FOLLOWING a box office boom on its February outing, Borderlines, Europe’s biggest rural film festival, celebrates its 10th birthday with a one-off May Festival.

Screenings from May 4 to 20 are at six new and unusual Herefordshire locations, including the Second World War hangar at Shobdon Airfield, where unforgettable classic wartime drama Casablanca will be screened.

Renowned for its music events, the ancient manor house of Hellens in Much Marcle hosts a screening of the stunning 1928 silent documentary Turksib with a specially scored musical accompaniment from Bronnt Industries Kapital.

The Artist returns for an open air screening on May 12 on the lawns of Berrington Hall, near Leominster. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, starring the cream of British acting talent, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Celia Imrie, among others, plays there the night before, one of three events related to the film.

BAFTA presents author Deborah Moggach in conversation with Daily Telegraph critic David Gritten in Peterchurch, while distinguished director John Madden talks to Radio Four’s Francine Stock in a Directors UK event at Great Brampton House, near Madley.

And it’s cider with movies as the Vintage Moviebus, with Bulmers as a new sponsor, re-visits Herefordshire with a programme of local archive films at The Big Apple Blossomtime celebrations in the Marcle Ridge.

The barn at Lyde Court will become a cinema for another screening of one of the hits of the February festival, the documentary featuring members of Herefordshire Young Farmers’ Clubs, Tune For the Blood.

There’s plenty for the family, too, with free silent cinema and slapstick comedy workshops running through the day at Berrington Hall on May 12 as well as screenings of The Adventures of Tintin and The Muppets at Shobdon Airfield on the final weekend.

“The main film festival in February ended on a high, with ticket sales up by 26 per cent, averaging approximately 1,000 ticket attendances per day,” sais Borderlines executive director Naomi Vera- Sanso. “We hope that those who enjoyed the programme will try the more unusual outdoor settings of the May Festival,”

A brochure containing full details of the programme is out now.

Tickets can be purchased at borderlinesfilmfestival.

org, from The Courtyard box office in person or by calling 01432 340555.