About us

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 (the original, not the Australian one that copied its name!) 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.

Since that momentous day in 2014 Hellfire Film Festival has grown into a multi-event organisation.

Folkestone is a diverse and culturally rich town, this is also reflected in the original films and documentaries that are screened in our events. Film we have screened have gone on to win many awards including BAFTAs, BIFAs and Oscars. They have also been screened in several prestigious festivals including Tribeca, SXWS, Sundance and Raindance.

Of the many events we host, the Hellfire Short Film Festival has become our flagship. It is a highly successful monthly international event that has attracted in excess of 3,000 submissions from three-quarters of the countries in the world.

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.

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.