SWIF digest 📬 29 July 2025
Writer-Directors with shorts needing funding or development, this is the digest for you...
📹 Hi filmmakers. This is an odd one, but I need old camcorder tapes! 8mm tapes to be precise. Please check your attics. I didn't realise these props would be so hard to come by. Could digitise them for you if they have precious memories on them. Thanks.
🚙 We have an all film pub quiz coming up on the SWIF tour. 28 Aug in Plymouth and co-hosted with Filmmakers Plymouth Social. Bring a team or join one on the day for some casual networking and silliness. Book your free ticket now.
Here’s your weekly digest for independent film in the South West:
🥳 Congrats to Bristol short film Text Me When You're Home, the script for which has been selected as a finalist at Women X Film Festival. - Instagram
🟦 Tickets are still available for Bluescreen short film night. 30 Jul in Bristol. - Headfirst
🤝 Filmmakers Plymouth Social's next meet up is 31 Jul at Everyman Cinema. Meet, share work and hear about what other local filmmakers are up to. - Eventbrite
😱 Cardiff Community Cinema Club are screening two of the first horror films made in the Welsh language, from 1975 & 1981. Now fully restored in 2K. 31 Jul. - Eventbrite
💥 Create Studios Swindon are hosting a session on breaking into the industry for young people on 1 Aug. - Create Studios
🌳 Explore filmmaking on a creative walk through the New Forest on 5 & 9 Sep.
Learn practical video techniques using just your phone while walking scenic routes and capturing the natural world around you. - Forest Arts
🚴 A screening of award-winning documentary A Life In Tandem takes place on 11 Sep in Bristol. Followed by a Q&A with the Producer & Director. - Eventbrite
🧏♀️ Short film Heads Down Hands Up is crowdfunding right now. "We’ve got big ambition, wild stunts and a hearing-impaired heroine ready to steal the show". - Greenlit
⚓️ A documentary filmmaker is seeking story contributors from families of sailors who served aboard HMS Cornwall or HMS Penzance during World War II. - Devon & Cornwall Film
🪩 A documentary about a rave venue in Plymouth and its history is currently running a crowdfunder. - Indiegogo
📣 BFI's New Voices talent development scheme for under-represented Writer-Directors is open for applications until 22 Aug. Find out more at their webinar on 31 Jul. - BFI
🪪 Want to know more about the business side of film & tv? Women in Film & TV are hosting a webinar on 31 Jul. - WFTV
👩🏻🏫 Somerset Film are running a workshop on shooting a documentary film in a day on 6 Sep. - Somerset Film
🔥 Real SFX is growing and are looking for Special Effects Supervisors, Technicians & Co-ordinators in Bristol and Cardiff. - RealSFX
🍊 Boomsatsuma film school are hiring a Marketing & Content Co-ordinator in Bristol. - Bristol Creative Industries
😎 Bristol-based Edit Producers needed for a new Channel 4 property series. Deadline 31 Jul. - Talent Manager
🏃🏿♀️ Production Management Assistant needed at BBC Documentary Unit in Cardiff. Deadline 1 Aug. - Talent Manager
🧠 Creative Youth Network are seeking new Trustees. Deadline 10 Aug. - Bristol Creative Industries
👋🏾 Pitching sessions are now open at Aesthetica Film Festival in the autumn. Get feedback on your proposals for shorts, features, dramas & docs from industry leaders. Use code EARLYX25 for a ticket discount. - Aesthetica
🏆 Bath Film Festival's IMDb Script to Screen Award has its deadline on 31 Jul. Submit your short script to compete for production funding. - FilmFreeway
🤑 Young Black Filmmakers Fund offers Black British filmmakers aged 18–30 up to £10k to fund their short film. Deadline 1 Aug. - London Breeze
🦸🏽♀️ The Female Film Club's short film fund is open until 7 Sep. €10k in funding, mentorship, and industry support on offer. - Female Film Club
🧑💻 Studio21's micro-drama script competition has a webinar on 4 Aug. Deadline for the competition is 17 Sep. - Studio21
📮 Upcoming film festival submission deadlines: Two Short Nights, Bath Film (both 31 Jul), ANIMINSPO (1 Aug), Cardiff Mini (6 Aug), Southampton Film Week (10 Aug) & Screams by the Sea (11 Aug), Hell Tor (15 Aug) & Cornwall (22 Aug). - FilmFreeway
💫 Cardiff Animation Festival's one night special screening takes place 31 Jul. - Eventbrite
⚡️ Ignite Film Festival takes place near Swindon on 27 Aug - 7 Sep. - Ignite
☠️ Pompey Wood Genre Film Festival takes place in Portsmouth on 30 Aug. - FilmFreeway
⛰️ Frontier Sapiens Film Festival takes place in Southampton on 5 Sep. - Eventbrite
👩❤️👩 The personals: I need a Stills Photographer for my short film, on set 16-17 Aug in Bristol. Expenses only. Email me for more info. - Holly
🍿 On film club: Straight Outta Compton dir. F. Gary Gray (on Netflix) & Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles dir. Chantal Akerman (on BFIplayer).
📣 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. bsky website tiktok
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.
