THE theme of this year's Tyne Valley Film Festival is home.

The Forum Cinema festival will run from March 17-26.

Twenty-nine films will be shown from eight different countries across 13 venues as part of the annual event.

READ MORE: Everything we know about this year's film festival

Festival coordinator and marketing officer Chris Kelly said: "This is our third festival, we are building on it each year, and it is becoming part of the annual calendar.

"The main ethos behind it is it's a community-programmed festival. 

"We're working with a large selection of other organisations across the Tyne Valley who are choosing their own films to show to their communities - a lot of these are really rural places, so to be able to have cinema there in those small places is fantastic.

"The big screen experience is great, you can't replicate that at home. That's what cinema is for lights down, big screen, loud sound.

"In rural areas, people can get quite isolated, so it's much more than watching the film itself. People might be going to new places, meeting new people, and seeing new films they wouldn't have if the festival didn't exist."

This year's festival focuses on home and what it means to people.

Chris explained the festival is working with filmmaker and director Svitlana Pohasiy, of Kids Movie Fest Ukraine, after a fundraiser was held at Forum showing the work of Ukranian children when Svitlana first arrived in Hexham.

He said: "We want to give the people who have moved to the area a space to come and enjoy cinema and a little taste of what home life is like and was before everything that happened and hopefully will be in the future. It's something nice to take out what is a bad situation.

"It's also nice to see the range of films, from things like E.T. phone home to Lady in the Van in nomad land."

The full programme of events can be found on the Forum website or in-person copies can be obtained from the Hexham cinema.

Forum Cinema is Northumberland's only full-time, independent, community-owned cinema.