SWIF digest 📬 5 August 2025

👋 Hi filmmakers. It's August already, which means it's not long until...

🍰 SWIF's 2nd birthday party! Fri 5 Sep in Bristol. Come to Shredenhams indoor skate park for cake, celebrating and watching some... Caballerials? Introduce your friends to SWIF & bring them along. BFI Network South West will be joining us and talking about their Autumn plans.

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

🥳 Shout out to the brilliant team delivering the trainee scheme for All Set West! I've got lots of love for Matt & Cara. - All Set West

🎥 Join an Artist-Filmmaker for a free workshop of experimental analogue filmmaking at Portland Bird Observatory on 16 Aug. - Eventbrite

👨🏽‍💻 BFI Network's online shorts school returns 18-21 Aug. - Ticket Tailor

🤰 Women in Film & TV & Bristol Doc Club will host a screening of Motherboard followed by a Q&A with Director Victoria Mapplebeck and networking. 20 Aug in Bristol. - WFTV

🍳 Women in Film & TV will also be hosting a networking breakfast on 28 Aug in Cardiff. - WFTV

🌍 Watch Africa Film Fetival's next monthly film screening showcasing the best of African cinema on 30 Aug in Cardiff. - Eventbrite

🚪 Read Rising Arts' new Invisible Doors Report commissioned by 4Skills & Channel 4 Creative Equity. It exposes the barriers to (re)-entering the creative industries in the south west and presents a roadmap for urgent, radical change in the sector. - Rising Arts

💩 A Devon-based Director is crowdfunding for a feature documentary that follows a reluctant activist in a David & Goliath battle against pollution in our seas, rivers and lakes. - Crowdfunder (thank you for finally giving me an excuse to use this emoji!)

🏃‍♂️ Lights, Camera, Cymru! are seeking Trainees across several departments; Assistant Director, Camera, Sound, Lighting, and Stills Photography. Deadline 8 Aug. - Screen Alliance Wales

✂️ 7FIFTY in Bristol are hiring an Edit Assistant. No stated deadline. - Bristol Creative Industries

🐑 Aardman in Bristol are hiring Animators and Camera Assistants. Deadlines 8 Aug. - Aardman

🏭 Bottleyard Studios in Bristol are hiring a Buildings Manager. Deadline 17 Aug. - Bristol City Council

👨🏽‍🏫 Falmouth Uni need a Lecturer in film and television practice. Deadline 10 Aug. - Falmouth Uni

🏫 UWE Bristol need a Lecturer in filmmaking. Deadline 17 Aug. - UWE

🎬 Director of Photography needed for a short drama film in Bristol. Deadline 31 Aug. - Tabb

✍️ Film Bath need volunteer Stewards and Film Note Writers for their festival in Oct. - Google Forms

✨ Sparks Film School for 5-18 yrs is hiring Workshops Leaders in Bristol. - Sparks

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Emerging documentary filmmakers in Carmarthenshire can apply to create a short doc with charity Global Action Plan. - GAP

🩻 The Global Health film grant is for an experienced filmmaker who wants to explore, through a short documentary, underreported stories about health in the global south. Deadline 20 Aug. - One World Media

💰 BFI have two funding pots open right now; Discovery & Impact for original live action and animated feature filmmaking (deadline 29 Aug) and Creative Challenge for delivering talent development schemes (no deadline). - BFI

🎞️ First Flights x Kodak short film fund is open for submissions. Early deadline 30 Aug. - First Flights

🗂️ The Box Plymouth is commissioning contemporary responses to themes in their film & tv archive. Deadline 14 Sep. - The Box

📮 Upcoming film festival submission deadlines: Cardiff Mini (6 Aug), Southampton Film Week (10 Aug) & Screams by the Sea (11 Aug), Hell Tor (15 Aug), Cornwall (22 Aug), Cardiff Animation (25 Aug), Two Short Nights & Carmarthen Bay (both 31 Aug). - FilmFreeway

🧱 In the Walls Film Festival is accepting shorts submissions for its Oct festival in Weston-Super-Mare. - Instagram

🌊 Save The Waves Film Festival takes place near Barnstaple on 15 Aug. - 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: Nothing this week. Get in touch for a free listing.

🍿 On film club: Black Dynamite dir. Scott Sanders (on ITVX) & Green Border dir. Agnieszka Holland (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.