SWIF digest 📬 30 September 2025
Meet ups, screenings, film funds and more for the south west independent film community.
👋 Hi filmmakers. SWIF has just been confirmed for SISTALAND festival!
🙋♀️ I'll be a speaker on the 'Fail Big, Bounce Hard' panel.
🤪 An event I'm calling SWIF Sillies is on the first night of the fest. More tba.
🎟️ We have free tickets up for grabs for the SWIF community.
🥳 SISTALAND is a dynamic community of women, trans & non-binary creatives and is setting its sights on launching a festival the creative industry has never seen before. A rally-meets-playground designed to flip outdated power structures, fuel underrepresented talent, and spark real change.
11-12 Nov in Bristol will be a two-day proof-of-concept festival of provocative films, sparky panels, hands-on workshops and radically inclusive networking.
Buy tickets here.
Or enter the SWIF raffle to win three tickets. Just reply to this email cc'ing the two filmmaker friends you'd like to take with you. Results will be announced next week.
Here’s your weekly digest for independent film in the South West:
🪓 The Severed Sun, a debut feature from a Falmouth filmmaker, screens with a Director Q&A on 3 Oct in Exeter. - Exeter Phoenix
📽️ 'Fragments', a night of short film screenings showcasing bold stories from the margins of Britain, takes place on 4 Oct in Bristol. - People's Republic of Stokes Croft
📆 Create Studios Swindon are hosting a free session on the basics of producing, programming & creating film events. 7 Oct in Swindon. - Eventbrite
🌏 A free screening & Q&A of the documentary System Update takes place in Exeter on 12 Oct. A bold new documentary film exploring how we can transform our politics, economics and society to meet the climate crisis head-on. - Eventbrite
🌈 Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival has its industry day of panels and networking on 15 Oct in Cardiff. - Iris
🎃 Filmmakers Plymouth Social's next meet up is 30 Oct at Everyman Cinema Plymouth. Meet, share work and hear about what other local filmmakers are up to, with a spooky fancy dress twist. - FotoNow
✍ Tabb's next script lab for Writers, Producers, Directors & Actors to bring and discuss new writing, takes place in Bath on 25 Oct. - Tabb
👻 Independent Horror Society & Screams By The Sea Festival have teamed up to present a night of short horror films on 30 Oct in Bournemouth. - Eventbrite
🎧 Listen to the Made in Wales podcast for interviews with filmmakers, cast & crew. - Pocket Casts
🏃 Short surreal drama film, Calling You, has a cast & crew call across departments for Plymouth in Oct. - Daniel H B Film
🧑💻 ITV Cardiff need a Producer for Welsh language programming. Deadline 24 Oct. - Screen Alliance Wales
💩 Crew call across departments for a documentary following the Exmouth community's fight against South West Water for sewage-free seas. - Email
😱 'Scream Queens' summons 6 women & non-binary Writers for a short horror script development lab, exclusive to the south west. Deadline 6 Oct. - Terror Arcade
👨🏽🏫 Channel 4's screenwriting course has its annual script submission deadline on 6 Oct. - Channel 4
🤑 Slick Films short film fund has its next deadline on 6 Nov. - FilmFreeway
📮 Upcoming film festival submission deadlines: Two Short Nights (30 Sep), Portsmouth Shorts::Cut (6 Oct), Southampton Film Week (10 Oct), Gloucester Independent (11 Oct), Pigeon Laughs (31 Oct), International Film Festival of Wales (7 Nov) & Screams by the Sea (10 Nov). - FilmFreeway
👘 Fashion in Film Festival continues 5 Sep - 25 Oct in Bristol, Exeter & Plymouth. - FiF
📽️ Wellington Film Festival takes place 3-5 Oct. - WFF
🧱 In The Walls Independent Film Festival takes place in Weston-super-Mare on 4 Oct. - FilmFreeway
🌙 Moon Fest takes place in Bristol on 4 Oct. - Made on the Moon
✊ Bristol Radical Film Festival takes place 4-5 Oct. - BRFF
🏳️🌈 Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival takes place in Cardiff 13-19 Oct. - IPFF
🍿 Bath Film Festival takes place 17-26 Oct. - Film Bath
🙋♀️ SISTALAND Festival takes place 11-12 Nov in Bristol. - Sistaland
🌍 Afrika Eye Festival takes place 14-16 Nov in Bristol. - Afrika Eye
👩❤️👩 The personals: Nothing this week. Get in touch for a free listing.
🍿 On film club: Coach Carter dir. Thomas Carter (on Amazon Prime) & CODA dir. Siân Heder (on Apple TV+).
📣 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
where I am on the net
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.
