SWIF digest 📬 6 October 2026

👋 Hello filmmakers. If you struggled with September like me, don't be disheartened. The initial 'back to school/anything is possible' feeling, and now the 'Autumn is almost half way done/I've not achieved anything' dread. Ignore it. Take a rest, then make a film. Repeat.

🥰 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:

📸 New stills have released online for short film Roisin & Raela. - Instagram

🌾 Watch a screening and Q&A from award-winning female-led production company Black Bark Films on 8 Oct in Bristol. The showcase focuses on relationships with land, labour, and community in the wake of challenges like climate change and Brexit. - Headfirst

🍃 Screen Alliance Wales are hosting a workshop on sustainability in film & tv on 14 Oct in Cardiff. - Eventbrite

🤰 Blue Metaphor x Normal Girl Productions are hosting a short film night about Motherhood on 15 Oct in Bristol. - Headfirst

📍 Watch a screening of documentary Postcodes, examining long-standing rivalries in Bristol, followed by panel discussion and Q&A. 15 Oct in Bristol. - Eventbrite

📹 Chapter Cardiff host an exhibition on the growth of community-based video making in the 1970s, which gave voice to those marginalised, misrepresented and ignored by mainstream media. 17 Oct - 3 Jan. - Chapter

📽️ Watch recordings from the archive of The Kuumba Centre in Bristol on 21 Oct. - Eventbrite

👹 Watch horror shorts funded by BFI Network South West at a special screening at Forbidden Worlds Film Festival, followed by a filmmakers' Q&A and networking. 22 Oct in Bristol. - Headfirst

🤝 Networking for creatives aged 16-25yrs takes place in Bridgwater on 28 Oct. - Somerset Film

🐍 Cardiff Animation Festival are celebrating their 12th birthday with a night of short films on 29 Oct. - Eventbrite

🦦 Watch a screening of films celebrating life on Dartmoor throughout the years, on 6 Nov in Postbridge. Submissions open. - Eventbrite

✊ Bristol Radical Film Festival have released their programme for their 6-8 Nov programme. - BRFF

🏨 Penventon Park Hotel in Redruth offers accommodation, meals and meeting space for crews working in west Cornwall. Send them your dates & requirements for a quote. Mention SWIF for a complimentary upgrade (not affiliated, just a nice offering from PPH). - Email Kearan McVey

💷 If you're a Writer or creative looking for ways to get your project funded, then check out this workshop which includes practical exercises and explores how funding actually works. 14 Oct online. - Tixoom

😱 Normal Girl Productions are hosting a horror writing workshop on 20 Oct in Bristol. - Headfirst

📚 A free Writers' workshop on 'the craft of adaptation’ takes place at the Theatre Collection Bristol on 21 Oct. Places limited on this great sounding session. Email for more info. - Email Roxana Vilk

🧙 Blue Metaphor Film Festival are hiring two paid Film Programmers. Remote working available. - Instagram

🌆 Chapter Cardiff are hiring a Community Engagement Producer. Deadline 7 Oct. - Chapter

🧑‍💼 Production Assistant needed in Plymouth for a popular factual series. Deadline 7 Oct. - Production Base

💽 Offline Media Manager needed at TMP268, a creatively strategic marketing agency in Bristol. Deadline 23 Oct. - TMPW

😎 Rising Arts Agency in Bristol are hiring a Community Producer. Deadline 25 Oct. - Rising Arts

⛳️ Mid Level Producer needed in Frome for Positive Experience, working on branded events. - Positive Experience

🖨️ You can find client briefs for Videographers in Bristol & Cardiff on Videographer Jobs, which collates online ads in one place, with a member pricing structure. - Videographer Jobs

🏠 Apply for a one week residency for early career disabled artists in Cornwall. Deadline 1 Nov. - Shape Arts

🫂 The All Together Now fund, which uses creativity to address loneliness & strengthen social connections, is open for project proposals from creatives, filmmakers & organisations until 26 Oct. - Bristol Beacon

📮 Upcoming film festival submission deadlines: Southampton Film Week (9 Oct), International Film Festival of Wales (7 Oct), Screams by the Sea (8 Nov), Bristol Documentary (18 Dec), Encounters (21 Dec) & Carmarthen Bay (23 Dec). - FilmFreeway

🌴 Bournemouth International Film Festival takes place 9-10 Oct. - BIFF

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

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

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

✊ Bristol Radical Film Festival takes place 6-8 Nov. - BRFF

🍿 On film club: Rapture dir. Iván Zulueta (on Mubi) & Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron dir. Kaku Arakawa (on Netflix).

📣 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.