About us

Who we are, what we do and why we do it

The Hellfire Film Festival is a multi-event organisation – based in Folkestone, Kent – that hosts several film-related events in the south east of the UK.

How it all came to be

Once upon a time…

Hellfire Film Festival was formed in 2014 by a group of creative individuals after realising that although Folkestone hosts many creative festivals throughout the year – including music, art, light, book and performance – there was no festival specifically dedicated to film.

Being a filmmaker himself and having been involved in the Meniscus Film Festival in his hometown of Grimsby, Gary Ingoldby-Spate started the groundwork to launch a film festival for Folkestone. Gary and fellow filmmaker Steve Davis launched the Hellfire Film Festival soon afterwards.

What we’ve become

From humble beginnings to now…

Since that momentous day in 2014 Hellfire Film Festival has grown into a multi-event organisation. Of the many events that have spawned, the Hellfire Short Film Festival has become our flagship. It is a highly successful monthly event that has attracted in excess of 3,000 submissions from all over the world including from Emmy award-winning directors.

We also host the Hellfire HORRORfest at The Tower Theatre, Folkestone. The Hellfire Specials and Hellfire Classics events also showcase feature films, short films, documentaries and music videos old and new by filmmakers around the world.

What’s in a name?

Why we’re called Hellfire…

The name Hellfire derives from Hellfire Corner. During the Second World War the Battle of Britain took place in over the English Channel and the skies above Folkestone and Dover and the two towns were extensively damaged by enemy bombers.

The area became known as Hellfire corner.

We named ourselves the Hellfire Film Festival to pay tribute to those who fought and those who lost their lives to ensure the freedoms we enjoy today.

The silhouetted Spitfire in our logo also pays homage to those events between July and October 1940 that helped to turn the tide in the favour of the Allied Forces.

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