Adrian is the festival director of Bolton International Film Festival. A documentary film-maker and photographer with over twenty five years experience, Adrians practice is centred on long term social documentaries that focus on people led stories and community. He first began hosting film events with "Sunset Cinema" which toured the world out of a backpack, screening independent films on beaches, mountain tops and even floating down the Ganges on a barge in India. These pop up events became the genesis of Bolton Film Festival, a festival that is now both a BIFA and BAFTA qualifying short film festival.  

Adrian is a regular guest speaker at universities, colleges and film events, and has been a juror at Directors Notes Awards, Slick Films Fund, Kerry Film Festival, Indie Cork Film Festival, Short Com, River Film Festival, Kino Film Festival and more.

Zoe Rothwell is an alumni of the University of Bolton where she studied a Masters in Multi Media Journalism, she went on to be an independent film maker & photographer before working in education for ten years. As the festival producer at Bolton Film Festival she helps facilitate the day to day running of a complex event, she programmes for the festival and she is also the friendly face who will make you feel at ease on your visit to Bolton. 

Alisha is a graduate of University of Manchester where she obtained an alumni scholarship for her M.A in Film Studies. Alisha was previously a pre-programmer at Bolton Film Festival, but we were so impressed with her knowledge of film we've asked to step up to programming. Alisha has a passion and love for documentary and docu-fiction. She's active in production, working with Grey Moth as a studio manager and is a regular face at film events in London.

Edie Barnabas is a Northern queer film programmer and filmmaker passionate about
creating a vibrant film industry outside of London. Through their film night Slime Presents they successfully screened films to an engaged audience in Leeds, securing funding from FilmHub North in 2024. Edie is currently a Programme Advisor for Sheffield DocFest, they believe in championing innovative cinema and focus on curating programmes that reflect the diversity of our communities.

Charlotte graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with an MA in Filmmaking in 2017, returning to study after twenty years working behind the scenes in TV and Film as a Make-Up Artist. Since graduating Charlotte has produced her own documentary short film projects with a focus on everyday life and human interest stories. She was previously a pre-programmer at SeeMôr Film Festival and was a member of Sheffield Doc Fest/WaterBear Pitch Jury in 2021. Charlotte continues to work in the TV industry and has revisited Sheffield Hallam as a part-time lecturer. 

Megan graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2019, before working in London in documentary production and distribution. She helps us with administrative work including communications, greeting guests, managing films, liaising with partners, keeping track of scheduling, editing film synopsis’ and writing descriptions

Rose recently graduated from the University of Central Lancashire achieving a first-class BA degree in animation. She currently works as our social media coordinator and during the event, will be the first person to go to with anything animation. Rose aspires to work in a studio alongside like-minded creatives and for now she is developing her portfolio as a freelance artist and 2D animator.

Jim Dummett runs Cinebox, who specialise in technical delivery of film festivals and events. They manage all the DCP creation for Bolton Film Festival and other leading film festivals in the UK.

Jim has been producing film events since 2009, from the mud-splattered fields of Glastonbury, pop-ups in London, film festivals such as Open City Doc Fest and Branchage Jersey, and delivering touring programmes to major venues including BFI Southbank, Watershed Bristol and FACT Liverpool. Prior to his work in cinema, Jim was an online editor and broadcast technician working on documentaries for BBC, ITV and Discovery.

cinebox.co

Dennis is the creator of Filmchief, a popular cloud-based film festival management system and an online streaming platform. Dennis is himself an animation filmmaker with a passion for cinema.

filmchief.com