SWIF digest 📬 18 August 2026
Training and workshops are gearing up for the autumn...
👋 Hey filmmakers! Hope you're well. Apologies if I've been a little AFK lately. August always goes by in a flash of family visits.
🥰 Please consider supporting this resource that connects the community, helps people get their first creative jobs and has no access barriers. You can give a one-off amount, or take an on-going membership if you want access to the filmmaker resources.
Here’s your weekly digest for independent film in the South West:
📸 Programming announcements have begun for Bristol Documentary Film Festival's first year. - Instagram
👋🏾 Women in Film & TV are hosting an meet up in Cardiff on 26 Aug for Directors, Writers, Producers & DOPs to create teams to apply for their short film fund. - WFTV
🦭 Watch a screening & Q&A of the Super Nature documentary on 27-30 Aug at multiple venues across the region. - Super Nature
👀 Meet fellow filmmakers at SWIF's short night at St Anne's House Bristol on 27 Aug. Stay for the Q&As to hear how these drama, documentary & art films got made. - Headfirst
🌴 Creative Mornings Bristol's next speaker is Nikita Dare, Production Designer, Art Director and Founder of Sistaland. The talk is followed by coffee & chat. 27 Aug in Bristol. - Creative Mornings
🫂 Filmmakers Plymouth Social returns for their monthly meet up on 27 Aug. - Eventbrite
🤝 City Eye Southampton's next networking event is 8 Sep. - Eventbrite
🛹 SWIF's 3rd birthday party & filmmaker mixer takes place on 11 Sep in Bristol. Chat in person with the region's screen orgs to find out how they can support you. - SWIF
📚 Catch a talk on book to film adaptations and what makes a great story translation on 13 Oct in Taunton. - Ticket Source
📑 Organisations can apply to the BFI's 'Creative Challenge Fund' to design and run development programmes for narrative, documentary or animation feature films and immersive media projects. Deadline 9 Sep. - BFI
🚀 Applications close this week for All Set West's 'Production Accelerator' training programme for freelancers in Production & Assistant Director's departments. Apply by 23 Aug. - ScreenSkills
💥 Swashbuckling Cornwall are running a quarterstaff combat workshop for stage & screen on 1 Sep in Falmouth. - Eventbrite
💃🏻 Bristol Old Vic Theatre School are hosting a one day masterclass for actors on in-person auditions. 1 Nov in Bristol. - BOVTS
🤣 Bristol Improv Theatre are hosting improv courses for all experience levels in Sep onwards. - BIT
💸 Film London's online 'Production Finance Lab' is back 21-25 Sep. This week-long series of webinars is geared towards Producers and filmmakers working on financing their first or second feature films. - Ticket Tailor
☕️ Cast Assistant needed at Peak TV Productions in South Wales. Deadline 19 Aug. - Screen Alliance Wales
👨🏽🏫 Associate Lecturers in creative writing, particularly scriptwriting, needed at the Open Uni. Deadline 19 Aug. - Open Uni
🏃♂️ Base Runner needed at Peak TV Productions in South Wales. Deadline 24 Aug. - Screen Alliance Wales
👩💻 Programmers aged 18-26yrs needed at Archeo-Heritage Film Festival in Bath. Deadline 24 Aug. - Instagram
🤳 Self-shooting Assistant Producers needed for a talent pool for BBC Studios' bts content in Cardiff. Deadline 26 Aug. - Screen Alliance Wales
🎞️ Animatic Editor needed on a 2D pre-school series in Bristol. Deadline 31 Aug. - Production Base
🏋🏾♀️ No Password Required are seeking early-career Global Majority-led production companies or Producers who are working towards their first feature as lead Producer. Deadline 24 Aug. - Smash
📮 Upcoming film festival submission deadlines: Cardiff Animation (25 Aug), Southampton Film Week (28 Aug), Carmarthen Bay (31 Aug), Two Short Nights (31 Aug), Bournemouth International Film Festival (1 Sep), Cornwall (6 Sep) & Cardiff Mini (10 Sep). - FilmFreeway
🏔️ Bristol Documentary Film Festival takes place 3-5 Sep. - BDFF
😺 ANiMiNSPO Mini Animation Festival takes place on 12 Sep in Bristol. - Animinspo
🎬 Encounters Film Festival takes place 23-27 Sep in Bristol. - Encounters
🍿 On film club: Love Exposure dir Sion Sono (on Amazon Prime) & Shoah dir Claude Lanzmann (on BBC iPlayer).
📣 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
💌 If you found this helpful please forward it to a friend.
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.
