Last updated at 16:15, Friday, 15 February 2013

LAST year, the Keswick Film Festival welcomed its first lifetime Bafta Award winner in John Hurt, and the only way organisers could match that this time round is by inviting him back again.

SPECIAL GUEST John Hurt at the Alhambra Cinema in Keswick for last year’s film festival with his dog Piltchard

The legendary star of classics such as The Elephant Man, Alien, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter is now a patron of Cumbria’s largest film event, and next week he will return to the Lake District to host a series of workshops, introduce a handful of films and watch many more.

“I had a wonderful time last year, so I’m looking forward to going back,” says Hurt, 73.

“Last year was a bit of a retrospective of my films, and while I’m still doing some workshops, I will have more time. We brought the dog last year, but without him we’ll be able to see more films.

“I go to festivals around the world, but I think it’s especially important to support these British independent films, because this is our film industry.”

While Pilchard the dog won’t be joining him this year, Hurt’s wife, film producer Anwen Rees Myers will be in attendance to present her latest movie, Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict.

He was also asked to select a film to fit in with the rare and independent nature of the programme, and has chosen Tulpan, a Kazakh movie which won an award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2008.

He says: “I chose Tulpan, because it’s a wonderful film and a wonderful story, and I don’t know where I saw it – some small cinema in America – but it would be good for more people to be able to see it.

“My wife’s film, Benjamin Britten, will be there and she’s got a whole lot of young actors coming, which will be interesting.

“They also suggested showing Owning Mahowny, which is one of my lesser-known films. It was made in Canada with Philip Seymour Hoffman, but not many people here have seen it. It’s not like it’s being palmed off on a festival like Keswick - quite the opposite. It’s a great opportunity for people to see what is a very good film.”

When the four-day film festival is over, it’s business as usual for the veteran thespian: following a successful run in the US with Gate Theatre of Dublin’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape, he will make a brief return to the stage, and there are a number of yet-to-be-announced film projects in the works.

Korean director Bong Joon-Ho’s much-anticipated English-language debut, Snowpiercer, which stars Hurt in the lead role, is nearing completion, and could be ready to star at film festivals later this year.

“We’re hoping that Snowpiercer will go to Cannes,” he says.” “I really enjoyed making it and it was the first time I’d worked with Director Bong and he was fantastic.

“I’m also going to be doing Krapp’s Last Tape again with Michael Colgan, and there are a few other things I’m working on. It’s what I do, and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing, so I have no plans to stop.”

lKeswick Film Festival runs from Thursday February 21 to Sunday 24 at venues across the town.

First published at 16:13, Friday, 15 February 2013
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk