BOLTON born actress Diane Morgan has been revealed as the star turn at this year’s Bolton Film Festival.

On the closing night Diane will chat with the festivals director Adrian Barber on her career so far, from her early auditions in Bolton, from factory jobs, to stand up, to the infamous Philomena Cunk and her more recent collaborations with Ricky Gervais and Joe Wilkinson.

Diane joins festival’s patron, actress Maxine Peake, supported by a stellar line-up of industry professionals.

She said: “Bolton has always been a hotbed for talent so I’m proud to be able to say that’s where I’m from. Really looking forward to coming back to visit the Film Festival. Excited! “

The festival will return to The Light Cinema, The Market Place, Bolton Library and Museum, The Albert Halls and Neo Art Gallery to showcase over 150 short films from home and abroad over three days from October 1 to 3.

Each day will see an array of film screenings, talks, masterclasses and lots of networking opportunities. Festival passes range from £15 for a one-day pass to £29.95 for the full three-days. There are also lots of free screenings and events and large discounts for the unemployed, students and the elderly.

Festival organiser, Adrian Barber unveiled details of this year’s festival at the weekend and said: “The response to the festival was so positive last year, we’ve grown in popularity in record time and expect many of our talks and screenings to sell out this edition.

“Our line-up of speakers is exceptional, they have more OSCARS, BAFTA’s and awards between them than I can squeeze on to the website — the films are of the same calibre too. Many of the films have already won awards from the best festivals in the world, others are just beginning their festival journey, we’ve just learnt that one of the student films has just made it to the Student Oscars. The schedule on paper is looking great — I can’t wait now to share the reality.”

Bolton Film Festival has been consistently voted a ‘Top 100 reviewed’ festival from over 8,000 festivals worldwide, said Adrian.

The festival will include film showings, discussions, talks and advice and insight from industry insiders and award winners.

A highlight will be OSCAR winning studio DNEG discussing feature film visual effects and their work on films such as Avengers: Endgame (2019), Atila: Battle Angel (2018) and Fantastic Beasts.

Sam Johnson, Head of the School of Arts at the University of Bolton said “It is wonderful to be able to listen to well-established artists (and patrons!) talking about their work."

See boltonfilmfestival.com for tickets.