On Air Now

Darren Lethem

Noon - 2:00pm

Now Playing

Scarborough Fossil Festival Hits the Big Screen

A feast of films will entertain fossil fiends at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre this autumn, as part of the Yorkshire Fossil Festival.

For the first time, the cinema at the SJT has teamed up with the popular annual festival to bring five palaeontology-inspired movies to its screen in the Fossil Film Fest.

Highlights will include a screening of the great Ray Harryhausen’s The Valley of Gwangi introduced by leading palaeo-artist James McKay, and of Francis Lee’s recent biopic of Mary Anning, Ammonite, introduced by the Natural History Museum’s Zoe Hughes.

Yorkshire Fossil Festival director Dr Liam Herringshaw says:

"It's really exciting to be partnering with the Stephen Joseph Theatre for the Fossil Film Fest. Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures have inspired all manner of big-screen drama, and the festival will show off some of our favourites, from The Land Before Time to Jurassic Park. We're also delighted to be able to offer expert insights into how artists have brought dinosaurs to life in art and on screen, with palaeo-artist and writer James McKay, and on the importance of both ammonites and Mary Anning's palaeontological discoveries with Natural History Museum curator Zoë Hughes."

The films are:

Friday 10 September

  • 2pm – The Good Dinosaur (2015): The story of an Apatosaurus called Arlo. In an alternate history, an asteroid which possibly wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago passes safely past the earth; millions of years later, evolved dinosaurs have become farmers. Featuring the voices of Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin and Frances McDormand, this Pixar movie won a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film.
  • 5pm – Jurassic Park (1993): the original and, for many, the best. Richard Attenborough, Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum star in a movie milestone that was recently selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
  • 8pm – The Valley of Gwangi (1969): A stop-motion spectacular from special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen; this was his final dinosaur-themed movie. See if you can spot the scenes that influences Steven Spielberg when he made Jurassic Park!

The Valley of Gwangi will feature an introduction and post-screening Q&A with palaeo-artist James McKay, looking at dinosaurs in art and on-screen.

Saturday 11 September

  • 2pm and 5pm – The Land Before Time (1988): The first in a long-running series following the adventures of dinosaurs Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike, this 1988 animation spawned 13 sequels, a TV series and more than a dozen video games.
  • 8pm – Ammonite (2020): Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan in the story of Mary Anning, a pioneering female fossil hunter who became internationally known for her work on the fossils of the UK’s other Jurassic coast, Dorset.

Ammonite will feature an introduction and post-screening Q&A from Zoe Hughes, Curator of Fossil Invertebrates at the Natural History Museum.

Tickets for all the films are available from the box office on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com

The Yorkshire Fossil Festival is hosted by Scarborough Museums Trust, and supported by funding from Yorkshire Coast BID. The festival also receives funding from the Palaeontological Association and the Geologists’ Association, and support from Hidden Horizons, the Yorkshire Geological Society and the University of Hull.

For more information, please visit: https://yorkshirefossilfestival.co.uk

 

More from Yorkshire Coast News

Comments

Add a comment

Log in to the club or enter your details below.

Follow Us

Get Our Apps

Our Apps are now available for iOS, Android and Smart Speakers.

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play
  • Just ask Amazon Alexa
  • Available on Roku

Today's Weather

  • Scarborough

    Medium-level cloud

    High: 12°C | Low: 5°C

  • Filey

    Sunny intervals

    High: 12°C | Low: 5°C

  • Whitby

    Medium-level cloud

    High: 13°C | Low: 5°C

  • Bridlington

    Medium-level cloud

    High: 13°C | Low: 4°C

  • Hornsea

    Light rain shower

    High: 13°C | Low: 5°C

  • Driffield

    Medium-level cloud

    High: 13°C | Low: 4°C

News