FILM fans around the county and beyond will have been counting down to this weekend, when Borderlines Film Festival opens for another 17 days of films guaranteed to delight, excite, provoke and even dislike.

The opening weekend incorporates the relaunched Festival of British Cinema, with 30 films screened at venues in Hay-on-Wye, and this year, the combined festivals will feature 100 films and events in 230 screenings in 30 locations across four counties: Herefordshire, Shropshire, Powys and Worcestershire.

As always, the programme includes Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe winners as well as movies that have been recognised by some of the world's leading film festivals. Among them, and showing next week at The Courtyard, is the film that took two of the biggest awards at Sunday's Oscars - Birdman, which saw director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu picking up the statuettes for best film and best director.

The film that picked up the best foreign film awards at both the BAFTAs and the Oscars, Ida, the latest film from Pawel Pawlikowski, is showing at three Herefordshire venues, and one in Shropshire. "An immaculate, miraculous masterwork," said The Telegraph.

Other highlights include films that have won the major European Film Awards in 2014: Winter Sleep (Palme D’Or, Cannes), A Pigeon That Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Golden Lion, Venice), Black Coal, Thin Ice (Golden Bear, Berlin), Leviathan (Official Competition, BFI London FF), The Tribe (Sutherland Award, BFI London FF) as well as Whiplash (Sundance) and a mini-retrospective of the Australian director, Rolf de Heer, (Charlie’s Country, Ten Canoes and The Tracker).

Francine Stock, festival patron and presenter of Radio 4’s The Film Programme continues her alternative exploration of French cinema by focusing on four of its heroines: Danielle Darrieux in Max Ophuls' Madame de..., Jeanne Moreau in Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Lift to the Scaffold) and Sylvie Testud in Lourdes.

The festival will also be screening three films by internationally acclaimed Palestinian filmmakers, selected by Annemarie Jacir (When I Saw You, Salt of this Sea): the Oscar-nominated Omar by Hany Abu-Assad, Villa Touma directed by Suha Arraf and Open Bethlehem by Leila Sansour . Both Annemarie Jacir and Leila Sansour will be present to discuss the films alongside their influences, inspirations and the latest trends in Palestinian filmmaking. This compilation is delivered in association with the Bristol Palestine Film Festival as part of the BFI funded project called Conversations About Cinema: Impact of Conflict, an ongoing strand exploring the repercussions of conflict and the multiple ways this has been presented in film.

As part of the Festival of British Cinema, Professor Ian Christie, a leading expert on British cinema, will reassess the work of Britain's forgotten women directors from the 40s and 50s, and Ken Loach has selected three British films that have influenced him, among them the classic Brief Encounter.

Tomorrow night, the festival welcomes a special guest as actor Toby Jones takes part in a Q&A with Francine Stock following a screening at 8pm in Richard Booth's Bookshop, of Leave To Remain, directed by Bruce Goodison, in which he plays a major role.

For full details of this year's Borderlines films and events, visit borderlinesfilmfestival.co.uk and to book, call the central box office on 01432 340555. Tickets also available at individual venues.