éI have nothing against American films per se,é explains Mathieu Ravier, programmer of the Commonwealth Film festival opening this week in Manchester, éités just that you can see them everywhere. The Commonwealth Film Festival exists because Hollywood has a film festival coming out of the multiplexes the other fifty one weeks of the year.é

A good point, well made. Over the last few years cinema has changed irrevocably. By and large, the urge to find new and interesting film has declined amongst the general public - to be replaced with what weére not quite sure. The perfect case in point is the fact that many people will think that going to see Kill Bill Volume 2 as their opportunity to see an éart filmé.

The Commonwealth Film Festival opened for business in 2002 after the success of the Commonwealth Games, showcasing over 300 titles to Mancunians, adventurous tourists and even passing musicians such as David Byrne.

éThe feedback from both audience and filmmakers after the first event was amazing,é says Mathieu. éIt was this that made us realise how important it was that the festival was not just a one-off. The second year we went it alone and made the festival roughly half the size because we didnét have the funding. Because that was also such a success Iém proud to say that weére getting bigger again.é

So what exactly are the public to expect from the third festival? Well, thereés a large cross-section of works taken from many countries. This year, the festival offers specific themes such as Womenwealth, Queerscreen and films exploring Nollywood, the nickname for the recent activity in Nigerian underground cinema. Not the sort of thing you might expect to see at the AMC cinema, except of course for the fact that the AMC is one of the cinemas (alongside Cornerhouse) showing the festivalsé films.

Highlights include The Last Horror Show, an extremely violent video diary of a murderer - éItés actually a little too violent for me,é comments Mathieu. Thereés a strange black and white retelling of a Grimmés fairytale called Woodenhead and a new film called The Saddest Music In the World directed by Guy Maddin thatés tipped for great things. But, and Mathieu goes to great lengths to point this out, ités not just about art, but independent cinema.

Of great interest to lovers of Bollywood cinema is Maqbool - a daring and violent film which transposes Macbeth to the Mumbai underworld, creating an epic gangster movie which plays like The Godfather filtered through Hong Kong action cinema at its most gritty. But all this is just the very tip of the iceberg.

With so many films to choose from, what criteria does Mathieu adopt in order make a decision on what to show?

éWell, ités not a democratic process,é he explains. éFirstly, I have to regard each film in terms of its perceived quality - which Iéll admit is vague. Secondly, the festival is about representation. We have to make sure that cultures and groups of people are represented in the festival.

"Thirdly, I try to make sure that each film will have an audience; that it wonét just be attended by a couple of film lecturers, and lastly that the films are all making a debut in Manchester. This way I can guarantee that the festival is as dynamic and exciting as possible.é

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