WATERSPRITE FILM FESTIVAL
The world’s largest student film festival.
We find and nurture the next generation of creative talent - bringing together filmmakers from around the world.
We are the world’s most accessible film festival - removing barriers to the creative industries for everyone.
We are a family – a growing community of like-minded creatives.
We find talent where larger festivals don’t. We create opportunities for young people and emerging filmmakers to come together and celebrate their work.
Every March we offer a weekend of free screenings, networking sessions, masterclasses and Q&As with Academy-Award winning speakers like Olivia Colman, Sir Lenny Henry, Mike Leigh and Eddie Redmayne.
We connect emerging talent with the industry: forging future award-winning relationships.
We platform underrepresented and often misrepresented voices in the industry: creating a platform for diverse talent from around the world.
What we do
Watersprite was launched in 2009 by a group of students. 15 years later, students are still at the heart of all we do. Watersprite is led by a team of 100 students from the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University. Chaired by multi-award winning producer and first female chair of BAFTA, Hilary Bevan Jones, Watersprite is supported by a Board of leading industry professionals and a full-time Festival Producer who guide the student team in delivering free events, screenings and networking sessions for emerging filmmakers around the world.
Who we are
The film industry should be open to everyone, regardless of background or barriers. Led by young people, for young people Watersprite is the first to believe in new talent and is the home for emerging filmmakers from around the world.
1) Accessible Education - To promote access into the industry by offering free educational events, screenings, travel and accommodation bursaries, and disability support.
2) Creating Opportunities - To understand and address cultural, regional and economic barriers facing individuals, supporting underrepresented voices into the industry by creating active opportunities.
3) Community - To foster creative collaboration in the context of film, television and other art forms.
4) Industry - To provide links for emerging filmmakers with industry professionals by breaking down the barriers and hierarchies of traditional networking.