SWIF digest 📬 13 October 2026

👋 Hello filmmakers. I'll be at Bath Film Festival's industry day on 20 Oct hosting a workshop on making micro-budget short films. I'll also be supporting the team behind short film Text Me When You're Home which premieres at the festival (I was 1st AD). Come say hi!

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Here’s your weekly digest for independent film in the South West:

📸 Photo from a recent meet up of DOCLAB which hosts monthly development labs that offer a welcoming space for documentary filmmakers to share ideas and develop their projects. - Exeter Phoenix

🎭 Women in Film & TV are hosting networking & an evening with the commissioner of drama at Channel 4 in Cardiff on 14 Oct. - WFTV

📽️ Watch documentary films from Cornish filmmakers at DOCLAB on 14 Oct in Exeter. - Exeter Phoenix

🌊 Ocean Film Festival comes to the south west this Autumn, with tickets still available in Exeter 15 & 29 Oct and Bristol 27 & 28 Oct. - Ocean Film Festival

👀 Watch south west made short films at Bath Film Festival on 17 & 24 Oct. - Bath Box Office

🧠 Bath Film Festival's industry day takes place on 20 Oct, including networking, workshops and panels. - Bath Box Office

🎤 DoomSCRL's open mic night for filmmakers takes place in Bristol on 26 Oct. Submit your film by 23 Oct. - Headfirst

🤝 Screen Cornwall are hosting a mixer in Truro on 30 Oct. - Eventbrite

🪶 Watch short film To Die into a Bird followed by a talk with the Artist on 23 Nov in Plymouth. The film draws on earthly folk, spectral guardians, shape-shifters, lichen, granite, and grief. - Eventbrite

📇 If you're based in Wales then don't forget to updates your skills and credits on Screen Alliance Wales' crew database. - Screen Alliance Wales

🤳 Back by popular demand, Swashbuckling Cornwall are hosting another self-tape workshop in Penryn on 3 Nov. - Eventbrite

🗣️ Screen Alliance Wales are hosting a masterclass on the pitching for TV on 18 Nov in Cardiff. - Eventbrite

📈 Writer Helen Tompson is hosting an online masterclass for Writers on 'building a sustainable writing career' on 18 Nov. - Writers&Artists

📺 ScreenSkills are hosting a one day course on unscripted TV development on 8 Dec in Bristol. Perfect for Researchers, APs, Development Producers, Execs and Founders - ScreenSkills

💾 Last day to apply for Plimsoll Productions' Bristol-based Media Support Operator role. Deadline 13 Oct - Plimsoll

😂 Slapstick Festival is hiring a Senior Operations Manager. Deadline today, 13 Oct. - Independent Cinema Office

🦍 Silverback Films are hiring a Production Coordinator. Deadline 16 Oct. - Silverback

🧮 Accountant needed at S4C in Cardiff with a focus on content cost management activities and budget reporting. Deadline 23 Oct. - S4C

🇫🇷 Twenty Twenty TV are hiring a Production Secretary with a focus on finance. Bristol-based until Christmas, then France-based until Aug 2027. No advertised deadline. - Email your CV & cover letter

🏘️ Brand & Content Executive needed at HBXL in Bristol. Lots of video content creation in this role. No deadline advertised. - HBXL

📣 Lab Films' "Displaced Women Pitch" is open for applications until 17 Oct. The pitch development programme is for refugee & immigrant women developing short documentary or fiction projects about displacement. - Lab Films

📝 BFI Network's Early Development Fund is now open to support the early stages of feature-length fiction projects in live-action, immersive or animation. Deadline 11 Nov. Hear from a Writer supported in a previous fund on 19 Oct. - BFI

🌍 African & African diaspora Writers & Producers living in Wales can apply to Urban Stamp Hub's feature film development programme. Deadline 26 Oct. - Urban Stamp Hub

🏃🏿‍♀️ ScreenSkills' Trainee Finder programme is open for applications from new entrants in many departments until 28 Oct. - ScreenSkills

🫙 Unrestricted View Film Festival are looking for Writers for their anthology feature film. Deadline 8 Nov. - UVFF

💥 Applications are open for the Breakthrough short film fund, with a £5k prize, plus mentorship from a BAFTA and Oscar-nominated Executive Producer team. Early deadline 31 Oct. - Breakthrough

📮 Upcoming film festival submission deadlines: Celtic Media Festival (6 Nov), Screams by the Sea (8 Nov), No Reason Short (22 Nov), Bristol Documentary (18 Dec), Encounters (21 Dec), Carmarthen Bay (23 Dec) & Pigeon Laughs (9 Dec). - FilmFreeway

🏳️‍🌈 Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival takes place 12-18 Oct in Cardiff. - Iris

🔈 The first Crop Cuts Film Festival takes place in Plymouth on 17 Oct. Oddstep-Deployment-Unit and friends will provide a live improvised score for any silent films submitted. - Big Ups

🎥 Bath Film Festival takes place 16-25 Oct. - Film Bath

🗣️ Poetry Film Festival takes place on 17 Oct in Bristol. - Eventbrite

🎃 Heligan Folk Horror Film Festival takes place 24-31 Oct near Pentewan. - Heligan

🕵️‍♀️ Film Noir Festival takes place 30 Oct - 1 Nov in Weston-super-Mare. - Ti.to

🍿 On film club: Bones and All dir. Luca Guadagnino (on Mubi) & Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story dir. Charlie Hamilton James (on Disney+).

📣 Have something to share on the next digest? Could be an event, workshop, behind the scenes updates, crew call, showcasing your work or a personal ad. Get in touch! hollyholdsworth@gmail.com

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Until next week!
Holly Holdsworth (she/her)
Writer/Director
watch my films

Inclusion in this email does not denote endorsement. I will always try to platform the best opportunities for this community and am not affiliated with any organisation, unless explicitly mentioned besides the link.