FilmFour offers its channels for free on Christmas Day

by Sam Matthews,, Brand Republic 22-Dec-04, 11:00

LONDON – Channel 4 is offering its film channels, FilmFour and FilmFour Weekly, for free on Christmas Day to give Sky and NTL subscribers the opportunity to sample the channels and drive subscriptions.

FilmFour will show six films, including: Oscar-nominated Brazilian hit 'City of God', which follows gang wars in Rio De Janeiro's slums; Jean Cocteau's French adaptation of the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast, 'La Belle et la Bete'; while acclaimed documentary 'Spellbound' explores the world of the American spelling bee.

Late-night movies include: Kevin Smith's cult classic 'Dogma', starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Alan Rickman; 1970's horror film 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' and Mira Nair's 'Kama Sutra'.

FilmFour Weekly viewers will be treated to animated film 'A Christmas Carol' with Kate Winslet, Nicholas Cage and Rhys Ifans among others providing the voices.

Damien O'Donnell's multi-award winning comedy 'East is East' and the 1972 original Andrei Tarkovsky science fiction epic 'Solaris' are also on offer.

A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: "FilmFour aims to give viewers a real choice and an alternative to the big Christmas movie."

FilmFour +1 airs the same schedule as main channel FilmFour an hour later.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum here.