Editor

The Soundtrack International Film and Music Festival (http://www.soundtrackfilmfestival.com/) is back in the Cardiff city region this November 16-20 with the strongest line-up of films in the short history of an event that explores and celebrates the unique relationship between film and music - with tickets on sale from today.

Soundtrack was described by Oscar winning director Danny Boyle, who featured in the first event in 2008, as "crucial, given the exploding role of music in the soundtrack of our digital lives", and the programme this year is bookended by previews of BAFTA award winning director Steve McQueen's Shame, which opens the festival on Nov 16, and Coriolanus, the directorial debut of Oscar nominated actor Ralph Fiennes which closes Soundtrack on the 20th. Highlights include Grammy Award winning filmmaker and musician Don Letts; comedian Adam Buxton (of Adam & Joe fame); a 40th anniversary celebration of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, and a live soundtrack by Mercury Prize nominees Guillemots.

Funded by the Film Agency for Wales and the Major Events Unit of the Welsh Government, with continued support from Chapter Arts Centre and Cineworld in Cardiff, Soundtrack features screenings, in conversations, discussion panels, special live performances and educational workshops taking place in venues across Cardiff, and this year for the first time in Newport, where support has been forthcoming from Newport City Council, Capital Region Tourism and the Newport Film School.

Suzanne Alizart, interim chief executive at the Film Agency for Wales said: "This is a flagship event for the Film Agency, which has demonstrated from its first outing its commitment to internationally renowned film and music talent, spotlighting Wales to the world. This year's programme once again reflects our ability to attract major names in the film and music world, with more film previews than ever before and an expansion into Newport for the first time."

Don Letts will be at the festival to screen his 2005 film Punk Attitude, and talk about his career as a director. Famous for chronicling the Punk scene and for introducing Punks to Reggae, Don made The Punk Rock Movie on Super-8 and produced over 300 music videos for artists such as Bob Marley, Elvis Costello and The Clash, along with films of artists such as The Jam and Gil Scott-Heron. In 2003 he won a Grammy for his documentary Westway To The World, which told the story of The Clash, and he now hosts a show on BBC Radio 6, as well as reforming Big Audio Dynamite for a recent world tour.

Bug: The Evolution of Music Video is curated by comedian Adam Buxton of Adam and Joe Channel 4 and BBC6 Music fame, featuring a strand of interesting music videos mixed with comedy that sold out five nights at this summer's Edinburgh Festival.

Festival opener Shame is Turner Prize winning artist turned film maker Steve McQueen's slice of contemporary New York life, with hot pair Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, and a NYC soundtrack from the likes of Chic, Blondie and John Coltrane.

The film selected to close Soundtrack, Coriolanus is directed by, and stars, Ralph Fiennes, and is a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's tale of power and politics, with a dramatic score by Ivor Novello and BAFTA nominated composer Ilan Eshkeri, whose credits include The Young Victoria, and Kick-Ass.

X Banned is a 40th anniversary celebration of A Clockwork Orange, featuring a pre-screening exhibition of items from the Stanley Kubrick Archive, a screening of the film, followed by a panel discussion with guests from The Stanley Kubrick Archive and The British Board of Film Censors.

There is a special preview screening of Lawrence of Belgravia, the latest film by ‘pop maverick' Paul Kelly who will also present a Q&A session on this story of the frontman of alternative rock band Felt; a big influence on the Manics. Over the years Paul has worked with the likes of Saint Etienne, producing the film to accompany their albumFinisterre, and collaborating with the band as artists-in-residence at the South Bank Centre.

The distinctive sound of Guillemots comes to the Coal Exchange on November when they will be performing an improvised rescoring of a film whose identity is being kept under wraps until the screening. There is live music too from Norwegian black metal legends Dimmu Borgir, who bring their brand of Satanism to Soundtrack with a screening of the story of black metal, Until The Light takes Us.

Soundtrack's documentaries include The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, the story of Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle, one of the most innovative and influential figures in music and fine art in the past 30 years, and the pursuit of his physical ideal, a perfect mirror of his lover, Lady Jaye's incomparable beauty; and there is a music documentary strand presented by Cardiff's own Spillers Records, the oldest record shop in the world, including Sound It Out, a funny and intimate portrait of the last surviving vinyl record shop on Teesside, followed by a Q&A with the director Jeanie Finaly.

Soundtrack also features fearless film maker Evan Glodell's Bellflower; Ryuichi Sakamoto's beautiful score for the remade classic Hara Kiri: Death of A Samurai.

The full programme and details on how to obtain tickets may be found on http://www.soundtrackfilmfestival.com/

You can also follow Soundtrack on Twitter: @Soundtrack_Fest

Festival Programme

Wednesday November 16

18.30            BUG: The Evolution of Music Video hosted by Adam Buxton. Cineworld Cardiff

Opening Night Film:

20.30            Shame dir. Steve McQueen (UK 2011, 99min). Cineworld Cardiff.

Thursday November 17

10.00            The Law of Sync: Creating and Commissioning Music for Film Presented by Capital Law. Newport Film School

11.30     The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of José González dirs. Mikel Cee Karlsson, Fredrik Egerstrand (Sweden 2010, 75min). Newport Film School

19.30     Until The Light Takes Us dirs Aaron Aites, Audrey Ewell (USA 2008, 93mins). Newport Film School

18.00            Welsh Music Foundation and Musicians' Union present: Film Trailer Music Masterclass. Newport Centre

18.00            Ivory Tower dir Adam Traynor (Canada/France 2010, 75min). Chapter Arts Centre

20.00            Bellflower dir. Evan Glodel (USA 2010, 106min) l pre-recorded interview following screening. Cineworld, Cardiff

Friday November 18

14.00            Cinovate@ Soundtrack. Chapter Arts Centre

18.00            The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of José González dirs. Mikel Cee Karlsson, Fredrik Egerstrand (Sweden 2010, 75min) plus Q&A. Chapter Arts Centre

19.00            Hara Kiri: Death Of A Samurai dir. Takashi Miike (Japan 2011, 126min). Cineworld, Cardiff

19.30     Guillemots Live Rescore. The Coal Exchange

Saturday November 19

12.00            The Law of Sync: Creating and Commissioning Music for Film Presented by Capital Law. Chapter Arts Centre

16.00            Lawrence of Belgravia dir. Paul Kelly (UK 2011, 90min) + Q&A with director Paul Kelly. Chapter Arts Centre

X Banned: A Clockwork Orange. Chapter Arts Centre

17.00            Exhibition: A Clockwork Orange Release - Unfolding the "X" Papers'

20.00            Screening: A Clockwork Orange dir. Stanley Kubrick (UK / USA 1971, 136min)

22.30            Discussion Panel and Q&A

Sunday November 20

14.00            The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye dir. Marie Losier (USA/Ger/UK/Netherlands/Belgium/France 2011, 65min). Chapter Arts Centre

15.30     Sound It Out, dir Jeanie Finlay (UK 2011, 75min) + Q&A with director Jeanie Finlay. Chapter Arts Centre

18.0        Punk: Attitude, dir. Don Letts (UK/USA 2005) + Don Letts In Conversation. Chapter Arts Centre

An Evening with...Dimmu Borgir! + Until The Light Takes Us Pre-Show Screening. Cardiff University Great Hall & CF10

18.00            Until The Light Takes Us dirs Aaron Aites, Audrey Ewell (USA 2008, 93mins): Pre-Show Screening: CF10 Cardiff University

19.30            An Evening With...Dimmu Borgir: The Great Hall, Cardiff University

Closing Night Film

20.30     Coriolanus dir. Ralph Fiennes (UK 2011, 122min). Cineworld, Cardiff

About the Film Agency for Wales

Established in July 2006, the Film Agency for Wales is the sole Agency for film in Wales, with a remit to ensure that the economic, cultural and educational aspects of film are effectively represented in Wales, the UK and the world. As a strategic agency, the Film Agency aims to facilitate the emergence of a viable and sustainable Welsh film industry and to promote a vibrant and dynamic film culture.

Recent projects that have benefited from production support from the Film Agency for Wales include Owen Sheers' debut feature film Resistance, which will be released in early 2012 and The British Guide to Showing Off, released on the 11th November in cinemas across Wales.

Submarine opened to rave and the film has generated a UK box office in excess of $2 million through the support of Optimum Releasing. It has been sold to all major territories in the world by Protagonist including to the Weinstein Company for US distribution.

The Film Agency for Wales is funded by the Arts Council of Wales, the BFI and the Welsh Government, via Creative Business Wales, the latter of which was set up to support, encourage and increase the range and number of films being produced in Wales and to foster the abundance of creative talent in Wales.

Further information is available at http://www.filmagencywales.com/.