MOVIE magic rolls back into Keswick this month with a fabulous four-day spree of films in store.

Keswick Film Festival - Cumbria's answer to Sundance - runs from Thursday-Sunday, February 25-28, at Theatre by the Lake, the Alhambra cinema, Penrith's Rheged, and features some of the best UK independent and international films.

The four-day gathering opens at the Alhambra on the Thursday (February 25) with Tony Britten's comedy drama ChickLit (12A), a tale of four men who set out to save their local pub by writing a Fifty Shades of Grey style novel which gets snapped up by a publisher. The five star cast includes Sir John Hurt, the Keswick festival's patron, whose filming schedule might, apparently, allow him to pop up to Keswick.

Some of this year's festival themes interlock in an intriguing way. The strand celebrating the work of female directors crosses over into themes of Memory, Best of the Fests and Documentaries, and the celebration of Jazz combines fiction, documentary and live performance that will appeal to both jazz and film fans.

Best of the Fests is KFF's annual trawl of the finest films at major festivals over the year.

F and The Female Director - KFF's programme of films featuring the work of female directors has coincided with the development of the ‘F’ rating, a new system designed to flag up the significant involvement of women in film, on either side of the camera. Festival director Ann Martin has pulled off something of a coup, with three directors attending the festival this year, all with their debut features - Helen Walsh, an award-winning author who has turned her considerable talents to screenwriting and directing. The Violators is her debut feature set in a grim Cheshire housing estate. Rayna Campbell, a producer, screenwriter and actor, who recently starred in Layla Fourie, which opened in competition at the Berlin Film Festival and won the special mention award. Her debut feature is Lapse of Honour, a gritty urban drama set in and around her native Manchester.

And Karen Guthrie, who was raised on the west coast of Scotland and now lives at Coniston. Together with co-producer and director of photography Nina Pope, they founded Somewhere in 2002 and have undertaken art commissions from the likes of Tate Modern and Cambridge University alongside their three feature documentaries: Jaywick Escapes , Living with the Tudors and Bata-ville: We Are Not Afraid of the Future. The Closer We Get is Karen’s solo directorial debut and is screened on Saturday, February 27 (4pm).

As for documentaries, the festival programme contains some thought provoking pieces. Sherpa is its main feature at Rheged and will be this year’s charity screening, in aid of Cumbria Flood victims.

Also included will be two films from Keswick Peace and Human Rights Group - On the Side of the Road and This Changes Everything, which both deal with communities on the front lines of the impact of climate change.

Tickets on 017687-74411.