PENISTONE FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS THIS WEEKEND WITH THREE DAYS OF FILMS, LIVE MUSIC AND SPECIAL EVENTS
Penistone is preparing for a major weekend of cinema, live music and special events as the Penistone Film Festival returns from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October.
The three-day festival will take place across two of the town’s best-known venues, Penistone Paramount and the Grade I listed St John the Baptist Church, with a programme featuring classic cinema, independent filmmakers, live musical accompaniment, special guests and a Golden Age of Hollywood-themed awards gala.
The festival gets underway at Penistone Paramount at 7pm on Friday with Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, starring Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver and Christopher Lloyd.
Set in 1935 and filmed in Yorkshire, the film follows paranormal psychologist Dr Nandor Fodor as he investigates the bizarre story of a family who claim to have discovered a talking mongoose.
The screening will also include an exclusive recorded Q&A with writer-director Adam Sigal and a recorded contribution from composer Bill Prokopow.
Saturday will see a full day of classic and silent cinema at the Paramount.
The programme begins at 10am with The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, accompanied by live piano from composer and musician Andy Quin.
At 1.30pm, audiences can see a programme featuring Harold Lloyd alongside silent film curiosities including The Cameraman’s Revenge, High and Dizzy and Never Weaken.
The afternoon screening will also be sensory-friendly, with adjusted sound levels, partially raised house lights and greater freedom for audience members to move around during the event.
It will be followed by the Student Filmmaker Showcase, with finalists announced by Bridgerton actress Ruby Barker.
At 4.30pm, From Vaudeville to Avant Garde will feature Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton and another filmmaker showcase, before Saturday’s cinema programme finishes at 7pm with Buster Keaton’s Battling Butler accompanied by live piano from Andy Quin.
There will also be a free Festival Fringe at St John the Baptist Church between 10am and 4pm on Saturday.
The event will include heritage displays, creative stalls, filmmaking conversations, film-related activities and refreshments, and visitors do not need a cinema ticket to attend.
Sunday will see the festival move to St John the Baptist Church for its Golden Age of Hollywood Gala Awards Event.
Beginning at 10am, the event will feature the festival awards, live entertainment from Penistone Folk Ensemble, a three-course dinner, live organ music, dancing, filmmakers and special guests.
The awards themselves will have a distinctly South Yorkshire connection, with trophies created using pieces of vintage Sheffield pewter.
Some of the pewter used is more than 100 years old and has been repurposed and locally engraved to create individual festival awards.
The weekend will finish on Sunday evening with the Reductio Organ Dance Party from 6pm, combining the church’s historic pipe organ with electronic dance music and live mixing.
Penistone Film Festival is run as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company and aims to support independent filmmakers, students, young people and first-time creatives while making cinema and filmmaking more accessible.
The programme includes accessible events, BSL interpretation, sensory-friendly screenings and free tickets for registered carers.
The festival has also received support from Film Hub North through BFI National Lottery funding.
The VIP Weekend Pass has already sold out, with availability for other events varying across the weekend.
Penistone Film Festival 2026 runs from Friday 16 October to Sunday 18 October at Penistone Paramount and St John the Baptist Church.
