A fundraising campaign has begun to rescue a film event, financially knocked down by the effects of pandemic.

Dover Film Festival is receiving no income following repeated lockdowns.

The cinema where it would have shown its annual town history film this March is currently closed.

But now the Rotary Club of Dover is striving to rescue the event with an online crowdfunding page to reap £2,500.

John Hunnisett, the club's events committee chairman, explained: "Dover Film Festival, has been severely affected by Covid-19, receiving no income to continue through 2020 and 2021.

"People enjoyed the quality of the films. Covid-19 has closed the cinema but we hope it will be back there for March 2022."

Anyone who contributes £10 or more to the JustGiving page will be able to ask for a past edition in the series to be emailed to them.

If you give £50 or more you can request all 18 films in the current series, dating from 2001 and 2003-19.

The annual festival's main feature is a film showing events in the area in the preceding year.

The last event was from March 1 to 6, 2020, as usual at the Silver Screen Community Cinema in Gaol Lane, Dover.

It was just weeks before coronavirus completely smothered the country and the first lockdown was imposed.

The latest production, 2020 Dover Film, can now only be shown online through the festival website.

Director Mike McFarnell has scenes of the effects of the virus locally.

These include the weekly doorstep claps for the NHS and empty supermarket shelves from panic buying.

There will also be photographs of the traffic snarl-ups in Dover after the French border closure last month.

France was trying to keep the new variant of the virus out of its country.

The film has other features of 2020 such the arrival of Richard Branson's cruise ship Scarlet Lady in February, the demolition of the old Dover Centre in March and celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in the summer.

The first Dover Film Festival took place at Dover Town Hall in 1972.

The footage was by local director Ray Warner who had already made 25 annual films of events in Dover, Deal and Sandwich.

Mr Warner died in December 1989 and Phil Heath, managing director of Dover's Heathwood Studios, took over filming.

Mr McFarnell took on the project in 2003 although usually concentrated on events in Dover town itself.

The festival continued at the Town Hall until 2016, before moving to the Silver Screen.

The 2020 Dover Film can be viewed by festival members online from March 1 on the website dover-film.com

To join the group follow instructions on the website.

To contribute to the Rotary fundraising visit the page justgiving.com/crowdfunding/doverrotaryclub

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