MORE THAN 60 films will be shown as part of this year’s international film festival in Keighley.

RATMA, now in its third year, will go on for a full day and evening at two venues this Saturday. (April 18)

Short movies from across the world will be screened at the Keighley Campus of Leeds City College, next to the railway station.

The winning entries in several categories, including comedy, drama, sci-fi and thriller, can be seen in the evening at Keighley Picture House.

RATMA, the River Aire Ten Minute Amateur international film festival, is the brainchild of Keighley Campus tutor Marcus Gregg and a team of volunteers.

Spokesman Gareth James said: “We have had just over 60 films to show this year from more than 30 countries.

“They range from local filmmakers producing comedies and dramas, to filmmakers from the New York Film School entering their documentaries.

“All in all we should be in for a good day of various ideas and production levels.”

The drama section includes Alone, made by Amy Beedle who also entered films in last year’s RATMA.

Gareth said: “Alone is a film about the inner psyche of a teenage girl and how she thinks that the world and people are always judging her. There are tones of anorexia, parental hate and suicide.”

Another drama, made by Dieter Primig, tells of an office worker whose workload keeps building up until he disappears into himself to escape the drudgery of the real world.

Tomer Werechson’s science-fiction film Simplicity portrays a society where people don’t realise they are under the control of machines and everything they do is watched.

Perfection, by Tarvi Roos, is a thriller is about a man who seeks perfection by stealing the lives of others.

Gareth said: “The man takes control of them and pushes them to become the best in their field. But he is never satisfied even when he thinks he has everything.”

Among the comedies are The Princess Strikes Back, by Keeley Knight and Dave Lojek, a twist on the Cinderella story where the lead character is a man with a fairy godfather.

Another comedy, Litiosub by Rodrigo Canet, makes fun of today passes online world, with two people right next to each other who are unable to communicate unless they are online.

RATMA was established in 2013 when college tutor Marcus Gregg wanted to teach entrepreneurial skills to his motor maintenance students.

Marcus and the teenagers were amazed at the huge response from directors around the world to their invitation to submit films of 10 minutes or less.

Marcus said: “It is a whole different art form and filmmakers need to be very clever.

“There is no time to build up character and there have to be various mechanisms in place for the viewer to properly buy into the movie in such a short time.

“They’re extraordinarily good Hollywood quality films where the story is told very quickly and precisely.”

RATMA is open to the public, and admission is by donation. Proceeds will go to Cancer Research UK. Visit ratmaff.weebly.com for further information.