Join us in a final celebration as we re-screen some of the winning films announced at the Watersprite Awards Ceremony , followed by a closing reception in the University Arms Hotel from 14:00 – 16:00 where tea, coffee, and pastries will be provided.

What does it take to make a hit show?

Join us for the final talk of the festival as we speak with Andy Devonshire (Taskmaster, The Great British Bake Off, The Apprentice) for an in-depth discussion on the creative and logistic challenges behind Britain's biggest unscripted shows.

Watersprite presents the Watersprite Awards with Amazon MGM Studios. The live ceremony in Cambridge is invite-only but the entire event will be livestreamed on our online festival platform for free. We will celebrate the incredible work of 36 nominated films from 17 countries across the globe. From Argentina to Singapore, this is sure to be a spectacular evening of international talent. 

Yorgos Lanthimos’ multi-Oscar-nominated feature Poor Things has left audiences pleasantly disturbed. Join Visual Effects Supervisor Dean Koonjul (Wonder Woman, Venom, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) and VFX Producer Tallulah Baker (The Lion King, The Sandman, The Banshees of Inisherin) for a masterclass on how visual effects can bring worlds of pure imagination to life.

Kit Redstone and Arran Shearing are the cis/ trans writer/director duo you never knew you needed in your life. Join us for a talk with the duo behind the upcoming KING BABY as we discuss transness, masculinity, and the importance of collaboration.

Calling all film music enthusiasts - Two award-winning composers for screen, stage and more Natalie Holt (Paddington, Loki) and Oleta Haffner (Note of Defiance) will discuss what makes an original score iconic.

Spanning cultures and continents, fiction and documentary, these five films explore critical junctures in the formation of identity. Whether it be the calculated curation of an online image or the process of interrogating one’s future, these films grapple with the process of ‘becoming’, of accepting - or rejecting - oneself and their decisions. 

Films: Vic, Idrissa Abara, Do You See Me in the Camera, The (W)hole, Harvest

We are so excited to be joined by animator and director Lucy Izzard to share her journey of directing her first stop-motion series with the iconic Aardman Studios.

Join formidable change-maker Julie Fernandez (The Office), the UK and Europe’s leading Access Coordinator; and rising star Connor Curren (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, CBBC’s Dodger) for an insight into the current climate of disability representation both on and off-screen and those campaigning for change to make access a requirement, not just an afterthought.

After last year’s Barbenheimer phenomenon, we’ve all become more aware of the power of film marketing.

We’ll be joined by Sara Frain, Director of Marketing and Distribution for Picturehouse Cinemas, Kat Blair (PR for Bridgerton, I Hate Suzie), as well as Cathy Anderson, former Publicity Director for 20th Century Fox, to learn exactly how major studios turn a film into the next big thing.

These films hold a desire to remember and a fear of forgetting. Memory of a place, situation or individual can stimulate environmental thinking and inspire a call to action. Memories can also be disorientating; they can be distorted and fleeting, twisting the shape and form of the films themselves. 

Films: Remember?, The Last Skiers, Walking in These Shoes, Lullaby for the Lost, The Birthday Party

Making the move from student into a first career in film can be daunting but hear from our panellists Charlotte Matheson (Producer for film podcast Girls on Film and Mark Kermode’s Live in 3D at the BFI), James MacNab (Production Assistant for Coptertura Productions), Matthew Gray (Agent’s Assistant for Curtis Brown), Mojola Akinyemi, Chakira Alin and Hannah Samuel-Ogbu on how to take those steps and put yourself in the best position to start your career!

Home is the space of shelter defined by feelings of safety and security. These films challenge this definition - exploring what it means to have, lose and search for somewhere to call home.

Films: Song of the Waves, Bits, Homemaker, The Steak, Suitcase, Common Ground, Cloudy

Watersprite welcomes you to the 15th-anniversary edition of the world’s largest student film festival. Join us in the Cambridge Union as we officially open Watersprite 2024 in conversation with Abi Morgan.

Our lives can be understood in terms of passage from one stage to another, and these shorts focus on pivotal and vastly different periods in the lives of their protagonists. From journeys made to end a life, to ones that strive towards new beginnings, these films document both literal and figurative transformations of character and relationships. 

Films: In the Rough, Four Deaths, Song of the Tadpole, The Globe Trotters, Paradise Express, Near Light

Family is a screening of seven films which navigate the challenges and developments in family relationships. Often adopting the unique perspective of a child as they come to terms with the world around them, these films explore divorce, loss of a loved one, and the ever-complex dynamic between parent and child, no matter their age.

Films: Noham, On Purpose, Daddy, Mum’s Spaghetti, Allégresse, Nøkkelbarn, To the Moon and Back

Beneath the Surface presents films that speak to unexpressed desires, rising tensions, ideas, dreams, and the subconscious. The films focus on the inner world of their characters, featuring surreal worlds and often blurring the line between the real and the imaginary. Working together as a strand, the films make the invisible the main subject of their exploration.

Films: Plastic Touch, What Lies Between Us, Drown the Name, By Fire, The House of Residue and Hubble's Law.