But this festival is about more than carousing - there are movies to be seen. Two particularly strong British pictures are generating an early buzz. Although it's difficult to second-guess the decisions of the jury for the Michael Powell Award, my vote for best of British this year goes to London to Brighton, an outstanding, hard-hitting drama that spans a day in the life of a browbeaten hooker, her pimp, a runaway child and the man who wants to kill them all.

Written and directed by the first-time feature film-maker Paul Andrew Williams, this is a supremely confident piece of storytelling. The performances, particularly that of the excellent Lorraine Stanley, are blisteringly raw; the story is taut, economical and utterly compelling. You'll leave the cinema feeling as if you've been in a street brawl, but you certainly won't forget it.