The tragedies of the Coronavirus pandemic have led to public events being cancelled or postponed worldwide. And it is vital to abide by the recommendations from governments and the scientific community. So stay at home if your country still demands it and respect social distancing if lockdown measures are being slowly lifted. In the meantime, the Ramsgate International Film & TV Festival has been plotting to support cinema over the coming months and bring you the best of indie movies and shows. So RIFTVFest 2020 will still be taking place by moving to its very own online cinema, the Ramsgate Digital Cinema. We are still building our cinema virtual brick by virtual brick as it is a revolutionary playground and educational platform for the entire media industry, complementing our physical cinematic experience, which we hope to bring back next year. So our programme this year will be live streaming on a temporary basic digital platform. It is however packed with over 170 films and videos together with webinar and other live events.

This year we are also launching a new satellite event, called ‘Fight Back’, in partnership with the organisation ‘Ring of Peace’ with a special competition for ex-servicemen suffering with PTSD and using filmmaking as a way to ‘fight back’ and re-integrate society. We will have a digital introduction during the festival, with a special screening of a film written and performed by ex-service men with PTSD. There will also be a webinar with Peter Ferris, who runs ‘Ring of Peace’ and teaches acting/filmmaking to this less looked at category of people suffering from mental illness. The purpose of the ‘Fight Back’ Awards, distributed from next year, will be to raise awareness of PTSD and encourage sufferers to find an outlet through cinema.

So register on Ramsgate Digital Cinema and start booking your tickets now. All screenings are free but any donation will help us continue to support independent filmmakers.