ABOUT US

Narrative Short Film Jury

Lee Ingleby is one of England’s best loved actors, known for diverse film roles such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Master and Commander, and The Lost King. He has led many high profile and critically acclaimed television series, including Criminal:UK, The A Word, Line of Duty and Innocent. He is well known for playing John Bacchus in Inspector George Gently. Lee is passionate about short films and has appeared in many, including A Running Jump, written and directed by Mike Leigh and Furnace Four by Haydn Butler.

Student Short Film Award Jury

Tope Laguda’s path in the film industry has been anything but conventional. She began her career as a child star in television commercials during the 1980s and later became one of the original cast members of  Flatmates, a popular TV sitcom filmed in Lagos. Now based in Suffolk she describes her first love as storytelling. Her debut feature film as writer and director,  What No One Knows has been screened at several festivals across the UK, USA, France, Nigeria, South Africa, and Mexico, marking her arrival as a powerful new voice in independent cinema. The Film is currently streaming on Prime Video.

Narrative Short Film Jury

Over a varied career, Tracey Macleod has been a journalist, TV presenter, producer, restaurant critic, radio host and film critic.  For the last 20 years she has been the director of the talent agency KBJ Management, guiding the careers of some of Britain’s best-known broadcasters.  As the Independent’s long-serving  restaurant critic, she appeared regularly as a guest judge on MasterChef, but her most recent TV appearance was as part of Durham University’s alumnus team on University Challenge, securing them the title with her winning answer in the final.  Tracey grew up in Ipswich, and spends as much time as possible on the Suffolk coast.

East Anglian Short Film Jury

Ferry-woman Dani Church has a strong Suffolk ancestry, dating back to 1600’s Her family began working on the Walberswick/ Southwold ferry in 1881 and she tells their story in her book The Story of The Southwold to Walberswick Ferry. Seafaring stories of Suffolk have been passed down to her through the generations and she continues to gather tales now that she rows locals and visitors across the River Blyth herself. Dani has supported Suffolk Shorts since joining our screening panel in 2020.

Unique Perspectives Short Film Jury

Johann is a predominantly sound and 4D artist, exploring sonic sculpture, materiality, and the manipulation of sound-distorting technologies through drums, narratives, and performance. His practice is rooted in ethnographic research into traditional drumming skills and languages, particularly those shaped by colonial legacies. Johann collaborates with several galleries, including GroundWorks and The Sainsburys Centre. His current work, which incorporates frequency-based ecological themes, has been awarded a bursary by the Freelands Foundation.

Unique Perspectives Short Film Jury

Ryan Gander is an artist living and working in Suffolk and London. He has established an international reputation through artworks that materialise in many different forms from sculpture to film, writing, graphic design, installation, performance and more besides. Gander’s work involves a questioning of language and knowledge, a reinvention of the modes of appearance and creation of an artwork.

Student Short Film Jury

BAFTA award winning documentary filmmaker Katy Black has over 20 years experience of the television broadcast industry working and specialises in making observational films that get to the heart of contemporary issues in the UK. In 2011 she founded Obsidian Films a small Suffolk production company to produce specialist in-depth reports for Channel 4 News.  Katy is working on new film projects that delve into the emerging techniques of co-creation documentary.  She also teaches media at Suffolk New College guiding the next generation of young creatives to find their own voices.

East Anglian Short Film Jury

James Christopher is an associate director of INK, the UK’s largest producer of short plays which hosts an annual festival in Halesworth, Suffolk. In a previous life he was theatre and chief film critic for respectively Time Out and The Times. He has been on an improbable number of judging panels including the Derek Jarman Award, the BAFTA Rising Star Award, the Perrier Award, and the  Palm Dog Award in Cannes Award in Cannes. However, he says that Suffolk Shorts is the creme de la creme!

Unique Perspectives Short Film Jury

Emily Richardson is an artist filmmaker. Her films have been shown in galleries, museums and festivals internationally including Tate Modern and Tate Britain, London, Pompidou Centre, Paris, Barbican Cinema, London; Anthology Film Archives, New York and Venice, Edinburgh, BFI London, Rotterdam and New York Film Festivals. Emily runs a monthly artists’ film night with The Art Station in Saxmundham.

Narrative Short Film Jury

James is a writer, broadcaster and one of the best known film critics in the UK. He is BBC Radio 2’s resident movie reviewer, providing his expertise on the Jo Whiley Show among others. He presented No Time to Die: The Official James Bond Podcast: No Time To Die and is the author of several books including, most recently, Be More Keanu and Fast Times & Excellent Adventures: The Surprising History of the 80s Teen Movie.

Student Short Film Jury

Having established commercial production company SubMotion, Rachel and writer-director, Richard Prendergast, also produced two critically acclaimed short films that garnered multiple international awards and critical acclaim. Rachel is now channeling her expertise into Liminal Films, a new Film and TV production company with a strong slate of projects already in development. Liminal Films aims to ignite the screen industry in Norfolk and the East of England by delivering commercially viable Film and TV projects alongside working within HETV (high-end TV) and major feature films. 

East Anglian Short Film Jury

Aasaf Ainapore studied directing at the London Film School before becoming a commercials director. His first short films have screened at LFF, Edinburgh Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, Rhode Island International Film Festival and Ann Arbor Film Festival. Aasaf wrote and directed Peregrine, a BFI-developed and funded coming-of-age short film and he is a BAFTA Connect Director. He works as a directing tutor at the University of Suffolk. He is also a visiting tutor at the London Film School (MA).

Student Team

Emma Carrion Moschen - Emma is a third-year screenwriting student at the University of Suffolk and a published short story author. She's passionate about telling women-led stories, particularly in horror. Her work is influenced by her research into feminist film theory and its contemporary applications.

Matthew Griffiths - Matthew is a third-year screenwriting student at the University of Suffolk. His passions lie in feminist and queer theory, which he explores through the analysis and study of contemporary film and television.

Robyn Ellison - is a third year Screenwriting Student with a passion for character-driven stories. Within her work she enjoys exploring the depths of human emotions, often with a supernatural or fantastical twist.

Student Team

Stephen Avis - Stephen is a 3rd year Digital Film Production student at the University of Suffolk. He has a passion for both accessible and experimental cinema, in particular films that address disabilities. You'll tend to find him with camera in hand!

Laurel Brett - Laurel is a 3rd year Digital Film Production student, with an interest in art and experimental film. She is particularly passionate about and inspired by '90s alternative music videos.

Noah Gant - Noah is a third year Digital Film Production student at the University of Suffolk. As reflected in his directorial work, from short films to music videos, he has a passion for representing the unusual and experimental.

Student Team

Nicole Jastrzebska

Nicole is a third year Digital Film Production student at the University of Suffolk. She has a passion for emotive storytelling, which has inspired her recently completed stop-motion animation about her special connection with her dog.