Saffron Screen will celebrate the Tour de France’s visit to our area with two days of films over Sunday 6th and Monday 7th July.

The weekend kicks off at midday on Sunday 6th July with a FREE screening of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in the Carnival tent on Saffron Walden Common, featuring arguably the best use of a bicycle in cinematic history and shown in collaboration with the Saffron Walden Round Table and the Cambridge Film Trust.

Then at 3pm, back at the cinema, is Tim Burton’s madcap Pee-wee’s Big Adventure as the titular hero crosses America in search of his beloved, stolen bike. This will be screened with Children of the Hobbit, a short film shot locally by 11 local school children over the Easter holidays and featuring a song recorded by the RA Butler School choir.

Sunday evening brings Chasing Legends, a fascinating documentary following Team Columbia-HTC during the 2009 Tour de France, when Essex-based star Mark Cavendish claimed six stage victories.

This is followed on Monday evening, after the excitement of the Tour flashing through, with Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist about the charismatic and much-loved Marco Pantani who rose to fame and fortune but died at 34 of a drugs overdose.

Both these documentaries will appeal to cycling aficionados, but are also enjoyable for all and will give you some useful background to the world of professional cycling.

Before each of the evening films, two short films about cycling will be screened: of the four, two are locally made documentaries (one following our local tour route) and two are fictional films.

Go and celebrate the excitement of this once-in-a-lifetime event at your local independent cinema - seethe Saffron Screen website for more info!