A HOLLYWOOD director will feature in the line-up for this year's Harrogate Film Festival, which returns for a fifth year.

This year’s festival will feature a 30th anniversary screening of the Oliver Stone directed film JFK followed by a 'Q&A' with the legendary director.

Festival director, Adam Chandler, said: "We are beyond thrilled to be welcoming Oliver Stone to the festival.

"JFK is an amazing piece of cinema that set a high bar for the political thrillers that followed it."

The 2021 festival has been planned to ensure events can still take place within Covid restrictions.

Instead of its usual 10-day run, this year’s event will essentially be a series of 'Mini Festivals' between April and September, which organisers say they hope will enable some of the later events to run face-to-face.

The 2021 programme has been curated to include a range of events offering something for people of all ages, from aspiring filmmakers to the more dedicated.

The first event, which will run from April 23 - 27, will see the return of the 'Independent Filmmakers' competition, which will run online, alongside a virtual JFK screening and Oliver Stone interview, workshops, virtual experience events and the annual industry day.

Restrictions permitting, the hope is that June’s programme of immersive and experience events, quizzes, features films and competitions can all run in person, in line with social distancing guidelines in place at the time.

"Since our 2020 festival, a lot has happened in the world. We have planned the 2021 festival to allow for a fully online event, holding events in person, or a combination of the two," said Mr Chandler.

"We really hope that by running a full schedule of events we can help bring some normality and joy to film fans," he added.

Tickets for all events are available from the festival website.

Founded in 2017 the Harrogate Film Festival aims to captivate audiences by offering innovative events and opportunities which aim to engage and develop audiences with new experiences, film education, interactive events and competitions.