box" is a poster designed by Olivia Otto, based on the Weimar Cinema focus of 2002's festival

• (ella) The black and white outfit photographed against the wall (blue hair!), designed by Holly Chamberlain in response to Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". Photo by Tim Ip, model Ella Geddes

• (darcy) The blurry flying clothing (photo by Tim Ip), styled, modelled and designed by D'Arcy Iceton and showing her outfit created in response to Agnes Varda's film "Vagabond," which was shown at the festival in 2011;

The fashion items were also made in collaboration with FTS Dyers, Drove Weavers, Creation Mill and Elliott's Shed in Langholm.