Hastings Rocks Film Festival

HASTINGS ROCKS is an exciting new addition to ROCKS FILM FESTIVALS (Brighton, London & Los Angeles). In keeping with the seaside town’s culture and history, the festival is especially interested in films that push boundaries and explore esoteric, mystical and musical themes (but by no means exclusively) across any genre, fiction or non-fictional. We also want to encourage a large number of films made in Hastings. The festival will take place 22-24 April 2022 in the stunning St Mary in the Castle auditorium, built directly beneath Hastings Castle circa 1828. The theatre, which has a seating capacity of over 600, has been an Arts Venue since 2015 and recently reopened following a refurbishment. ​For the duration of the festival, the crypt will house an exciting audiovisual exhibition created by our partner, The Imaginary Project. ROCKS FILM FESTIVALS showcase emerging and established filmmaking talent from around the world and aim to create a platform for original voices from all walks of life. If your film embodies our ideals and aspirations, we will help it get the recognition it deserves. FYI, HASTINGS is a coven of creatives, filmmakers and musicians from all walks of life. Many have come over from Brighton and down from London, but the town’s unique identity has been forged over the course of more than a thousand years of history. As every schoolchild knows, the Battle of Hastings in 1066 saw the demise of King Harold, the Norman invasion and the birth of modern England. Gangs of smugglers have inhabited a maze of ancient cliffside caves since the Middle Ages. The town was made into a bustling resort by the Victorians, who built splendid – now decaying – Gothic buildings, while sadly allowing poverty and disease to run riot. The occultist Aleister Crowley spent his final year here, allegedly casting a spell on the town prohibiting those born in Hastings from leaving. Today, Hastings is famed for its vibrant May Day festivities, Jack in the Green, Fat Tuesday and Bonfire Night. We're sure that you'll find Hastings to be the perfect backdrop to share your film with fellow artists.