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24
Sept
Release date for film shot in Harrogate starring Ralph Fiennes revealed
A BBC Film production partly shot in Harrogate will be released in November.
The Choral, starring BAFTA-winning actor Ralph Fiennes, was shot at The Crown Hotel over three days in June last year.
Production crew told the Stray Ferret at the time Fiennes – best known for playing Voldemort in Harry Potter and Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List – was not in Harrogate when we visited the hotel.
Cast members were also spotted filming in Saltaire, near Bradford.
Little information about the production was shared at the time, but BBC Film has now confirmed the film will be released on November 7.
It will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classic and will also be shown at the BFI London Film Festival next month.
Film crew for The Choral outside The Crown Hotel, Harrogate, last year.
The Choral, originally written by Alan Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hynter, takes place in the fictional Yorkshire town of Ramsden in 1916.
It tells the story of a local choir, which finds its numbers depleted after men are called up to fight in the First World War. With its annual performance looming, the choir somewhat bends its entry requirements and recruits a crop of unlikely teenagers, led by the “socially scandalous” Dr Guthrie (Fiennes), ahead of their imminent draft into the army.
BBC Film says the production “explores the humour and humanity at the heart of a community facing an uncertain future”.
A screenshot from The Choral's trailer. The scene appears to be at The Crown Hotel. Credit: Sony Pictures / BBC Film
Ahead of the film’s release, Harrogate Competitive Festival is hosting an illustrated talk about Dame Clara Butt by Jacqueline Edwards.
An established mezzo-soprano, Jacqueline will discuss the life and career of Dame Clara, an English dramatic contralto, for whom composer Sir Edward Elgar wrote the iconic Land of Hope and Glory, Sea Pictures and The Dream of Geronitus.
The celebrated musicians often stayed at The Crown Hotel in the early twentieth century, where The Choral was shot, when they ventured north to perform at the Royal Hall – then called The Kursaal.
The talk will be held at The Crown Hotel on Friday (September 26) at 7.15pm.
Tickets cost £15.
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