An exciting start to the day this morning. I was sent over a new batch of short films to judge for the Watersprite Film Festival. It’s a fantastic event to support and encourage talented student filmmakers from all around the world. The festival is run by students, for students, via both Cambridge University and Anglia Ruskin University. Entry into the film festival is totally free.
They have been celebrating new filmmaking talent for ten years now. When the festival first started back in 2010, it was called Cam-Era, but was renamed ‘Watersprite’ in 2011, in honour of their first winning film, Will McGregor’s ‘Who’s Afraid of the Water Sprite?’.
The admirable mission of the Watersprite Film Festival is that it “discovers and champions emerging filmmakers from around the world. The festival inspires and empowers young film talent, providing an inclusive space which nurtures future award-winning collaborations”.
The festival next year will be running from the 5th to the 7th of March 2021. All of the events are free of charge, from workshops and film screenings to industry events, panel discussions and Q&A sessions.
It feels a privilege to have the opportunity to view all of these films. The films have had time, thought and aspiration invested into every word of the script, every scene, piece of music, angle, location, lighting and casting and the collaborative work between all of the crew and cast. Having put all of that heart and soul into a piece of creative work, these talented young filmmakers, are already grafting hard and winning at life.
In respect to their work, I am going to shut out the world and focus all my time, energy and attention onto their films this afternoon.
Good luck to everyone who has put their work forward.