In 1999 I was saddened to hear that Tim Foster, the architect and director of the Harwich Film Festival for its first three years, was to step down. It was a small but impressive event held in one of the oldest working cinemas in the world — giving local people a chance to experience art-house cinema without a long journey, and raising the profile of Harwich at the same time.

I took the festival over not because I’m a film buff (I’m not) but because I had more than a passing interest in film and I didn’t want Harwich to loose such an interesting event in its annual calendar.

In the two years I ran the festival (2000 and 2001) there were many problems — not least the continual funding battle and the struggle to get films to the festival. But after all was done it didn’t lose money, and the people who came (sometimes only a handful) to each screening enjoyed what was screened.

In 2002 it was clear that although the festival could be run on a shoestring it wasn’t really worth doing unless bigger audiences could be attracted. This was the only way I could justify the money I would have to find and the effort I would have to be put in. I wasn’t able to do these things, and with nobody coming forward to help run the event I reluctantly decided not to go ahead with the festival in 2002.

I have to say at this point that the festival does have its supporters. First among them is the Electric Palace Trust and particularly its staff, who have put up with an awkward stranger in their midst each year. I’m guilty of under-using the very cinema I want to see promoted, and I cannot heap enough praise on the people who open the cinema each weekend and keep it running.

Then there are those lovely people who come to see the films — members of the Harwich Consortium, friends, family and total strangers who enjoy something a bit different.

Thirdly there are the film-makers, producers, directors and enthusiasts that send me films and come down to talk about them. And last but not least there’s Simon Harvey, who designs the excellent publicity material (along with this web-site) for nothing as well as suggesting target material for me to pursue.

The strange thing is that the end of the festival as I know it has revealed some interesting green shoots. The Electric Palace have signalled that they might organise something themselves, and freed from the stress of a static event I am interested in looking at the idea of special one-off screenings of any interesting material that I become aware of. Watch this space for details.•