A Basingstoke film evangelical will launch the towns Film Festival on Friday.
The founder of Red Carpet Screening's Basingstoke Short Film Festival, Seb Hall, hopes that the second run of the film festival will kickstart the town as a UK film centre.
The event, on Friday, September 24, will feature films written, shot and edited by Basingstoke film makers.
Mr Hall said: “For a town of this size to have enough new material being made to stage a number of film festivals every year is very special. There are many cities around the UK which cannot boast such a level of active creativity.
“After working on a number of films in the Basingstoke area, I came to realise that we had a huge community of film makers in our town. These talented individuals had been writing, casting, shooting and editing new films almost every month, yet they had no real outlet to screen or celebrate their work in the community or media.
“Much of the time, their films would be limited to video web sites such as Youtube; their creators never seeing how a cinema audience would receive or react to their work.”
The festival will premiere Overtime 2, made by Basingstoke Film Make Geoff Harmer, his original film, Overtime – a Star Wars spoof, became a YouTube hit, racking up over 50,000 views and won him the Association Motion Picture Sound Best Fan Film in 2009.
Mr Moir said: “The first film festival helped get things out there, now there is definitely a buzz around here which wasn't there a few years ago, there is a film making community, a collective in Basingstoke Town.”
The first Short Film Festival was launched on Friday, May 28. Mr Hall said: “The first festival proved to be a massive success. We had a full house, everyone seemed to really enjoy it, commenting on how surprised they were at the quality of the films.
“After the success of this festival, i decided to make it a seasonal fixture. The rate at which new films are being made in the area easily allows for this kind of regularity.”
With the success of the First Festival, Seb has said he hopes to make Basingstoke a national centre for film makers by launching an international film festival for the town planned for early next year.
The second Short Film Festival will be held at Central Studios at Queen Mary's Campus at 7.30pm. Tickets are £7 or £5 for students. Tickets are available on the door or through the Central Studio Box Office on 01256 418318
