Coming up later this month, Mansfield Town Film Festival provides a packed three day schedule of working-class voices, locally made films, live screenings, masterclasses, and Q&As. We spoke to festival director Jay Martin about representation, community and why Mansfield is putting the East Midlands firmly on the cinema map…
There are more film festivals than ever, so what makes Mansfield Town Film Festival stand out from the crowd?
We are BIFA qualifying, which puts us in conversation with the national festival circuit. It’s a big deal for a place like Mansfield, as it's been underrated for too long culturally. Working class filmmakers make up less than 10% of the UK film industry, so for us it was all about creating the space for working-class creatives and giving them a platform, as well as women, LGBTQAI+ people and disabled voices. We are still one of the only film festivals in the country with a focus on working class voices, and that accessibility makes us unique. The culture of the festival is where everyone is on a level playing field, whereas others can be very unwelcoming.
Independent cinema often struggles for attention against big studio releases. What kinds of stories do you think deserve a bigger audience right now?
I always think working-class and diverse stories deserve a bigger platform. We are incredibly lucky that in the first years of the festival the quality of work has been of such a high standard.
As a recognised BIFA quality festival with a focus on working-class talent, it really reaffirms our mission. We get a direct pathway to the BAFTAs and Oscars. We’ve introduced a new local voices category for films made in the East Midlands. We’ve had a great uptake in that and have seen more locally made shorts in the programme than ever before.
Mansfield has a reputation that's often defined by headlines rather than culture. How important is it to show another side of the town through a festival like this?
Our organisation's mission and vision are to try and change the cultural perception of the town through promoting working-class talent. The importance of having events like this in Mansfield is that it has a thriving cultural scene outside of the city and arguably the county as well. For us, being able to be just one of many events that help change the perception of the town – welcoming hundreds of filmmakers from over the country and exporting Mansfield's brand is really important for us. To take the town and redefine it as a creative and cultural hub for north Notts – it's a good way to change hearts and minds.
The East Midlands has a thriving creative scene, but it can sometimes feel overshadowed by cities like London and Manchester. Do you think that's changing?
I think so! There are some really exciting things coming down the line, and the East Midlands is often overlooked in favour of the West Midlands. We need something in the region to bring it together, under one banner. There's so much good happening; what we need is that spark and a bit of investment – hopefully through EMCCA and Mayor Claire, who have a focus on the visitor economy. If we can be a small part of that, it slowly makes a difference over time.
What makes a great festival film? Is it something technically brilliant, or something that simply connects with an audience?
For us, films are not just telling working-class stories but stories that make you think. We like films that we don't just enjoy in isolation but films that make the audience sit up and listen. We are opening with We’re All Black Down Here – about the first Black coal miner. It's made locally, and we are closing that strand with Rule, Britannia: a satirical take on the far right, about stopping the boats. It goes wrong, and they get saved by a crossing boat. It's very intentional programming, to spark conversation and debate amongst our audience. We look at how films sit in a strand and how they talk to other films in that strand.
Our organisation's mission and vision are to try and change the cultural perception of the town through promoting working-class talent
If someone from Nottingham has never been to Mansfield Town Film Festival, what's the one thing they'd experience there that they wouldn't get from watching films at their local multiplex?
It is that you can meet the people who have made these films. We have eighteen strands at the festival that are an hour and a half each. We will have about 130 films screened across three days, and after each strand we have a Q&A with the teams, so if you've just watched something very moving to you, the chances are a member of that team will be at the festival. You get that direct chance to speak to them – to ask questions and hang out with them.
Film festivals are as much about community as they are about cinema. What conversations or connections are you hoping people leave with after this year's event?
I'd like to see regional filmmakers being connected with national and international filmmakers and being able to bring new projects to life. We have a film this year called The Tide by Anne-Marie Scragg, who won our 2024 Neurodiverse Voices Award. She met Jack Parr, who is a local lad who won the Working Class Voices Award. They met at the festival, and Jack is one of the leads in her new film. More stuff like that is happening, as that's what it is all about, and to help facilitate new projects. For regular audience members, they can leave having seen stuff they wouldn’t normally see from voices they wouldn't normally hear from. Hopefully see one film that stays with them, moves them or inspires them; that would be the dream.
If you could programme any filmmaker, living or dead, for a Q&A in Mansfield, who would you choose, and what would you ask them?
We had Ken Loach open the festival in 2023. It was incredible, as he is a phenomenal working class director and I remember being shown Kes in secondary school. It would be great to have Ken there and ask him what he would hope his influence on other working class filmmakers would be. We’ve always tried to get in touch with Shane Meadows and Vicky McClure to varying levels of success. I'd love to have Shane or Vicky or Samantha Morton – someone born and bred in Notts – to talk about what it's been like to build careers here.
Is there anything you’re working on right now or future projects you'd like to shout out?
An adaptation of That Boy of Yours Wants Looking At. It’s about a gay and disabled young man growing up in St. Ann's in the 60s and 70s, and it’s by local writer Simon Smalley. In the past three years, I’ve been setting up the festival and getting it to a place where it can run without just me and establishing it as a regional force for culture. We're already looking ahead to the fifth anniversary, and we've got some exciting things in the pipeline there. It should take us to the next level.
The Mansfield Town Film Festival takes place between Friday 25 - Sunday 27 September. Check out their website for a full list of what’s on.
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