We’re Open!
We are very proud to be able to say that we are for submissions on FilmFreeway.com with new categories. There is also a wonderful new partnership that will bring together some of the best things in life – film, festivals and food!
In 20/21 we received incredible moral and financial support and expert advice. We were also humbled by the commitment of key industry professionals who joined the juries. The result was that the standard of submissions was far higher than was expected for a new festival’s first year. Thank you all!
Building on that success, this year we will continue to support local filmmakers and stories by re-opening for submissions in our East Anglian Short Film Award. There are just three other categories, which will enable our small team to focus on reaching new audiences and filmmakers. Each award will be worth £1000.
The response from students around the world in 20/21 was staggering. Their work was judged alongside professionally made films from experienced filmmakers. And it stood up. Both our documentary and East Anglian overall award winners were students when they made their films. This year we feel able to establish a dedicated Student Short Film Award.
Our drama category is changing. Following feedback from filmmakers, and the programming team, the theme is broader. The Narrative Short Film Award will be open to interpretation and we want to encourage submissions from those who consider their work to fall outside the standard drama genre. After all “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?” (Alfred Hitchcock).
In 20/21 we received so many beautiful films in our Art and Performance category that told powerful stories, and almost every animation had a narrative. We also know that we missed out on some amazing films that might have been funnier than they were dramatic. We can’t wait to see the films that this category attracts, it’ll be a joy to programme this screening!
Finally – and we are very, very excited about this – we are partnering with the established festival Film Feast to bring food and drink short films to their home at The Riverside Cinema in Woodbridge. The Film Feast Food and Drink Short Film Award is quite a mouthful (pun intended) and will co-producing a day long celebration of food in the cinema, culminating in a special feature presentation. We are particularly delighted to be able to work more closely with Neil McGlone, Manager of The Riverside and director of FilmFeast, who programmed our Drama screening last year.
We have some incredible judges lined up, and will be announcing the juries, and more about the event itself shortly. The Riverside Cinema will be our home, so put the Suffolk Shorts dates in your diaries: Saturday October 8th and Sunday October 9th, 2022.
