Purbeck Film Festival’s 30th year brings a run of guests from across the industry, joining audiences for post-screening discussions and Q&As throughout the programme.

UNE JOURNÉE JACQUES TATI | ROWAN ATKINSON

The festival opens its Jacques Tati celebration on Saturday 17 October with Rowan Atkinson, who joins the evening screening of Mr Hulot’s Holiday at The Mowlem to discuss Tati’s influence on his own work. Atkinson rose to prominence on Not the Nine O’Clock News before creating Blackadder and Mr Bean, and has since built an equally well-loved career in supporting film roles, from the nervous vicar in Four Weddings and a Funeral to the meticulous salesman in Love Actually.

The conversation with Atkinson is chaired by Matthew Sweet, the cultural historian and BBC broadcaster.

Earlier the same day, Professor Matthew Beaumont of UCL gives a lecture on Tati’s work, comparing the eccentric walk Tati devised for Monsieur Hulot to that of Charlie Chaplin and Groucho Marx.

OUR LAND | ORBAN WALLACE & JACK CORNISH | Book Here

The following evening, documentary filmmaker Orban Wallace joins a panel discussion after his film Our Land at Durlston Castle. Wallace is a co-founder of Gallivant Film whose debut feature Another News Story premiered at Karlovy Vary and was shortlisted for the Grierson Awards.

Also on the panel is Jack Cornish, Director of England at the Ramblers, who leads Britain’s largest walking charity and is the author of The Lost Paths, published by Penguin Michael Joseph, Lara Manningham-Buller from the Rempstone Estate and Ann Maidment, South West Director of the Country Land & Business Association (CLA). The discussion is chaired by Tom Clarke of National Trust Purbeck.

EXHIBITION ON SCREEN | DAVID BICKERSTAFF | Book Here

David Bickerstaff

Also across the week, artist and filmmaker David Bickerstaff introduces two Exhibition on Screen documentaries: Tokyo Stories at Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum on Tuesday 20 October, and Turner and Constable at The Mowlem on Wednesday 21 October, both followed by Q&As. Bickerstaff founded the digital art organisation Atomictv in 1997 and has directed and co-written eleven feature-length art documentaries for the Exhibition on Screen series, shown in over 1,500 cinemas across 63 countries.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY | EDDY PEARCE |  Book Here

Eddy Pearce

Location manager Eddy Pearce, who scouted Dorset locations for Sense and Sensibility, joins the Q&A after its screening at The Mowlem on Friday 23 October. His other credits include Ammonite, Persuasion, and Paddington in Peru, for which he spent six months scouting in Colombia; in 2020 he founded The Westcountry Set to bring major productions to the South West, and is also an award-winning photographer known for his community-led documentary work in Dorset.

TERRA | RORY WILSON & MEG BIRLEY | Book Here

Writer-director Rory Wilson attends the screening of Terra, his debut feature, at Dorchester Film Society on Wednesday 28 October. The independently made war drama, shot with a locally cast crew, premiered at Raindance 2026 with nominations for Best UK Feature and Best UK Director.

Meg Birley is a Dorset-based British mixed race actress working across film and television. With a particular interest in emotionally complex, gritty and human stories, Meg has built a varied body of screen work spanning drama, action and fantasy projects. Meg plays Nurse Roula in Rory Wilson’s feature film Terra, which is screening at this year’s Purbeck Film Festival. She is passionate about independent filmmaking and telling stories that explore the resilience and complexity of people in extraordinary circumstances.

Further guest appearances will be announced on the website as the festival approaches.