A HORROR film festival celebrating independent cinema is coming to Bournemouth this February.

Screams by the Sea was created by Radi Nikolov, a filmmaker and former student of Arts University Bournemouth.

The one-day event will showcase five feature films, an hour of short films, Q&As, and talks about the film industry, along with a screenwriting competition.

Bournemouth Echo:

Radi said: “I expect this event to establish a solid name for the festival.

“We’re on a mission to discover and promote diverse and emerging talent.

“I've always said that Bournemouth always reminded me of the Miami of UK.

“It's got free-spirited people, and something is always happening here.

“I plan to create something at a destination that people look forward to going to.

Speaking on the event itself, he added: “Prepare to embark on a journey that celebrates spine-tingling movies, exciting new filmmakers, and all things spooky from around the globe.

“We have some fantastic guests coming down from a couple of production companies that are producing 40 to 50 features in their roster so it is a fantastic new venture to be a part of.

“And where better than Bournemouth? The Mary Shelley restaurant is buried down in town, and we have the two biggest film schools outside of London here.

“I think creativity in Bournemouth is incredibly important.

“It is something that I've spoken about with other local festivals and other local organisers.

“It's diversity and other people on the block and very important for a very healthy sort of ecosystem of exploration of different ideas, of exhibition, of people going and exploring culture in different ways, because it's not one size fits all.”

The Bulgarian-born creative said he is partnering with SilentDpictures founder, Djonny Chen.

He added; “Johnny has connections with Indonesian distribution and theatrical exhibition, so he is my partner in crime for this venture.”

As well as the exciting event, the pair are also holding a competition that could land one lucky winner with a contract working for stars in the film industry.

Radi said: “We're running a screenwriting competition alongside the festival and the award that we're giving out is a funded production deal.

“The writer gets commissioned, hired, and offered this deal to produce their screenplay through SilentDpictures with international distribution and unlimited UK theatrical distribution as well.

“So I think that's a very exciting competition we’re offering.”

Screams by the Sea will be held at PDSW on Westover Road, Bournemouth, on February 10 later this year.

Tickets can be bought on the Pavillion Dance South West website.