The Purbeck Film Festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary celebrations later this year, marking three decades of bringing independent cinema to audiences across Dorset.
Ahead of the 2026 festival, the event's winter season ended on Sunday with a special outdoor screening of the bird-watching documentary The Listers.
Held at Carey’s Secret Garden, near Wareham, as part of the Migration Festival, the event was one of the final screenings before the festival pauses ahead of its summer programme.
The garden venue, one of several distinctive locations used by the festival throughout the year, provided an atmospheric setting for the documentary.
Organisers say plans are already underway for an expanded anniversary season, with more screenings.
Claire Burns, a volunteer with the event, said the Purbeck Film Festival continues to make a meaningful impact.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to work in a role where I can see firsthand the difference a local festival like ours can make,” she said.
“It brings filmmakers and communities together, creates conversations, and gives audiences the opportunity to experience storytelling from around the world in a shared setting.”
Film screenings are held across Dorset, from cinemas and church halls, to vineyards and outdoor landmarks, including Corfe Castle. The approach reflects the festival’s longstanding aim of taking cinema beyond traditional theatres and into the heart of local communities.
Film festivals such as Purbeck play a vital role in supporting independent cinema. They provide filmmakers with platforms to display their work, reach new audiences, and build communities around shared interests, while sustaining enthusiasm for film and ensuring that distinctive, personal projects like The Listers continue to be presented and appreciated.
Festival patron Mark Rylance, star of The BFG and Wolf Hall, said small, community-led festivals are still particularly important at a time of rapid technological change within the industry. He described them as “a godsend for filmmakers, often imagining something different from the mainstream world,” adding that such events allow creative voices to flourish outside larger commercial systems.
Established in 1996, the Purbeck Film Festival began as a small initiative with just a handful of screenings in village halls and at The Rex Cinema. It has since grown into a major cultural event, displaying more than 100 British and international films each year and attracting close to 9,000 audience members annually.
The festival will return at the end of August, with organisers promising a celebratory programme to mark three decades of film in Purbeck and to build on its reputation for distinctive venues and community spirit.