This year’s Portobello Film Festival takes place between Sunday 1 and Saturday 21 August and presents a varied programme of free film screenings, talks, events and exhibitions at various venues in west London.

On Monday 6 August at 6pm Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) will present a talk and screening at Westbourne Studios, in Notting Hill. Rose Cupit, FLAMIN Manager,  will discuss the LAFVA scheme and other funding opportunities available to artist film-makers in the capital, as well introducing a screening of recently completed LAFVA-funded work.

The screening will include; Offshore (Gallivant) by Andrew Kötting; Tune In (pictured) by Esther Johnson; Passages (work in progress) by Roz Mortimer and Cabinet by Tim Shore.

Beginning in the pitch-black early hours of a September morning, Offshore follows a 14hr 17min cross-channel relay swim by film-maker Andrew Kötting, his brothers, friends and family. Ten years on from completion of his coastline road-movie Gallivant, this film starts with Kötting's coincidental discovery and hire of the light vessel 'Gallivant', and revisits the original film.

Esther Johnson’s Tune In follows the fascinating world of amateur radio operators, better known as Radio HAMS. Dealing with the politics of space and social communication, this portrait blends documentary and abstract audio to reflect the world of HAM radio and the use of DIY equipment in an ever-changing modern world.

Filmed in Bellagio, Italy, Passages by Roz Mortimer takes us on a disembodied journey through the labyrinthine gardens and ruins overlooking Lake Como, exploring enclosure and isolation as both physical and psychological states. Cabinet by Tim Shore employs a combination of found footage, digital reconstruction and text, exploring an American landscape haunted by the Unabomber’s disturbing message to form a meditation on identity, technology and the land.

The Portobello Film Festival was created in 1996 as a reaction to the moribund state of the British film industry, to provide a forum for new film-makers and give exposure to movies on different formats. The festival is a 17 day showcase of the best in contemporary film, video art and multimedia at inclusive venues throughout Portobello and North Kensington and entry to all events is free. This project has received funding from Film London’s Audience Development Fund.

The London Artists’ Film and Video Awards (LAFVA) is an open submission awards scheme for artists' living and working in the London region. Awards up to a maximum of £20,000 are available to artists' working in the context of contemporary fine art moving image practice for the production of new work. Applications for LAFVA 2008 will open later in the year details will be announced via the FLAMIN bulletin.

For more information visit the Portobello Film Festival website.