{"id":807300,"date":"2026-10-19T06:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807300\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T06:22:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:22:24","slug":"rowan-atkinson-to-headline-purbeck-film-festival-at-swanage-theatre-swanage-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807300\/","title":{"rendered":"Rowan Atkinson to headline Purbeck Film Festival at Swanage theatre \u2013 Swanage News"},"content":{"rendered":"

TV and movie legend Rowan Atkinson will appear at The Mowlem in Swanage to help launch the Purbeck Film Festival \u2013 and prove that comedy can be a serious business.<\/p>\n

The actor, whose best known roles include Mr Bean, Edmund Blackadder and Johnny English, is headlining the festival in its 30th anniversary year, to celebrate the work of renowned French filmmaker Jacques Tati.<\/p>\n

\"\"UNIVERSAL PICTURES<\/p>\n

Mr Bean\u2019s Holiday was part homage to the work of Jacques Tati, as Rowan Atkinson will explain at The Mowlem<\/p>\n

Another major coup for the Film Festival<\/p>\n

Rowan Atkinson will appear on stage at The Mowlem on Saturday 17th October 2026, the first full day of the Purbeck Film Festival, following a screening of Mr Hulot\u2019s Holiday, a 1953 black and white comedy by Jacques Tati.<\/p>\n

In a live discussion with cultural historian Matthew Sweet, he will reveal how Monsieur Hulot influenced the creation of Mr Bean, and explore Tati\u2019s lasting impact on physical comedy.<\/p>\n

Rowan Atkinson\u2019s appearance in Swanage is another major coup for the film festival, which has previously staged events with Sir Sam Mendes, Dame Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey creator Lord Julian Fellowes and Purbeck\u2019s BAFTA winning actor Edward Fox.<\/p>\n

Other events to widen the appeal of the festival in its 30th year include events featuring Paddington In Peru location manager Eddy Pearce, Barbie and Ted Lasso second unit director of photography John Sorapure, and a Dolly Parton movie tribute night at Harman\u2019s Cross village hall.<\/p>\n

\"\"CADY FILMS<\/p>\n

Jacques Tati in Monsieur Hulot\u2019s Holiday, which will be shown at The Mowlem<\/p>\n

\u201cThrilled to welcome comedy legend\u201d<\/p>\n

Purbeck Film Festival trustee, Pippa Punch said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, we\u2019re delighted to be celebrating our 30th Festival and we\u2019ll be looking back over three decades of great cinema in Purbeck and welcoming some very special guests to help us celebrate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are absolutely thrilled to welcome comedy legend Rowan Atkinson to this year\u2019s festival for an exclusive, live on stage appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cRowan is renowned worldwide for his legendary visual and physical comedy in Mr. Bean and Blackadder, and has long cited Jacques Tati as one of his greatest cinematic inspirations.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe joins us for a special retrospective celebrating the work of legendary filmmaker Jacques Tati on Saturday 17th October 2026, when The Mowlem hosts a day dedicated to examining the genius of French visual comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"UNIVERSAL PICTURES<\/p>\n

Rowan Atkinson in the 2007 movie Mr Bean\u2019s Holiday<\/p>\n

\u201cJacques Tati was a visionary\u201d<\/p>\n

Pippa added:<\/p>\n

\u201cFestivalgoers can join us for the full day or dip in for individual sessions, offering the perfect introduction for newcomers, as well as a rare chance for existing fans to explore Tati\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

\u201cJacques Tati was a visionary of French cinema, a master of visual comedy who turned the quirks of modern life into pure cinematic poetry.<\/p>\n

\u201cBest known for his iconic, trenchcoat wearing alter ego, Monsieur Hulot, Tati captured the humor, charm, and absurdities of a rapidly changing world without relying on heavy dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are showing a matinee of his masterpiece, Playtime, and a 7 pm screening of Mr Hulot\u2019s Holiday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, Rowan Atkinson and film historian Matthew Sweet will have an unmissable, wide ranging conversation on Tati\u2019s enduring influence, the art of non verbal humor, and the delicate craft of physical comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"UNIVERSAL PICTURES<\/p>\n

Mr Bean overtakes a peloton of cyclists on his way through rural France<\/p>\n

Influenced by silent movie greats<\/p>\n

Rowan Atkinson has long credited Tati\u2019s creation Monsieur Hulot with helping to shape Mr Bean, who has been causing chaos since 1990.<\/p>\n

Growing up, Rowan was influenced by silent movie greats, in particular Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, but when he discovered Jacques Tati while at school he fell in love with the slow, deliberate style of visual, non-verbal comedy.<\/p>\n

The influences of Tati\u2019s 1953 black and white comedy Mr Hulot\u2019s Holiday \u2013 frequently included in lists of the top 50 comedy films of all time \u2013 can be seen throughout the 2007 film Mr Bean\u2019s Holiday.<\/p>\n

One of the most loved scenes in Mr Bean\u2019s Holiday, where Bean overtakes a peloton of cyclists on a pushbike, is a homage to Jacques Tati from an earlier 1949 film called Jour de Fete where he plays a postman who does the same thing to great comic effect.<\/p>\n

\"\"CADY FILMS<\/p>\n

Jacques Tati inspired Rowan Atkinson with a similar joke in Jour de Fete<\/p>\n

\u201cA stunning programme\u201d<\/p>\n

Executive director of The Mowlem Kate McGregor said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all really excited to welcome Rowan Atkinson to The Mowlem, who we know will be such a big draw for our audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cPurbeck Film Festival has developed a stunning programme to celebrate 30 years and we are delighted to be a major part of the 2026 festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect tickets to be on sale on Friday 4th September 2026 for this unmissable event!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kate<\/p>\n

Kate McGregor, executive director of The Mowlem, is delighted to welcome Rowan Atkinson to the theatre<\/p>\n

Founded to mark centenary of cinema<\/p>\n

Since the festival started in 1996, it has grown from a small, local initiative into an unmissable fixture in Dorset\u2019s calendar.<\/p>\n

It was originally founded to mark the centenary of cinema, with a vision of making film accessible and engaging for the local communities, and took the movies into village halls across Purbeck.<\/p>\n

More than 1,500 people attended 21 screenings in the first year, and since then it has grown to around 100 events at more than 30 locations, attracting a combined audience of about 8,000.<\/p>\n

Now the longest running rural film festival in the UK, a full programme of films for the 2026 anniversary festival is expected to be released shortly.<\/p>\n

\"AndreaPurbeck Film Festival<\/p>\n

Former chair of the Purbeck Film Festival Andrea Etherington, centre, has been integral to the success of the film festival over the years<\/p>\n

Further informationWatch Rowan Atkinson discuss Jacques Tati on YouTube<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TV and movie legend Rowan Atkinson will appear at The Mowlem in Swanage to help launch the Purbeck…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-807300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}