MONTY Python manager Steve Abbott will be guest of honour at this year’s RATMA international film festival in Keighley.

Movie producer Steve Abbott is a long-time supporter of the short-films festival, but this is the first time he has been able to come along to the event.

He wanted to express support for first-time directors following his own success over several decades producing hit films like A Fish Called Wanda.

Steve will be joined by the Lord Mayor of Bradford and the Keighley Mayor during a gala screening that will bring the July 16 event to a close.

The trio will watch the winning film in each of several categories, voted for by the public during screening days in the previous fortnight.

RATMA, the River Aire Ten-Minute Amateur international film festival, is now in its fourth year, and has grown massively from its beginnings as an enterprise project for Keighley College students.

College tutor and festival director, Marcus Gregg, said this year’s festival had attracted about 150 short films.

He said: “The entries deadline has passed and we are counting up the amount of films we have had sent to us by the film-makers of the world.

“It looks like about 150 films that match the criteria and we are beginning the long process of selection. Because we can only show up to 80 films each year, we will be selecting only the very best.”

Mr Gregg said that just as in previous years, ‘pop-up’ cinemas will appear around Keighley in the build-up to the RATMA festival.

He added: “This year, we will be showing films from the current playlists. This is due to demand from regulars who say they don’t get enough time to see them all on the festival Saturday.”

“The first one will be in the Workout Gym Oxford in Oakworth Road. This fantastic building used to be one of Keighley’s seven cinemas. Date and time to be announced."

Mr Gregg said he is expecting more people to attend the screenings in 2016 because word had spread, year by year.

He added: “We are expecting live broadcasts from Drystone Radio from the event and have some great live music lined up.”

Tickets for RATMA are now on sale at £3 each, with proceeds going to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. A full-event ticket will allow free entry to the pop-up cinemas.

Anyone wishing to sponsor the event should contact @ratmaff via Twitter, 'Keighley 10 minute Film Festival’ on Facebook or visit ratmaff.weebly.com for more details.