Southampton Film Week was launched in 2008 as part of an initiative by community filmmaking charity City Eye to foster a greater appreciation of film and moving image within Southampton and the wider area. Now in its thirteenth year, Southampton Film Week has helped to establish a culture within the city that explores a truly diverse range of film.
One of Southampton Film Week’s core aims is to provide a forum to engage the public with a greater understanding and appreciation of film. Past screenings include the Academy Award winning documentary ’The Act of Killing’, ‘The Lost World’ with live soundtrack from John Garden of Scissor Sisters fame, ‘Who is Oscar?’ from Legacy Film, the UK premiere of ‘Harishchandrachi Factory’ and the world premiere of the City Eye and Art Asia collaboration, ‘Bollywood Baraat’. Interwoven with the programme of features and shorts, the festival offers strands of artists moving Image work, screenings with live music, archive and heritage film.
Southampton Film Week is committed to working alongside filmmakers, offering a wide variety of training, workshops and seminars. Past examples include Michael Apted in Conversation, Richard Beek – Aardman Revealed, Producing with Alex Christie, Directing with Patrick Tucker, The Screenwriter with Caroline Sax, Cinematography with Jake Hawkins and Documentary Filmmaking with Director Cesar Paes and Producer Marie-Clemence Paes of French production company Laterit. SFW also offers a programme of events and activities for younger film fans as part of the Youth Film Festival. YFF events have included fancy-dress screenings of ‘Scott Pilgrim vs The World’ and ‘Cowboys and Aliens’, Fun with Filmmaking workshops, collaboration with the national Into Film Festival, Introduction to Scriptwriting and the annual red carpet screening of the films produced at City Eye’s Film School throughout the year.
In 2012, the annual SFW: Shorts competition was launched and is designed to showcase the very best of local and international filmmakers. Previous winners of the competition’s main prize, The Michael Fuller Award for Best Film, include 30% by Anna Cady, Love by Phil Peel, Kamil Iwanowicz’s documentary Bozena and Pawel, Safe Space by Ben S. Hyland and Bus Stop by Vanessa Bailey. In addition, Southampton Film Week hosts the College Filmmaking Challenge and the Exposure Filmmakers 48 Hour Film Challenge.
I LOVE Southampton Film Week – it’s such a concentrated shot of film-making and watching in a short space of time. I get to see things I wouldn’t usually get to see, I get to hear about things I would not get to hear of. This year I went to Mottisfont to see and draw to some beautiful film accompanied by live poetry, in an entirely new space. That was my highlight. Every year I like to take something special away with me – some memory that’s a bit out of the ordinary. I wonder what next year will bring?
Audience Member 2016
The SFW 19 programme delivered another great mix of films, workshops, events and competitions. Check SFW 2019 to see what happened.
