Tonight is the opening film of the 2015 Chester International Film Festival.

We open with a cool and elegant French thriller – Before the Winter Chill (Avant l’hiver) – starring Daniel Auteuil and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Daniel Auteuil (Paul) is French acting royalty and he plays a neurosurgeon who is married to the lovely Kristen Scott-Thomas – Lucie. He is an expert in his field but when he starts to get flowers from an unknown admirer he starts to lose his professional leanings. He seems to live quite a charmed life with his wife, nice house, family and friends. But once the flowers carry on arriving, the cracks start to appear.

The film is an intriguing story of obsession, friendships and life passing by.

Also tonight we see the launch of our Animation Showcase. For this year’s festival, we have had 120 entries submitted from all over the world. We have narrowed this down to the best 10 shorts. Each night our audience will vote, and on the final night – Saturday 7th March – we will decide who will win the audience prize for 2015. The first 2 films – The Sheep Shop, and The Blood of the Bear – will be shown tonight before the main feature.

A first for Chester Film Society, we are showing tonight’s film in Chester Cathedral, in it’s historic Refectory. Entrance to the venue is via the main entrance on St Werburgh Street.

Tickets can be reserved by emailing bookings@chesterfilmfans.co.uk, or by telephoning 01244 371750. Tickets are just £4. Or for even better value you can buy a special pass for just £12 allowing entry to any 4 films.

The Festival website can be found by visiting www.festival.chesterfilmfans.co.uk

Chester International Film Festival is organised by Chester Film Society. We are Chester’s only permanent film offering in the city. If you are interested in future film events, please visit our Film Society website, www.chesterfilmfans.co.uk, and follow us on Twitter