It’s been an incredible year for the festival with the culmination of our new brand launch in October and the fulfilment of our goal to expand the festival to more communities and provide an even larger platform to support and showcase the newest generations of storytelling and creative expression.
We can’t thank you enough for your support over the past year and in our previous guise as Barnes Film Festival – we can’t wait to share the magic of cinema with you next year.
In the meantime, you can catch up on the latest festival updates below. As we sign off for the holidays, I wanted to wish you and yours a very happy Christmas and festival season. See you in the new year!
Sam Cullis, Festival Founder
First event as London Breeze Film Festival sold out!
We had a terrific night at Riverside Studios Hammersmith on 6th December for our sold out ‘Shooting the Breeze’ showcase, screening five new UK short films by exciting emerging talent. All five films were part of the 67th BFI London Film Festival, and included the winner of the Short Film Award, The Archive: Queer Nigerians by Simisola Akande.
We were delighted to welcome Simisola along with filmmakers, Vathana Suppiah and Daljinder Johal (director and producer of Ratthum/Blood) and Yero Timi-Biu, director of Essex Girls, to join us for a Q&A following the screening.
The filmmakers gave generously of their time and their experience to date in the film industry, speaking of the importance of teamwork, mentorship and taking risks. It was a fascinating talk much appreciated by our audience, several of whom are aspiring filmmakers. The other two films in the programme were Joe Weiland’s Gorka and Sean Lyon’s Smoking Dolphins, both adding gallows humour and distinctive voices to the programme.
Save the date for our next event
The LBFF team is working hard behind the scenes to bring you an exciting preview feature event in February. This is a film that is doing really well on the festival circuit, having premiered at the 50th Telluride, sold out at BFI LFF and is set to be a hit at DIFF. Mum’s the word at the moment but save the date: 28th February 2024, and we’ll tell you more in the New Year.
Deadline reminder for 2024 film submissions
April 2 2024: Early bird
May 19 2024: Regular Deadline
July 15 2024: Late Deadline
September 1 2024: Notification Date
A very special thank you to our London Film Academy placement film students. Good luck in your final year!
Coco Laroque Rothstein
Yasein El Saka
Nishi Jiani
Yulia Stepanova
Our filmmakers are being recognised
Helping to grow the next generation of filmmakers is central to our ethos so we are delighted to hear that Phil Dunn’s short film The Stupid Boy, which premiered at our festival in 2022, now has BAFTA and Oscar qualification for 2024. While Essex Girls, directed by Yero Timi-Biu and screened as part of our ‘Shooting the Breeze’ event in November, has been selected for Sundance Film Festival 2024. And Simisola Akande’s The Archive: Queer Nigerians has been longlisted for a BIFA award and is currently on a festivals tour in Lagos and Warsaw.
Thank you for being a part of the London Breeze Film Festival community. We can’t wait to share the magic of cinema with you.
